D Drew 1 - … “Simon saw the name Seibold, knew it was German and reached out to me out of the blue,” said Seibold who was beginning his coaching career as an assistant at Celtic Crusaders in Wales. My thoughts are with his daughter, wife and those closest to him. inaugurated a Hall of Fame with Cooper the first included, NRLD president Bob Doughton saying: “There was no doubt who the first inductee should be; Simon Cooper, the man who started rugby league in Germany.”, In his final interview Cooper says, poignantly: “Life is sometimes like a match, it’s a challenge. Just try and get a game on, enjoy it, build it brick-by-brick and see where you go.”, RLEF board member Graeme Thompson paid tribute to Cooper’s contribution to the sport. Cooper, who pioneered the code in Germany in 2004, stepped down from the board of the Nationaler Rugby League Deutschland last year and has now been told he has just weeks to live after a four-year battle with the incurable blood cancer, Myeloma. Seibold, whose grandfather Andreas moved to Australia in the 1950s to work on the Snowy River Scheme, didn’t even know rugby league existed in Germany until Cooper emailed him in 2006. I flew in, met all the guys, we had one training session and they said we think you would be more help playing so I had to borrow a pair of boots. Estonia 38–24: Rugby League European Shield: Viimsi Stadium, Tallinn: 528 25 June 2006: Germany def. The RLEF word, the RLEF logo and all marks related to RLEF competitions, are protected by trademarks and/or copyright of RLEF. It is more than just playing the game of rugby league. I was meant to go over and help coach but I ended up playing. There is a St George Supporters Club based in Berlin but Cooper said that many rugby league fans in Germany support the Broncos because of Seibold. The son of a Hamburg-born father and grandson of a Luftwaffe serviceman who died in the air over France, Cooper moved to Germany in 2002 and organised the country’s first rugby league match in Heidelberg three years later. “His brother Damien is very similar to Anthony and he has helped the German guys when they have gone on travels. “When you see Jimmy playing at Wembley you think, ‘I’ve played with him’, and it’s the same with Anthony coaching at Brisbane,” Cooper told the RLEF podcast. “The Estonia team was actually the Estonia rugby union team who were playing rugby league for probably the first time but I remember the ambassador of Germany being at … I extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends and the NRLD. There was a time when Simon wanted to recruit Paul Gallen to the cause, perhaps because of his jawline. “On behalf of the RLEF, I express our sorrow at hearing of Simon's passing. German rugby league pioneer Simon Cooper. That game marked the first international victory for the Czech team.[1]. “I was meant to go over and help coach but I ended up playing. RUGBY LEAGUE DEUTSCHLAND - PRESS RELEASE Date: 18 October, 2017 Contact: Bob Doughton | Doughton GERMAN RUGBY LEAGUE REPORT SUCCESSFUL 2017 Dramatic victory over Wales Dragonhearts, 38-34, in Cardiff last Saturday marked a highly satisfactory 2017 for rugby league in Germany. Simon Cooper and Bob Doughton are joint coaches. “You don’t go to a country like that to start rugby league when it would have been foreign to everyone in Germany.”. Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Czech's Pick Up First Victory in Shield Success", Rugby League International Federation Website, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Germany_national_rugby_league_team&oldid=958797470, Articles needing cleanup from November 2014, Wikipedia list cleanup from November 2014, Articles needing additional references from April 2020, All articles needing additional references, Articles with multiple maintenance issues, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 25 May 2020, at 19:23. Throughout Germany, soccer is all-encompassing. Germany 38–6: Rugby League European Shield: Heidelberg, Germany: Not known: 22 July 2006: Germany def. I have lost a friend as has the wider rugby league community.”. Since 2007, Germany has been a participant in the European Shield, the successor to the Central Europe Tri-Nations. 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