Serbian Soni Radovanovic has landed in the UK for a trial with Whitehaven looking to set a precedent for his countrymen to break in to the professional game.

The 21-year-old forward will fit in well with Haven's massive pack and he will hope to impress coach Ged Stokes enough to earn a permanent deal.

His work permit came through at the weekend and he is set to line up in a Haven shirt for the first time in Saturday's academy game at Widnes.

Radovanovic met his new team mates for the first time on Wednesday night for his second spell in England, following a stint at then National League 3 side Warrington Wizards in 2006.

He said: "They seemed like a great bunch. I expect to fit in the team and to play the best I can."

The bulky forward noted Nathan Hindmarsh and Adrian Morley as players he looked up to and he hopes one day to pull on a shirt, maybe against Morley, in Super League.

"I've always wanted to play in Super League. I played a game one day and I liked it. League is not as big in Serbia as it is in England but it can definitely grow up."

Named Serbian Player of the Year in 2008, Radovanovic has been given his big chance in the Championship by Ged Stokes, who took over as coach of the Serbian national team in October.

Stokes said: "I was looking around for something to do when I was out of work. It was an opportunity to give them some help. I went across, initially to observe and advise, and they asked if I would coach them.

"I jumped at the chance because they are so committed to what they do. All they need is a guiding hand. I really enjoyed it. They are a great bunch of people.

"There is a very small domestic competition but I think rugby league is made for the Serbians. They are a big, athletic race.

"He's certainly got the physical attributes but whether he can adapt to the speed of the Championship and the speed of thought is another thing,"

Radovanovic moves to Cumbria from Dorcol Spiders, a leading club in his homeland, based in the country's capital, Belgrade. They are one of five clubs in the national rugby league championship - the others are Podbara Novi-Sad, Red Star Belgrade, FPN XIII and Hammers Nis.

The Serbs were involved in qualifying for the 2008 World Cup, but lost all three of their group games - 45-10 at home to Georgia, 44-6 against Russia and 38-26 in the Netherlands.

The national team have been regulars on the calendar in recent years and have come along way from the 100+ drubbings they suffered at the hands of Lebanon (102-0) and France (120-0) in October 2003. They celebrated their first victory in August 2006, 36-28 against Czech Republic, and followed that up with victories over Germany (38-6) and the Czechs (56-16) again to win the 2007 RLEF European Shield, Radovanovic scoring three tries in the competition.

Last year saw them take part in the Euro Med Challenge, losing 30-4 against Russia and 20-14 to Lebanon to finish third in the competition. This autumn, Serbia will take part in the new European Nations Cup where they will face Ireland in Limeric on October 17 and Wales in Belgrade on October 24.

This, together with Radovanovic's move to Whitehaven, will, it is hoped, increase the profile of league in Serbia.

European Federation regional development manager Jovan Vujosevic said: “This is a massive step for the game and the profile of it in Serbia.

“We hope that a lot of local players will track Soni’s steps and take similar ones in the future. The rest of the rugby league world can now see the growing quality of player we are producing.”

He's not the only Serb to have played in the UK already, however. Fellow countrymen Dalibor Vukanovic and Zoran Pesic have also had stints with Warrington Wizards back in 2006, with Pesic nominated for the Best Emerging Nations Player award in 2006.

So who knows, a Serbian star may be hitting a National League ground, or maybe even a Super League one, near you soon.