Ukraine RL has received a massive boost, with New Zealand Warriors young halfback Jett Cleary, brother of Australian star Nathan, opting to play for them this autumn.
Jett who helped the Warriors to victory in the NSW Cup grand final against the Dragons at the weekend, and encouraged by Nathan, plans to make his international debut for Ukraine against Netherlands on October 12 ahead of European Championship C fixtures against Greece and Italy.
The 20-year-old is eligible through their maternal grandmother Maree, who was born in a German concentration camp after the Nazis invaded during World War II. Their cousin Phoenix Death - son of former Canberra Raiders, North Queensland Cowboys and Warriors hooker Jason Death - represented Ukraine at last year’s U19s European Championships.
Phoenix’s mother and the Cleary’s mother, Rebecca, are sisters. Their brother is former North Sydney Bears prop Josh Stuart.
“It was really cool watching my cousin represent Ukraine so I’ve been keen to play this year if there was a chance,” Cleary said. “My Nan talks about it a little bit so I thought if I had the opportunity it would be a good thing to do. I was going to play a few games last year when at Penrith but I had some injuries.
“My family is proud of our Ukrainian heritage and Nathan actually did convince me, and so did mum and dad. Mum was saying that she would love for me to represent her side of the family and also how it will be an awesome experience to go over to Europe, play and meet some new people. Nathan said that one day hopefully he can put on the Ukraine jersey.”
Nathan met with Ukraine Rugby League president Artur Martyrosian in Manchester while playing for Australia at the World Cup in 2022 and has supported Ukraine's efforts to continue playing domestically and at international level.
Jett Cleary is one of eight heritage players set to represent Ukraine in European Championship C matches against Italy on October 18 and Greece on October 22. The others are brothers Owen and Yuri Hromow, who play for the Raiders and Cronulla Sharks, Rhys Sciglitano (Blacktown Workers), Daniel Janissen (Cardiff Cobras), Jonah Ngaronoa (Glebe Dirty Reds), Zayn Sluvinsky (South Eastern Seagulls) and Victor Tereszko (Ipswich Jets).
“My Nan doesn’t say too much about her heritage because she did move here when she was quite young but I think with me and my cousins representing Ukraine it will bring some light back to the subject for her,” added Cleary. “I think for her to see us represent her culture will do that.”
The majority of the Ukraine squad are from the five teams in the domestic competition. Kharkiv, Lviv, Rivne, Ivano-Frankivsk and Donetsk.
Due to the approaching front line with invading Russian forces, all of the Donetsk squad were previously evacuated from their homes and are now living in safer regions of Ukraine. Yet, despite the ongoing war, Ukraine's juniors are going from strength to strength with U12s and U14s competitions recently completed.
“It is incredible to see what they are going through and that they still want to play the game we all love,” Cleary noted. “I want to try to shed some light on how they are doing over there. We had a discussion the other day, the heritage players, just to talk about how that is the main purpose for us to be going over there.
“Obviously we want to teach them a bit about the game, and I have heard about how much they love rugby league and how passionate they are. I am excited just to go over there and meet them.”