Sander Blomvagnes and Sondre Stikholmen are Norwegian students enrolled at University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and they’re about to embark on their first competitive game of Rugby League this weekend.
One is a soccer player and the other a gymnast, but they will be in the second row and on the wing for the Leichhardt Wanderers against the Concord Burwood Wolves in the opening match of the 2025 Metro Combined Open Age season.
Leichhardt secretary Matt Olsen says an ongoing partnership between the club and UTS has resulted in several students wanting to play Rugby League.
“We had a stall at the university’s Open Day on their campus back in February with all the other sports trying to attract players, male and female,” Olsen said.
“We’ve had players from the United States, Greece before… our two Norwegian boys virtually came off the plane, came to the Open Day and we had a chat with them.
“They were really interested in Rugby League, saying they’d seen a lot of it on TV since they arrived.
“They sort of gravitated to the sport. Being a gymnast and a soccer player means they already had some athletic ability.”
Blomvagnes, 22, and Stikholmen, 21, have been at training regularly and were part of a couple of trial games. But the season proper starts on Saturday 5 April at Goddard Park, Concord, at 2.15pm.
“They like the physicality of Rugby League and the concept of the game in planning your attack to get towards the try line in a six-tackle set,” Olsen said.
“We have brought them along slowly even though they picked up the basic skills of catching and passing pretty quickly.
“Language has never been a problem - their English is very good. They are very likeable fellows who have fitted in really well.
“They have been really keen to learn. Just watching their progress from week one of pre-season to be ready now for our first round eight weeks later, it’s been unreal.”
