The Canada Wolverines have made five changes to the team that defeated Jamaica in the Caribbean Cup for their Colonial Cup clash with USA Tomahawks next weeked. They see the return of 2010 Atlantic Cup members Cam Grace and Geoff Bylund, while Graham Dobbs, Matt Pettie and Mike Reid will be making their debuts. Harlequins teenager Louis Robinson, who starred against Jamaica, retains his place.
Canada Coach Jamie Lester commented, "Cam has just returned from a season in Australia and should add some starch to our pack and Geoff will relish in his return to the team. Our three debutants have impressed in the domestic season and at training and deserve their spot in the team. We are all looking forward to matching ourselves against a side preparing for the World Cup Qualifiers.”
The Wolverines face the Tomahawks in Philadelphia on August 27th before the return fixture at Fletchers Field, Ontario, on September 17th.
At the same time as preparing for the internationals, Canada Rugby League would like to hear from any overseas rugby league players that are Canadian born or have parents or grandparents that are to follow in Louis Robinson’s footsteps. In last year’s Atlantic Cup, Canada used Ben White and Marc Hanke from the AMNRL as their sole non domestic players to help in their pursuit of international success. This year, Canada witnessed exactly what kind of talent can
The most notable overseas player with Canadian heritage is former Wakefield star and current Keighley Cougars player/coach Jason Demetriou (pictured) who previously played for Canada in the 2000 Emerging Nations World Cup, and is said to be interested to don the Wolverines jersey. CRL Chairman Eric Perez explained, "We have spoken to Jason about his desire to play for the Wolverines, and I am confident that we will see him on Canadian soil sometime in the near future."
Lester, who is also the nation’s Technical Director, added, “In the future, when we are planning for the 2017 World Cup, we are going to need players with some professional experience but I would like to think that Canada will always have a team with at least fifty percent of our players domestically based".
If you are playing rugby league outside of Canada and have Canadian eligibility please contact [email protected] with a brief profile of your experience.
CANADA WOLVERINES
Louis Robinson (Harlequins RL); Chris Diamond, Steve Lamb, Matt Pettie, Mike Reid (Niagara Bobcats); Cam Grace (Noosa Pirates); Tyler Allen, Graham Dobbs, Christian Miller, Matt Wyles (Scarborough Centurions); Geoff Bylund, Steve Conlon, Robin Legault, Jamie Lester (Toronto City Saints); John Felix, Tony Felix, Dale Fitzgerald, Henry Miers (York Region Reds)