Wakefield back rower Liam Higgins (see above photo) is the surprise inclusion in Serbia’s 45-man train-on squad announced for this autumn’s 2013 World Cup European Zone Qualifiers.

National head coach Marko Janković has named mainly domestic club players, with the majority having already earned caps in two international competitions in 2009 and 2010.

The list is dominated by Dorćol Spiders, 14 players coming from the nine-time champions. However, almost all the other clubs in the Serbian competition are represented, illustrating the growing depth.

Janković is committed to promoting youth, "Our opponents in the qualifications have already announced their train-on squads which are noticeable by the numerous famous rugby league names included,” he said.

“It is going to be very interesting and promises to be a quality tournament. However, we, are relying on our own strength. The train-on squad integrates names involved in last year’s European Shield and this year’s international warm-up matches, as well as several young players that I believe will be the future backbone of the national team. It is too early to speak about the final list, but for sure, whoever appears in it has to be prepared for three consecutive weeks of high-quality games. "

Serbia plays its last warm-up game on 30th September in Belgrade against Ukraine. The World Cup qualifying campaign kicks off on 16th October in Lebanon. After the match in Tripoli, the team fly back home to host Italy on 23rd October and Russia six days later.

SERBIA TRAIN-ON SQUAD
Dalibor Vukanović (capt.), Soni Radovanović (vicecapt.), Vuk Tvrdišić, Nikša Unković, Stevan Stevanović, Ivan Šušnjara, Milan Šušnjara, Vladan Kikanović, Dimitris Dajč, Dejan Lukenić, Stefan Nikolić, Danilo Delić, Stefan Nedeljković, Goran Jankuloski (all from Dorćol), Zoran Pešić, Ivan Djordjević, Miloš Ćalić, Nebojša Živanović, Vladislav Dedić (from Red Star Belgrade), Lazar Živković, Saša Genčić, Marko Milenković, Djordje Vučković, Veljko Antić (from Niš), Aleksandar Sič, Miloš Zogović, Nenad Radević (from Car Lazar), Nenad Grbić, Milan Štrbac, Radovan Tajsić, Branko Bursać, Slaviša Zekić, Nemanja Cojić, Petar Madžarević (from Radnički Nova Pazova), Filip Brkić, Mirko Božović, Aleksandar Aleksić (from Stari Grad), Boško Marković (from Soko Vranje), Igor Kesegi (from Podbara Novi Sad), Austen Novaković (from Oldham RLFC), Ilija Radan (from Hemel Hempstead RLFC), Adam Nedić (from Belconnen United Scholars RLFC), James Simeunović, Luke Simeunović (from Siddal ARLFC), Liam Higgins (from Wakefield Trinity Wildcats RLFC)