By Bill Roumeliotis
It is with great pleasure that The Greek Herald introduces you to the international Greek Rugby Player Theodoros Nianiakas, who has been in Melbourne for the last three years, while he recently played with the Greek national team in Las Vegas, USA.
“My name is Theodoros and I come from Mikrokastro, Kozani, I had nothing to do with Rugby League. I got to know it and got involved when I moved to Athens as a professional in the Armed Forces, where I served for about six years,” Theodoros tells us.
“Some military colleagues were involved in the sport of Rugby League, they motivated me to get to know it and so I took my first steps in Rugby. I saw that it suited me and I started participating in training, trials and then as a registered Rugby athlete. I have 12 appearances with the Greek National Team and I feel great pride when I play with the national emblem.”
Tell us about your sports resume:
My first team was Aris Petroupolis which was later renamed Aris Eagles as an expatriate from Australia, a fan of the Manly Eagles, donated the uniforms. With Aris I played in the league, while I played friendly games with mixed teams against strong English teams. There I was spotted by the selectors of the Greek national Rugby League team and I received the call to try and play.
I made my debut in 2019 in England in a game against Norway for the 2019 World Cup qualifiers. After the end of my six-year military career, I moved to England, firstly to better prepare for the World Cup and secondly to play in a stronger league and signed for the semi-professional club of Woolston Rovers. Since my participation in the semi-professional league in England, I have learned a lot of things, I have improved significantly and my call to the national team for the World Cup has come.
Tell us about the World Cup:
At the World Cup, which England hosted, we had a tremendous experience as not only did we play for the first time in the final phase of the World Cup, but we faced Rugby behemoths, such as England and then Samoa and France and all these three countries, all of their players were full-time professionals. It was a huge challenge for most of us who were amateurs, especially when in the World Cup qualifiers we faced national teams of our own measure, such as Norway, Serbia and Scotland and then we faced high-level national professional teams – it was something shocking. And I say this because we were not afraid of them at all, we looked them in the eye, we gave everything and treated them with dignity. It was an unforgettable experience for all of us.
A few weeks ago you faced the USA in Las Vegas:
Indeed, my last participation with the Greek National Team was a few weeks ago in the USA, which we won 46-10. It was a pleasant game, against a USA team. Rugby develops at a fast pace, in the first half the Americans made it difficult for us, but in the second half we found our rhythm and achieved an easy victory.
A very good job is now being done for the Greek national team, especially from here in Australia as there are people who are looking for second and third generation expatriates to play with the Greek national team. These guys, wearing the blue and whites, feel 100% Greek like us and are proud to represent the Greek national team.
This also happened in the international matches for the qualifiers and the World Cup final. Second and third generation expatriates were anxious and proud to wear the jersey with the coat of arms, most of them were accompanied by their parents who were also doubly proud. We bonded with the Greek athletes very quickly and we, the locals, helped them get into the atmosphere of our national team and they helped us with their talent and experiences from the NRL.
I say it again, the expatriates felt proud to have played for the Greek national team and showed it in the stadium where they bled for the jersey with the coat of arms.
Financially, did the Greek government support you?
Unfortunately, Greece did not help us at all, it was absent, and this is our big complaint. The expenses were borne by us players personally. We searched and are looking for sponsors and the greatest help was given to us by Nick Politis, president of the Roosters. We had a lot of help from Mr Politis. He still helps us and he helped us on our recent trip to Las Vegas, USA. Not only for the national team, but for the Greek league and for the creation of Rugby Academies, because without academies there will be no development.
How did you find yourself in Australia?
I came to Australia for two months to visit my uncle and cousins. I liked it very much and I want to live here permanently. I also play rugby and play with the Waverly Oakley Panthers team, where I found a fantastic, friendly and family atmosphere. I’m the only Greek to play for the Panthers, but I feel very good and this year I’m going to play for the third year in a row. Basically, I’m very happy with life in Australia.
What is your next goal?
My next goal is to play in October with Greece against Italy and Ukraine. They are two matches that we have to win to get points to move up to a higher European category, where we will face stronger national teams and then it is the next World Cup. All the players try to be in good physical condition, to play as many matches as possible with our teams and when we are called up to the national team to be ready. At the moment there are 17 expatriates from Australia, members of the Greek national team, but in the European games only seven players have the right to play and two substitutes. The rest of the players must be from the Greek league.
