LNR 2022: Cedar of Lebanon, Knights of Malta, Michael Cheika, Robbie Farah, Matt King, Jake Friend
Michael Cheika will watch his first match in the lead of Lebanon from Argentina after the cancellation of flights forced him to hand over the reins for Wednesday night’s confrontation with Malta to his coaching team of Matt King, Jake Friend, Robbie Farah and Michael Habib.
Cheika, the former Wallabies mentor, is also preparing the Los Pumas for the July 2 international rugby union match against Scotland and was planning to return to Argentina after the Test at Belmore Sports Ground but now wants to fly before the kick-off.
“It’s my first game, but I won’t be there,” Cheika told NRL.com on Monday evening after team training and dinner.
“I was planning to be there and I had a flight booked for Thursday morning that would take me to Argentina on Thursday evening, but the flight was canceled.
“I had to move on to another flight and the only one I could take was tomorrow. Luckily, we got Matty King and Jake Friend and Robbie Farah there, so there won’t be a lack of footy IQ.
“I’ve known Kingy for a long time through the Roosters and he’s a solid camper so he’ll be good on the money.”
King, the former Storm and Rabbitohs star, is Trent Robinson’s assistant at Sydney Roosters, where Cheika enjoyed his first taste of rugby league coaching in 2020 in code a switch that convinced him to take up the Cedar job.
Friend was the Roosters co-captain and has now joined the club’s coaching staff after being forced to retire last season, while Farah and Habib are former Lebanese internationals now also involved in coaching.
Farah, who first played for Lebanon at the 2000 World Cup and returned as captain of the team in the 2017 tournament, is on the Wests Tigers staff, while Habib has been involved in the programs. of cedar paths for several years.
With NRL stars Mitchell Moses, Adam Doueihi, Alex Twal, Josh Mansour and Jacob Kiraz not playing against the Malta Knights led by Jarrod Sammut, the Test will be an opportunity to assess some of the emerging talent available for Lebanon. before the end of the game. World Cup season in England.
“We’re really happy with how it’s going, it’s fun and it’s different for me too so I’m learning something different every day,” Cheika said.
“The way we chose the team will be an equally good competition, which is how we want it. I really want to see what some of these kids have. ”
Although she was not in Belmore on Wednesday night, Cheika will be able to watch the match via the Watch NRL app after she helped organize for Kayo to broadcast the Test on their Freebies platform.
“I think trying to get the game on tele and streamed was always going to be good just to make a little noise on the team so those who can’t get to Belmore can watch,” he said.
“What people will see is a bunch of young men who may not be household names but there are a few young people coming from the ranks.
“You have a young man playing NSW Cup, Jersey Flegg, Sydney Shield, Ron Massey Cup and even passing SG Ball players, so you have all the NRL tracks shown in one place.”
The teams will play for the Elias-Fenech Shield, named for former rivals and star hookers Ben Elias and Mario Fenech, who were renowned for both their passion and their great skills.
Elias, who played for Balmain, was born in Lebanon, while Fenech, who played for South Sydney, North Sydney and South Queensland Crushers, has a Maltese heritage.