Can someone give a rundown of Serbian Rugby League?

[langpark]

No, because they share a city and travel is not an issue, I'd expect they will play each team at least 4 times. Not sure about groups B and C. Maybe there'll be the odd cross-group match, then they also have the Cup matches, which I believe are drawn at random, though they may have to limit that one to 8, so it can be done in knockout format.

 

[langpark]

Hopefully we see more union clubs switching and joining the real code. Hopefully see some real growth and a continued raise in standards

I've always disagreed with that as a way of developing the game. And of all places, Serbia is one that does not need to develop in this way, as League teams already outnumber union.

 

[Jankuloski]

Regarding Balkan Super League, we travel by bus. Getting to Turkey takes cca 22 hours but we combined it with May 1st holiday so for most it was a fun field trip. Actually, getting to Vitez through Bosnia was a bigger pain subjectively!

We don’t bother putting up websites when Facebook pages are much easier to maintain and people see stuff on Facebook anyway.

Serbian domestic league as you said is three groups: A are good teams from Belgrade, B are developing teams from Belgrade and C are three teams in southern Serbia. Last year I believe we played each other twice in the spring. We won group B and Nis won group C. Nis went through and played in A. We played Leskovac from C and Kangaroos from B winning League 2.

On top of all this we all play in the Serbia Cup, teams from group A visited Russia, and there is a Nines in Budapest in the summer. We play friendlies with a team from Montenegro.

Bare in mind that when the national team plays, players from group A are playing for Serbia. Unlike Aus, 20 men from three teams means that a large percentage of serious players get 5 more good games.

I’m sure I missed something, but it should give you the right idea.

 

[Jankuloski]

Regarding League vs Union in Serbia:

League is now bigger. However, the clubs that still play Union have experienced teams and quality players. We could use more competition in group A to lift the quality of play, so I would personally welcome a team switching.

Currently some players switch, but there is little overlap for such a niche sport here.

 

[adamkungl]

Great stuff. Hopefully Serbia gets it's reward on the international stage soon! It was a shame to see you guys fail to progress for 2021

 

[Jankuloski]

Will never happen with eligibility rules as they are. Our only hope is that Trbojevic brothers, Cotric and Opacic do a swansong for Serbia in about 6 years or so..

 

[adamkungl]

Will never happen with eligibility rules as they are. Our only hope is that Trbojevic brothers, Cotric and Opacic do a swansong for Serbia in about 6 years or so..

There will be one new European team at 2021 and Serbia was in with as good a shot as any of them. RLEF has tightened up eligibility in B and C levels. Unlucky in Russia.

Keep progressing those pathways and links to the professional game and exposing players to higher levels

 

[miguel de cervantes]

@Jankuloski Loved seeing you guys in Avignon for France-NZ in the world cup over there. Shame about the game, but great effort for you to be there - that's a long drive.

 

[langpark]

There will be one new European team at 2021 and Serbia was in with as good a shot as any of them. RLEF has tightened up eligibility in B and C levels. Unlucky in Russia.

Keep progressing those pathways and links to the professional game and exposing players to higher levels

Yes it's been that way for years. For RLEF Group C matches, you can only use 4 heritage players, and for Group B it's 7. In the Serbia-Russia-Spain group for the WCQ, I believe only Spain used heritage players (mostly French guys from Elite 2) and Russia had none. Serbia used a few against Spain, but thy had visa issues when travelling to Russia and couldn't get in. It was a shock for most people that they got eliminated.

I think they are developing nicely though. And I prefer Red Star's formula of bottom-up growth than Wolfpack's top-down approach.

 

[adamkungl]

If it wasn't for the Russian visa problem, Serbia might be in the spot Russia is in now, with only Greece or Norway to beat to gain entry to 2021.
Pity but sport is full of sliding doors and strokes of luck.

The bigger pity is that the sport can't afford to stage these qualifying tournaments home and away - 4 games each gives such a better reflection of where they really are, a lot less room for luck.