The Rugby League gods worked their magic at the NSWRL Harmony Nines today, when two nations making their debut at the tournament – Greece and South Sudan – met in the Open Men’s Emerging division final at Croom Regional Sporting Complex, Shellharbour.
Greece overcame being a man down after Tyrone Tsagalias was sin-binned for three minutes in the second half, when Leon Bakis scored the match-winning try regardless for a 16-8 victory.
In the Open Men's, the Ozzy Cook Islands left their run until the final seconds, when forward Shaiquan Terekia barged through the middle of NSW First Nations Indigenous defence to score under the posts.
The First Nations players thought they had snuck away with the trophy scoring in the 14th minute to lead 14-12 with two minutes left in the 16-minute (two eight-minute halves) final. But the Cook Islanders had other ideas, eventually winning 18-14.
Captain Michael Lett (pictured above) accepted the cup from NSW Women's Origin fullback Emma Tonegato.
“We’ve been coming here for a couple of years now. We fell short in the semi-finals last year but this year we promised ourselves we’d come here and change our luck around,” coach Richard Dean said.
“We took it up a notch and got the job done.
“We really only had one full session together but the majority of the boys were playing up on the Gold Coast in a Tri-series three weeks ago. So this is a team that knows each other and works for each other.
“They are very proud of where they’ve come from. Cook Islands may only be a dot on the map but a lot of people know much more about us because of Harmony Nines.”
The same label could now be applied to Greece.
“Very proud …” said coach Jim Pizanias, as his players chanted ‘Hellas! Hellas!’ (Greece! Greece!) behind him.
“Some of them are only 17. Our eldest is just 25 years-old. So the bulk are 18 or 19, which is good for Greece as we want to be up there in the future and these are the kids who can do it.
“It’s our first time at Harmony Nines and we’ve won it. How good?
“These boys know the Greek culture, it’s a part of them already. You see them – and hear them - proudly carrying the flag and supporting each other.”
Player of the match, No.7 Eddie Markopoulos, collected his medal from Tonegato, while captain Anthony Halikas explained how his side pulled off the maiden title.
“We’re still finding our feet, still getting the best out of each other, but all the boys stuck to the process and got the job done in the end,” Halikas said.
“It means everything to the boys to be the first team here for Greece.
“We will be back to defend this.”
