NRL Grand Final day this year for me was in Istanbul, part of a wonderful week-long holiday with friends to the ancient Turkish city with a fascinating side trip to the Gallipoli battlefields.
Amongst the many glittering highlights of our trip was a Sunday afternoon in a busy Irish pub just off the main shopping strip in the centre of Istanbul watching the Panthers overcome the Eels.
As a long-suffering Bulldogs supporter I had jumped ship to the Panthers for this finals series. I was pretty sure I had a good chance whilst my travelling companions were firmly with the Eels camp. But the Panthers’ victory wasn’t the highlight of the day for me, nor was it the French commentator for the game who kept yelling out gems like Nathan Clearyyyy, ooh lah lah”, and “Guthersaaan, fantastique”.
The highlight for us was the chance meeting with the president of the Turkish Rugby League, Gurol Yildiz, and several of his wonderful young players who had also gathered in the same pub to spend their Sunday afternoon watching the grand final.
Their passion for the game came across in their great knowledge of the game and in their animated following of the action. These young men and women, university students and young professionals, have adopted rugby league wholeheartedly and are desperate to advance the cause of the game in Turkey.
There are four clubs in Istanbul at the moment with both male and female teams and a fledging Tri-National competition, between Turkey, Greece and the Balkans. Growing the game in Turkey is a passion for Yildiz, who grew up playing in the Canterbury area of Sydney’s south as well as faithfully attending Bulldogs games at Belmore Oval.
He returned to Turkey 20 years ago, raising a family and running a business in frenetic Istanbul. But his love for footy has never diminished.
Indeed, Yildiz’s main goal at the moment is to convince the Australian Defence Force to commit to a yearly ANZAC match to be played the day after ANZAC Day in Canakkale, the main jump off point for any tour of Gallipoli.
Given the crowds of Australians and New Zealanders that will surely return for the post-COVID ANZAC Cove Ceremony in 2023, Yildiz believes that a game the day after on the 26th of April between the male and female Turkish national teams and two ADF teams would add another amazing dimension to the already strong cultural connection between our countries.
(Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
“Who knows”, says Yildiz, “We might even convince the New Zealanders, the British and the French militaries to send teams. All the combatants from 1915. We can call it the Gallipoli Cup.”
What a great way to commemorate and build understanding between two countries after the sacrifice of so many at a place that means so much to both Australians and Turks.
This is not a new idea, Yildiz tells me. The Turkish Rugby League men’s team have toured Australia in the recent past, playing the ADF at the SCG and sharing commemorations at the Attaturk Memorial in Sydney’s Hyde Park. The connections are already there, they just need further development.
With the Grand Final over for another year, the beer flowed and the conversation with these wonderful young Turks turned to their lives, their families, their education and their dreams of travel.
We asked them if they would like to to come to Australia and play rugby league and their universally wide-eyed and excited responses told us all we needed to know about the potential for rugby league to grow worldwide. The game in Turkey is definitely growing and, because of the Gallipoli Legend, has the unique potential to become more than just a game.
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