Czech Republic RL has launched a changing of the guard as they join Germany and Serbia in naming their squads in the build up to this year’s Western section of the Rugby League European Shield.
Coach Milan Mrtynek has unveiled a 33-man train-on squad, with three quarters of his roster having only taken up the sport in the last 18 months.
The Czech’s kick off the competition in the West – which has been expanded to include six nations in an East/West split - against Serbia on June 26th with the Serbians hosting Germany a week later in Belgrade and the Germans meeting the Czech Republic in mid-July.
Germany player/coach Danny Stocks has some experience to draw on, not least South Wales Scorpions coach Anthony Seibold and Leeds Akkies brothers Kristian and Nick Keinhorst.
There is also excitement in the German ranks with the inclusion of former handball youth international Thomas Isaak, the strapping 19-year old weighing in at 115kg. He is a recent convert to rugby league and is keen to make his mark.
Serbia coach Marko Jankovic has named an all domestic-based squad with the inclusion of former overseas internationals Dalibor Vukanovic and Soni Radovanovic who are expected to lead from the front.
Jankovic is giving a number of his young charges the opportunity to stake their claim ahead of Serbia’s World Cup Qualifying aspirations.
“We have included seven or eight players who played in the Under 18s European Nations Cup two years ago in Prague and they have an opportunity to show whether they can now step up on the full international stage,” he said.
“Our main target is World Cup qualifiers next year and this competition will be a real chance for some players to show their potential.”
Czech Republic
Jan Buben, Martin ÄŒernohorský, David Dolak, Michal Hora, Jakub HrbáÄ, Michal Priputen, Jakub Smíšek (all - Beroun), Jiri Eichler, Mirek Horacek, Ondrej Kopecky, David Lahr, Michael Ross, Pavel Zemanek (all - Pardubice), Premek Bradle, Richard Hladik, Tomas Holovski, Josef Kucera, Ondrej Novak, Jan Sluka, Jarda Stribro (all - Praha), Vlada Blazek, Kristián Ernst, Martin Giel, Michal Kucera, Tomas Kurka, Marcel Mana, Pavel Navratil, Lada Novak, Jan Valouch, Svatopluk Vlacil, Zdenek Zahrada, Tomas Zezula (all - Praslavice)
Coach: Milan Mrtynek
Germany
Dominic Bastian, Janis Kruse, Bene Rehm, Timo Troesch (all - Badden Wuttemburg), Jacob Handy, Thomas Isaak, Nico Koch, Max Krumbe, Max Schoengen, Sebastian Veermat (all -Hessen), Simon Cooper, Christian Gabriel, Christoph Huber, Ben Puna, Mickey Reinhold (all - Bavaria), Kristian Keinhorst, Nick Keinhorst (both - Leeds Akkies), Guillime Stoecklin (Montpellier), Liam Doughton, Max Doughton, Fabrice Fehlman, Max Froeschner, Sebastian Jung, Markus Krause (all North Rhine-Westphalia), Damien Seibold (Rockhampton Brothers), Dean Scotthorne (Sheffield Eagles), Anthony Seibold (South Wales Scorpions), Paul Shezhofner (Telford Raiders)
Player/coach: Dan Stocks
Serbia
Petar Bevenja, Igor Planojević, (both - Belgrade University), Milan ÄŒikarić, Lazar Nahirnić, Aleksandar SiÄ (all - Car Lazar), Filip Brkić, Dimitris DajÄ, Danilo Delić, Marko Katanić, Vladan Kikanović, Nikola KovaÄević, Dejan Lukenić, Stefan Nikolić, Petar Pavlović, Soni Radovanović, Stevan Stevanović, Ivan Šušnjara, Milan Šušnjara, Nenad Tomić, Vuk Tvrdišić, Nikša Unković, Dalibor Vukanović, (all - Dorćol), Veljko Antić, Lazar Živković (both - Niš), Igor Kesegi, Dario Milosavljević (both - Podbara), Milan Štrbac, Žarko KovaÄević, Slaviša Zekić, Radovan Tajsić (all - RadniÄki), Miloš ÄŒalić, Ivan Djordjević, Djordje Milenković (all - Red Star)
Coach: Marko Jankovic
r�Qi,����Äashevskey, Pavel Kardakov, Aleksander Kozak, Sergey Kravchenko, Artem Lyubenskey, Vladimir Lobanj, Oleg Markhy, Vladimir Mashkin, Maksim Miroshnichenko, Sergey Romanko, Igor Shevtsov, Alexander Skorbach, Youry Smolin, Mikhail Troyan (all Legion XIII), Dmitry Litvinov (Nevskaya Zastava), Andrey Markelov, Aleksander Solonitsky (both Storm), Igor Yourkin (Tyfun), Dmitry Semerenko, Stanislav Semerenko (both UIPA)
Coach: Artur Martirosyan