Malta will be without the services of internationals Dragan Cerketa and Dylan Frendo for their September 29 clash against Denmark for the 2012 Dove Men+Care International Series.

The Sliema Stompers RL prop and Malta Origin fullback were debutants in Malta’s last start win against the Scandinavians on June 9 but Cerketa is unavailable due to work and Frendo has moved to Australia.

The changes have seen coach Anthony Micallef call in two players currently playing in London, including one Paola born Jonathan Magrin (pictured above).

Magrin, only 17, is signed to Super League club London Broncos and at 6’1 and 96kgs is at the London club for at least another two seasons where it is hoped he will make the step into the professional ranks of Super League. The other call-up is London Skolars hooker Danny Burke whose team plays in Championship One, the same division as Malta captain Chris Parker’s former team Gateshead Thunder.

Locally, Micallef’s men get stuck into their preparations this week after having a trial run last week in the international tag rugby festival at Hamrun. Micallef’s team will depart for Copenhagen one day early and will be welcoming supporters both from Malta, the UK, and any Maltese that are living in Denmark.

Micallef said “We’ve actually had a handful of supporters get in touch with us. We have about 15 meeting us in Denmark, and another couple travelling with the team from Malta and Gozo. It’s always special to have that support when playing away from home”

The Malta coach had reason to be satisfied with his team’s preparations when the UK contingent of players played with the UK based Maltese Exiles team last Saturday, defeating Great Britain Teachers and The Celts and falling 6-0 to the strong Fiji UK outfit at Leeds.

The MRL will produce live score updates on September 29 through twitter.com/maltaRL.

2012-09-12, 19:38