Greece national rugby league team

Greek Rugby League was first formed in Australia by Australians with Greek heritage. The founder of the Greek Rugby League was Colin Mylonas.

The team, nicknamed 'The Titans' first played international fixtures in 2003. Greece played a warm-up match against New Caledonia in late August winning the encounter 10-26. In September of that year, the Greek National Team played their first RLIF sanctioned game against Italy in September. The game was played in Australia at Jubilee Oval for the inaugural Ionio Cup. Greece were narrowly defeated 26–24.[2]

In October 2005, Greece played an international match in Australia against Malta which they lost 24 points to 22 in front of an estimated crowd of 6,500. Greece then played a warm up match against Fiji A at OKI Jubilee Stadium in front of 1103 spectators. Fiji, who had just qualified for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, won the match 34–12.

In 28 October 2006, Greece played Serbia in the first international match on Greek soil. Greece, supported by Greek-heritage players from Australia, won 44-26 in front of 150 home fans of the Glyka Nera Football Club, Athens. Greece were coached by former Western Suburbs Magpies player Steve Georgallis.

Greece won their first ever Rugby League Championship in 2009 when they won the Australian Mediterranean Shield, defeating Italy in the Final 34-14. This was the first competition that the Greek side had competed in. The Greeks were captained by Wests Tigers player John Skandalis. Greece did not qualify for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.

2013 saw the creation of a domestic Rugby League competition in Greece. This competition was originally governed by the Hellenic Federation of Rugby League (HFRL).

On 27 October 2013 Greece defeated Hungary 90-0 in an international match played in Budapest in front of 500 spectators.[3] The Greek side featured a mixture of players from the Greek domestic competition (8) and Australian-based (9) players including Braith Anasta and Michael Korkidas.[4] Anasta kicked 15 goals from 15 attempts and scored 46 points in the win.[3]

In October 2014, Greece were crowned European Championship C champions after beating Czech Republic in the final. This was their second international tournament victory[5]

Later in the same month, Greece competed in the inaugural Balkans Cup tournament held in Serbia. They beat the hosts in the final to win their third international tournament to add to their trophy cabinet, second in over a week.[6]

Matthew Ashill was the coach of the team for the 2015 European C/2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying tournament and on 13 September 2015 he named a 22-man train-on squad with only domestic club players which caused controversy as it was a key event coming up for the national rugby league team. He explained his decision saying "We have a totally new plan using just domestic players who will contribute to the growth and development of the sport here".[7]

In April 2016, the HFRL was suspended from the Rugby League European Federation (RLEF) following a year-long investigation for "wilfully acting in a manner prejudicial to the interests of the RLEF and international rugby league."[8] The HRFL was expelled from the RLEF in August 2016 for failing to meet membership requirements.[9]

In March 2017, the Greek Rugby League Association (GRLA) was recognised by the RLEF as the official governing body for rugby league in Greece, gaining observer status. In March 2018 the GRLA were rewarded for what the RLEF described as "significant progress rebuilding the national governing body and revamping its competition structure, with the support of the Greek Australian community" by being granted affiliate status.[10]

In September 2018, Greece began their qualification path for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup by winning the European Championship C South conference. They defeated Ukraine 28–26 at Dynamo Stadium (Kharkiv)[11] and Malta Rugby League 60–4 at Glyka Stadium, Athens.[12]

In May 2019, Greece faced European Championship C North conference winners Norway at New River Stadium, London, in the European Championship C decider.[13] The match served as a curtain raiser to the League 1 round 9 fixture between London Skolars and Doncaster, Greece defeated Norway 56–26 to progress to the final stages of World Cup qualifiers.[14]

In November 2019, Greece qualified for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup after participating in the final round of European World Cup Qualifiers in Pool B with matches against Scotland and Serbia. Greece were unable to host their designated match against Scotland, as the Greek government does not recognise the Greek Rugby League Association[15][16]. Instead, the match was played in London at New River Stadium on 1 November. Greece were defeated 42–24.[17]

The remaining match in Pool B saw Greece play Serbia, with the winners advancing to the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. Greece defeated Serbia 82–6 at Makiš Stadium, Belgrade.[18][19]

On 16 January 2020, Greece were drawn into Group A of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup with England, Samoa and France.[20]

They then entered the 2020 European Championship B where they'll play Russia and Serbia.[21]

IRL World Rankings
Official Men's Rankings as of November 2019
Rank	Change*	Team	Pts%
1	2	New Zealand
2	1	Australia
3	1	England
4		Tonga
5		Fiji
6	4	Papua New Guinea
7		Samoa
8	2	France
9	1	Scotland
10	1	Lebanon
11	5	Greece
12		Ireland
13	1	Italy
14	3	Wales
15	4	Serbia
16	1	Malta
17	1	Norway
18	3	United States
19	4	Poland
20	7	Jamaica
21	1	Hungary
22	3	Czech Republic
23	5	Cook Islands
24	7	Turkey
25	1	Netherlands
26	4	Spain
27	6	Canada
28		Nigeria
29	2	Solomon Islands
30	10	Sweden
31	4	Germany
32	1	Chile
33		Ghana
34	16	Morocco
35	3	Vanuatu
36		South Africa
37	8	Russia
38		Cameroon
39	2	Ukraine
40	1	Colombia
41	4	Brazil
42		Belgium
43	4	Denmark
44	4	Bulgaria
45	4	Latvia
*Change from July 2019

Team	First Played	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	Win %	Points For	Points Against	Point Difference	Last Played
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2014	1	1	0	0	100.00	58	4	+54	2014
Bulgaria	2017	1	1	0	0	100.00	68	8	+60	2017
Czech Republic	2014	1	1	0	0	100.00	68	16	+52	2014
Hungary	2013	3	2	0	1	66.67	134	38	+96	2018
Italy	2003	3	1	0	2	33.33	72	98	-26	2009
Japan	2016	1	1	0	0	100.00	72	0	+72	2016
Malta	2005	4	2	0	2	50.00	114	76	+38	2018
New Caledonia	2003	2	2	0	0	100.00	82	18	+64	2004
Niue	2018	1	0	0	1	0.00	8	16	-8	2018
Norway	2019	1	1	0	0	100.00	56	26	+30	2019
Portugal	2009	1	1	0	0	100.00	42	16	+26	2009
Scotland	2019	1	0	0	1	0.00	24	42	-18	2019
Serbia	2006	4	3	0	1	75.00	184	104	+80	2019
Spain	2014	1	0	0	1	0.00	4	76	-72	2014
Turkey	2019	1	1	0	0	100.00	38	24	+14	2019
Ukraine	2018	1	1	0	0	100.00	28	26	+2	2018
Vanuatu	2012	2	2	0	0	100.00	64	14	+50	2018
Total	2003	29	20	0	9	68.97	1116	602	+514	2019

A red box around the year indicates tournaments played within Greece

• The Australian Mediterranean Shield tournament is a tournament involving affiliate and observer European nations competing against each other for more international rugby league experience. Greece beat Portugal by 42-16 and therefore advanced to the final to take on Italy. They won the final by a score of 34-14 to be crowned the champions, the country's first International rugby league title.

Australian Mediterranean Shield
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	D
2009	Champions	1/4	2	2	0	0
Total	1 Title	1/?	2	2	0	0

Source:[22]