Eleven players from the Aberdeen Warriors have been selected for the national rugby league side to tackle Wales this weekend.
This follows the side securing back-to-back titles with their 30-20 win against Edinburgh Eagles on Saturday.
Head Coach, Craig Parslow said: “The guys have stuck in really well and to be rewarded with a chance to play for Scotland is obviously the key focus for some of them.
“It’s massive for the team. Hard work pays off and the guys have stuck together for so long.
“We have a lot of depth in our squad. We’ve got two senior teams with a lot of talent and a lot of young guys too that are doing really well stepping up into the senior grade.
“Two of our players in the Grand Final on Saturday were just 17-years-old.”
  (Gail Davies)
  (Gail Davies)
Sunday’s international amateur friendly between Scotland A vs Wales A will be played at the Woodside Sports Complex in Aberdeen, marking the first time an international rugby league game has been held in the city.
Having won the Scottish Cup just two weeks prior to securing their second league title in a row, Aberdeen is becoming a serious force within Scottish rugby league.
“The guys have built up a winning mentality, but they know that nothing comes easy,” explained Craig, 31, who is also managing the Scotland A side.
“You have to seize the opportunities at every moment and they know they will have to do the same against Wales.
“It’s going to be a very, very difficult game. I know some of the Welsh guys already. They are big guys, strong physical beings. They play union in the Principality [Premiership] down in Wales. They are going to be hard.
“So the team know that this is going to be no push-over game.”
Out of the 11 Aberdeen Warriors players that have been picked, nine of them will earn their first cap this Sunday, with only Aaron Robertson and Stuart Gray having played for Scotland before.
One of those nine hoping to do well for his country is 24-year-old Stuart Barlow from Dundee, who up until lately had been playing only rugby union for his local side, Dundee High.
Stuart is still contracted with his union club, however, because both competitions don’t run at the same time Stuart is able to play both rugby league and rugby union without missing a game for either of his clubs.
This will be Stuart’s first time representing his country at any level.
An achievement made even more impressive by the fact that this will on be his fourth game playing rugby league.
“I went for a trial around a month ago,” Stuart said.
“All my mates were telling me to do it, so I did, then I got picked.
“It’s good to be playing a new game, because I think I was getting too comfortable playing union at Dundee High. This has shaken things up a little and I think it will improve both my league and union game.
“I’ve always watched it [rugby league] and I’ve always really liked it. I like how it’s really physical and there is more space to run cause there are no flankers in league.
“I’m really excited, but quite nervous about the game on Sunday. All my mates and family are coming up to watch too.”
Stuart lifting the league trophy at the Grand Final after beating Edinburgh Eagles at the weekend.
Ever since the 2013 Rugby World Cup in England and Wales, funding for rugby league has been reduced significantly in Scotland and Ireland, which as Craig Parslow explained, has caused a lot of problems with the game in this country.
“We’ve got nothing. The guys that are playing for Scotland A this weekend are having to self-fund themselves. That’s kit, that’s travel, everything.
“It’s the same with student and youth levels. All funding has been withdrawn.
“Scotland Rugby League is being run by volunteers at the moment who are trying to do everything they can to get the game up and running again, but it has been really, really difficult.”
This is a lot different to the current situation in England where the RFL is still funding the sport.
This funding allows the English game to have a larger staff base including development officers for clubs, who are then able to provide support to coaches, referees and coaching the teams themselves.
Craig said much of this was down to the lack of any big club side in Scotland.
“Scotland and Ireland do not have a Championship side. At the moment Wales have two, but they still received a 50 per cent reduction in funding too and it is going to reduced to nothing by the RFL by next season.
“Without having a Championship side you are going to struggle to grow the game and the awareness of the sport in this country. People still don’t realise that we play rugby league in Aberdeen.”
Without proper funding and support, rugby league in Scotland faces a tough and uncertain future.
However, Craig Parslow believes that with Aberdeen Warriors current performance there may be hope yet.
“There’s a few things that we need,” he said.
“The first is good opposition. If we don’t have good opposition then we are fighting a losing battle.
“The other thing we need to do is get a Scottish team in the Championship and with the current set-up at Aberdeen Warriors, I think makes it the prime location to have this team.
“But we need backing from the local authority and we need backing from local businesses.
“This will only benefit the national team as it was recently announced Scotland are guaranteed to qualify for the next Rugby League World Cup in 2017 in Australia and New Zealand.
“With the recent relegation of Aberdeen Grammar, Aberdeenshire could be a prime location for a new professional rugby club to be set up.
“There is no top flight rugby north of Stirling. There is a massive gap in the market at the moment for this. If we can to things properly then, fingers crossed we’ll reach our current aim to get the Warriors into the Championship for 2017/18.”
Scotland A vs Wales A will be held at Woodside Sports Complex in Aberdeen on Sunday, August 10 with a 2.30pm kick-off. Tickets cost £5 for adults and £3 for concession.
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Article source: http://www.espnscrum.com/wales/rugby/story/216811.html
Eleven Warriors players selected for national side
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