How long before ...

[The Observer]

Alex Chan is half Chinese, half Maori.
Leon Bott is part Maori, part Tuvaluan (Tuvalu is a tiny Pacific Island nation).

 

[girvie]

I remember Norths had a hooker in their reserve grade team who was of Korean origin. He was always talked about as going to get into firsts one day but never did (that I'm aware of).

Ho Kei Lau played for Norths. He was Chinese background.

He was the hooker when Norths won Jersey Flegg in 1998 and played Premier League for Norths between 1999 and 2001.

I heard he was a good tough player.


Two Asian born players playing League now are Chan Ly from Asquith Jim Beam Cup and Chan Ly from Windsor Jim Beam Cup. Both born in Cambodia.

 

[Green Machine]

Also i was wondering who was the first player of Pacific Island heritage to play top grade rugby league? Or have they been playing since 1908?

Might be Apisai & Inosi Toga for St George

 

[nqcowboy87]

it wont be long, theres a few kids in the cairns comp that are real guns and one of them was born in thailland. theres also a player in redcliffe colts and has played qcup this year tom yee, not sure about heritage.

 

[seajay23]

I have noticed lots of young Asian faces in the crowd at broadcast games this year so the communities are following the game.
I also love seeing the Muslim women at Bulldogs games in their veils.
Richard Chi Quee's family have lived in Australia for a long time (several generations), they used to run a great fish & chip shop at Kensington.
Some of those tall Sudanese and Somali boys will make great full-backs although AFL & Basketball might snap the athletic guys up.
Physically i would think Koreans and Southern Africans (Bantu peoples) are probably best suited to playing league.

 

[Noa]

I think it was last year at the under-age Australian league carnival there was a gun player for South Australia who was African. 14 years old and was the best player for the SA's older teams as well. Hopefully he hasnt been lost to our game.

As for an Asian player Matt Sing went OK.

 

[innsaneink]

Wasnt Sing born in Aussie?
Winton?

 

[Noa]

Joke. Though he does have some Chinese heritage.

 

[The Devil]

Hopefully it wont be long until a full-blooded Asian or African player cracks first grade. I know there's a few Filipino & Chinese junior players running around in the Parra & Penrith junior comps.

If what i'm hearing is correct, the next wave of juniors moving into Flegg and PL and possibly FG have a large quantity of asian players. There are quite a few Asian kids in the Parra junior comps and many getting scholarships to play for NRL clubs in the future. Parramatta and the Cowboys are just some to have handed out these sorts of scholarships.

 

[Tokyo_Raider]

Can I just thank the League Unlimited community as a whole for having a good natured and pleasant discussion on race without some wanker strolling in and making a bigotted idiot of himself?

I`d love to see some more Asian faces in league, and, having played Union quite extensively in Asia, can assure you that there are a lot of people out there who could crack it. Trouble is, of course, that league has zero profile in NEA, while union has a huge one. It also pays very well and is supported by big international companies.

There is an amateur Japanese league team floating around in Sydney somewhere, or there was a couple of years ago, anyway. Mostly made up of ex-union players out here for a laugh, I believe.

There is a growing interest in League in Japan and Korea, though it is still small. I played against quite a few ex-Premier league or Flegg players who had wandered up to that part of the world. From time to time you see reports in Japanese rugby magazines, too, and a couple of Sydney teams (was it Roosters and Balmain??) played an exhibition in Tokyo about 10 years ago.

I imagine that the first NEAsian player to crack the NRL will be someone coming out of the Japanese company union competition looking for a change. There are a couple of wingers and halves that I can think of who would press for selection in any NRL side. Trouble is, they`ll all making half a million a year as it is, so there is not a hell of a lot of incentive to move down here.

 

[The Devil]

I don't really agree with the prediction that the first pure Asian to crack FG will be a Japanese person. Mainly because there aren't too many Japs here in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane compared to other races. Speaking to a Junior talent scout/coach a few weeks ago told me that the majority of talented Asian boys coming through Ball and Harold Matthews are mainly Vietnamese and Chinese, since he is working near Parramatta. The surprising thing though was that there nearly half the boys he was overseeing were in fact forwards who weren't afraid to do the hard stuff.

Sets up an interesting future for NRL

 

[girvie]

There are a couple of North Sydney juniors who played Harold Matthews last year who i think are Asian background.

