Dialog rugby league 2017/2018 begins tomorrow

By Shamseer Jaleel 

The Dialog club rugby league 2017/2018 will kick off tomorrow in Colombo with two games to be contested. 

In the season-opener defending League and Clifford Cup champions Kandy Sports Club will be in Colombo when they lock horns with a revamped CH&FC at the racecourse rugby grounds while in the other encounter under light Havelocks will host the new-look cops at Havelock Park. 

Kandy is led by former Kingswood and Sri Lanka Sevens player Gayan Weeraratne. Kandy will miss the services of three senior players who are yet to recover from their injuries. Roshan Weeraratne, Piyumal Manchanayake and Buwanka Udangamuwa will all miss out on the opening encounter. Kandy, who are never short of talent, have the best three quarter line with Dhanushka Ranjan, Dhanushka Dyan, Nigel Ratwatte, Fazil Marija, Arshard Jamaldeen and Thilina Wijesinghe who are all at their peak. In forwards play, Kandy will depend heavily on Yakoob Ali, Damith Dissanayake and Shehan Pathirana. 

They have also included some outstanding school-leavers in Heshan Jansen and Lakshitha Ranaweera who are both from Kingswood, Trinitian Diluksha Dange and Josephian playmaker Chathura Seneviratne, who are all expected to take to the field in the latter half. 

The new-look CH outfit will be led by Rohitha Rajapaksa with some outstanding former Navy players turning out for them. Lee Keegal, Sajith Saranga, Sathya Ranathunga and Yoshitha Rajapaksa are all out to make a difference for the Colombo club which has a rich rugby history of more than 100 years. Kandy should have things their own way in their first outing in Colombo. They will need to travel down to Colombo another six more times this season. The game will be refereed by Dinka Peiris. 

Havelocks should have things their own way when they meet the Police outfit, which is less experienced at the club standard as the majority of them are newcomers into top-class rugby. 

Muthuthanthri, Sharo Fernando and Reza Mubaraka, along with school leavers Denister Goonatilake and Theekshana Dassanayake, are all out to make the park club number one this season. Police will depend heavily on Arachcchige, Wajid Famhy and Ziad Singhwansa, who will be making his club debut after a very successful school season the last time around. On paper, Havelocks look a yard faster and are likely to start the season on a winning note. The referee for the game will be Weranga. 

Navy, led by Dhanushka Perera, will have plenty to settle this season but their preparation was hampered when a few of their senior players went to CH. They were fortunate to get outstanding players in Mohamed Abzal, Dinusha Chathuranga and Musheen Faleel from Police in their starting line-up. They will expect some accurate kicking from former Isipathana player Thilina Weerasinghe. 

Army, who has less experience at the club level, could be at the receiving end of a loss in this encounter. The referee for the game will be Priyantha Gunaratne. 

The last game of week one will see Air Force hosting the CR&FC outfit at Ratmalana. CR will depend heavily on their star players Tharinda Ratwatte, Ishan Noor, Thisila Karunathilake and Shashan Mohamed, who will be eager to give the Longdon Place club a winning start. 

Meanwhile, the airmen too are bursting with confidence under their new coach Ronny Ibrahim, who has turned many top club sides and Sri Lanka into winning outfits. They will have Radheesha Seneviratne and Iddamalgoda as their star players with Radeesha crossing over from the Police outfit. CR, who look a yard faster, should pull this off. The referee for the game will be Aaquil Jamaldeen.