‘Lebanese blood runs through my veins’ – Meet the Australian-born rugby players trying to knock the Green and Gold out of the World Cup
The Sports Gazette travelled to Leeds to catch up with the Lebanese rugby league squad ahead of their World Cup quarter-final against Australia on Friday. They spoke about hybrid nationalities, singing the anthem like you mean it, and trying to bring joy to the people of Lebanon.
The 2021 Australian census found that almost 250,000 people in the country claim some form of Lebanese ancestry.
Whilst this only accounts for around one percent of the overall population of the host nation, a distinct Lebanese-Australian identity has developed in several major cities.
Since achieving independence from France in 1943, religious infighting and military occupation by neighbouring countries has created significant instability within Lebanon.
As so often is the case, internal uncertainty has led to outward migration. This was the case for the Lebanese parents of Michael Cheika, who moved to Sydney to start a new life in 1950.
On Friday, the former head coach of Australia’s rugby union side will take charge of the country of his ancestors against the Green and Gold in a rugby league World Cup quarter-final.
“I can think about those things one day in the future with a nice glass and a cigar,” says Cheika when asked about what it means to him to be involved in a game between the two nations that helped to shape him.
“I’ve had the opportunity to coach against Australia a couple of times and it was quite emotional.
“But our focus is on going out there and contesting the game,” he adds in typical matter of fact style.
After an opening defeat to New Zealand in the group stage, Cheika’s side convincingly overcame both Ireland and Jamaica in their final two matches to book their place in Friday’s last eight clash in Huddersfield.
Abbas Miski, born in New South Wales, has started all three of the Cedars’ matches in this current tournament.
“We are always underdogs but we’ve already proven a lot of people wrong,” he suggests.
“We have the same sort of belief this time. We can shake it up against the big teams.”
Miski is one of a number of Australian-born players in the Lebanon squad, and he and his fellow team-mates are under no illusions in terms of the scale of the challenge they face on Friday.
“Everyone knows how strong Australia are – they are World Champions,” says the Newcastle Thunder winger.
“We’ve played good teams in New Zealand and Ireland so far, but Australia is another level.”
Miski has visited the nation of his parents’ birth on two occasions, yet some of his team-mates are currently representing the Cedars despite never having set foot in the country.
James Roumanos, a lock forward who plays for the Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles in New South Wales, has never been to Lebanon but qualifies to play through his grandparents.
He reveals that members of the squad who do play their club rugby in Lebanon are helping to foster a sense of national identity throughout the squad.
“They’ve shown us videos and photos of everything that is happening out there (during the tournament),” he says.
“I’m really keen to go there now, learn more and see what it has to offer.”
Head coach Cheika, who will also be in charge of the Argentina union side that take on England at Twickenham on Sunday, has no concerns about players not born in the country struggling to understand the honour of playing for Lebanon.
“I think that the connection to Lebanon for the boys from Australia is massive,” says the 55-year-old.
“Even if you see the way they are singing the anthem, it’s not like they’ve just memorised the words, they know what they mean and how much it means to everyone watching at home.”
Lebanon’s success will continue to be built on a core of players that was born some 7,000 miles beyond its borders.
A 2016 International Rugby League ruling means that players are now able to represent a tier 1 nation (Australia, New Zealand and England) as well as a tier 2 or tier 3 nation such as Lebanon, as long as they do not play for one in the same year as the other.
Despite playing for Australia against Lebanon in the 2017 World Cup, Josh Mansour has been one of the Cedars’ standout performers in England so far and his hat-trick in the 74-12 win against Jamaica last weekend helped to set up a quarter-final with the country of his birth.
“It’s going to be a special moment,” says the South Sydney Rabbitohs star ahead of the meeting with some of his former team-mates.
“Australia’s my home and playing for Australia is the pinnacle in the rugby league world so being able to achieve that was incredibly special, but now I’ve flipped the script and I’m playing for Lebanon!
“It’s my dad’s place of birth; Lebanese blood runs through my veins.”
Since Lebanon appeared at the 2017 tournament, the country has gone through a series of economic and political crises.
The civil war in nearby Syria has increased pressure on an already faltering government, meaning unemployment and inflation have skyrocketed whilst an inability to provide basic services such as electricity and water has impacted people’s quality of life.
Grassroots protests against the running of the country have been a regular occurrence since 2019, yet regular nationwide power shortages have continued to make every day a struggle.
Whilst suggesting that sporting success is in any way helping to solve these issues seems misguided, Mansour insists that he and his team-mates are doing all they can to try and lift the nation.
“There’s a lot of stuff going on in Lebanon that we can’t change, but we definitely can help people by trying to put joy in their lives,” he says with great sincerity.
“If we can take them away from their worries for 80 minutes a week, then I think we’re doing a good job.”
Read Next: https://sportsgazette.co.uk/lebanon-cedars-on-the-rise-to-rugby-league-triumph/
