Rugby League has always been kind to the Greek community, and the latest example is coach Willie Peters who has broken a decades long drought to deliver glory for English team Hull KR.
In 1980, Dr George Peponis from Belmore and Canterbury Bulldogs captained the national team, the Kangaroos. I once had coffee with Dr Peponis when he was the chair of Canterbury Leagues, where he gave me an overview of the contribution of Hellenes to the game.
Other Greek-Australian luminaries such as Nick Politis would go one better as the face and driving force of the Sydney Roosters.
Over 20 players of Greek descent have played topflight footy in Australia, and some of the coaches have included Phil Economidis, who took the Gold Coast Chargers to the play-offs, Andrew Demetriou who coached Souths and Papua New Guinea and Steve Georgallis. Willie Peters is one of the latest former players to coach at a high level.
On Saturday 11 October he achieved one of the greatest feats in rugby league history: a clean sweep of domestic trophies in the UK.
Peters, a Souths junior is a product of Marcellin College, Randwick, played in Australia for teams such as Souths – the one-time home of Greeks such as Braith Anasta, and in England, took one-time unfashionable Hull Kensington Rovers to the summit of Rugby League in Europe.
Peters’ Hull KR won the prestigious Challenge Cup at Wembley and the League Leaders Shield this season. Their win against the giants of the Wigan Warriors in front of almost 70,000 fans at Old Trafford was emphatic, 24-6.
The Greek Australian coach ended a four decade title drought in the proudest moment of Hull’s 143 year history.
Peters and his players will next play the NRL champions Brisbane Broncos in February for the Club World Challenge, where they will be looking to add a fourth trophy in just a few months.
When teams such as Hull go well, Rugby League benefits. The English Super League will expand to 14 teams next season which already includes Catalan Dragons from France and likely Toulouse Olympique who just won the division two Championship.
The win by Peters also underscores the strength of Greek Rugby League which continues to grow in Greece and in Australia. The national body recently held a gala dinner in Sydney that was well attended.
Rugby League fans and Ouzo Talk podcast hosts, Tom Skolarikis and Nick Athanassiou praised Willie. Nick explains, “Willie is a Cazzie, he’ll be coaching in the NRL in a couple of years. Assistant coach to Kevin Walters now for the Kangaroos.” Tom adds, “Willie is a legend! He coached pathways teams and worked in Rugby League administration for years before taking on Hull.”
As a university student back in the 90s I remember meeting a number nine who was on holiday from Yorkshire. We were at Rooftop, Kings Cross. He had played a few first-grade games in England and spoke Greek. I thought he was a novelty, yet a couple of years earlier I recall in our own high school footy team we had Samo the Greek and Andrew Demetriou. I myself carried the oranges.
The game has certainly been good for Greeks. Willie Peters is just an example of how our community has thrown up some talented people. The coach should be proud, just as Hull is celebrating, as Greeks we should be too.
*Billy Cotsis is the director of The Greeks of South America documentary and a failed Rugby League player!
