Sammut selected for Malta

Crusaders’ Jarrod Sammut and the Cardiff Demons trio of Paul Bartlett, Shaun Bartlett, Joey Davies have all made the 25-man Malta squad for the 2011 European Shield.

Sammut has already declared his availability for their opening match against Germany on July 23 at Hochspeyer as there is no Crusaders match that weekend. Sixteen players are from the domestic Malta Rugby League Championship.

“We’ve named a strong squad,” said Malta coach Anthony Micallef. “It’s the end of a long season in Malta but I’m excited about what is ahead of us and so is the squad we’re putting together.”

Meanwhile, RFL Official Andy Gilvary has completed a report on progress the sport is making on the islands after his recent visit.”In a nation where 9 out of 10 residents can trace their family tree to either Australia or the United Kingdom, there is scope to believe that rugby league can embed itself in the community,” he concluded.

Malta squad:

Paul Bartlett, Shaun Bartlett, Joey Davies (Cardiff Demons); Jarrod Sammut (Crusaders); Chris Parker (Gateshead Thunder); Clifford Debattista (Gozo); Daniel Schembri (Hammersmith); Malcolm Attard, Daniel Grima, Matthew Frendo, Joss Howland, Vince Stivala, Matthew Von Brockdorff, Andrew Zammit Manduca (North RL); Justin Genovese (Penrith Panthers); Graham Attard, Peter Bradley, Matthew Camilleri, Mark Cortis, Joey Criminale, Jurgen Pavanello, Dario Schembri, Matthew Spagnol (South RL); Shaun Gilmour (Warrington Wizards); Paul Borg (Widnes St Maries)