Paul Nguyen - Fullback
http://www.northsydneybears.com.au/Photos/Junior Reps/20060409r7vsydney/20060409JR7SYD6578S-570.jpg

Kenneth Cheer - Second Row
http://www.northsydneybears.com.au/Photos/Junior Reps/20060422r9vpenrith/20060422JR9PEN6930S-570.jpg

Dylan Nageshwar - Second Row
North Sydney local but signed by the Roosters


When i watched the North Sydney junior league Under-15s and Under-14s grandfinals i was a bit surprised with the number of Asians who were playing.

 

[Stagger eel]

back in the early 90's we had a Viatnamese Jersey Flegg/Presidents cup winger playing for us named Giang Kook...he was an absolute flyer but lack of size got the better of him and he wasn't able to progress beyond 1 match in Reserve Grade.

 

[Kurt Angle]

Wow, I like the fact the the Norths flegg sides have a number of Australians of asian heritage in them

I can imagine those that do live on the north shore wouldn't feel at all home in the RU clubs.

This might be our way or getting a strong presence back into the north shore.

Edit: I've just looked at those 2 north sydney pictures, those guys are big for their age group, they seem bigger than everyone else. They must be going to a lot of aussie bbq's, getting their fill of beef.

 

[girvie]

I have heard that this guy Alex Jalloh has been carving up playing fullback for Padstow Panthers Under-12s. The best U-12s player that some have seen. It looks like he could be of African decent.

I'm sure there are a lot kids of African decent in similar age groups who might be coming into the NRL in 10 years. It will be interesting to see if it happens.

Alex Jalloh, 11, is a high achiever in so many sports that his coaches believe he is destined for greatness.

Alex is a golden `freak'
NATHAN KLEIN

31Jul07

MEET our local golden boy, Alex Jalloh.

Or, as his athletics manager described him, ``a freak''.

At just 11 years of age, Alex has already represented NSW in four sports and broken state records in athletics.

He plays soccer, rugby league and rugby union at the highest level possible and was also part of the Belmore North school AFL team that won the statewide Paul Kelly Cup.

Alex said he participates in such a wide range of sports because he has a lot of fun competing and he wants to see which one he has the best chance of playing professionally. ``I like all sports, especially league and soccer,'' Alex said. ``All my teammates want to be like me.''

Six days of the week are dedicated to sport, and his manager Nicholas Karam said that Alex has ``the perfect blend of raw talent and potential'' to make it all the way.

``He's got the talent to be the next superstar in a variety of sports, which is scary,'' he said.

``This is the first time I've ever seen someone so talented at such a young age. He's got so much potential to develop as well.''

As well as competing in four state teams, Alex broke the state 200m 11 years age record last year. He also won gold in the 100m sprint and shot put events.

Alex is a vital member in all the teams he plays for particularly the Lakemba Roos soccer team, where he is one of the highest goalscorers. He is also the highest pointscorer in the Padstow Panthers rugby league side.

Mr Karam said that his achievements to date have attracted a lot of positive interest from several clubs, which is a promising sign for Alex's future.

``The future is very bright for Alex at the moment,'' he said.

``As long as he keeps the right attitude, it's a matter of `when' rather than `if'.''

 

[aqua_duck]

If that kid is 11 I'd be very surprised. He looks at the very least 14-15

 

[Noa]

http://www.smh.com.au/afl/afl-news/...signing-will-pay-dividends-20100613-y638.html

 

[Chook Norris]

The brothers had been urged to play ''Aussie sports'' by their uncle and guardian, Sulaiman, who came to Australia in 2002. They started playing Aussie rules with the local club, the Western Suburbs Magpies.

''When you go to Rome you do how the Romans do,'' Sulaiman told the Herald yesterday.

Sulaiman, 40, who works at Sydney Airport as a cargo handler, said he urged his nephew to concentrate on excelling in one sport so he could have a successful sporting career.

''You don't become like me,'' he warned him. ''When I was in Africa I was jack of all trades, which is master of none. I played soccer, I played basketball, volleyball, but at the end of the day I'm zero. You have to specialise in one thing. I don't want you to be like me. I became a loser and I don't want you to be a loser in the land of opportunities. Here there is everything. He listen to me and he come back one day and say, 'uncle, the advice that you give to me, I have to follow you, I will go with the AFL'.''

had to be convinced by his uncle to play AFL.. shame
http://www.smh.com.au/afl/afl-news/...signing-will-pay-dividends-20100613-y638.html

 

[RL1908]

Also i was wondering who was the first player of Pacific Island heritage to play top grade rugby league? Or have they been playing since 1908?

Old question, but there is an answer:
"Pacific Rugby League Pioneers"

Peter Moko (a Maori) played for Glebe in 1909.

 

[Skinner]

There are more than a few asians playing the great game in Auckland.