Rugby League Norway hosts its first ever tournament this weekend as more people try to spread the greatest game.

The Scandinavia Cup will take place at Ekeberg in Oslo on Saturday and Sunday in the Rugby League Nines format featuring Team Alpenstoff (Germany), Nordic Barbarians (Sweden and Denmark), London Anzacs as well as three local rugby union teams who are eager to play the new code.

The tournament has been built up as a festival of rugby league, and Rugby League Norway president Warren Heilig hopes it will be a success.

He said: "We really hope to mostly gain some fans out of this and to showcase the sport as a great thing to be a part of. Also we want to shake off some of the old untruths and myths about our game by letting guys try it for themselves."

Heilig, 30, was born in Auckland to a Maori mother and Australian father, and grew up in Brisbane. He started his playing career at Wynnum Manly, starting as a junior at the age of five, before moving to the USA for a few years to do coaching and development work.

He took a few years out after a knee reconstruction while playing for the US national team, and then moved to London Skolars in 2007.

His connection to Norway comes through his Norweigan wife, and before their move to Scandinavia, Heilig got in touch with RLEF boss Kevin Rudd to see if he could help with the development of the game.

The ball had already started rolling thanks to Jostein Ryan, who first introduced rugby league to school children in Norway in 2006.

Heilig believes this has laid a solid foundation for the growth of the sport. He said: "It was great in helping show the kids a new sport over here.

"Jostein is now in charge of helping develop the game around the Fredrikstad/Glommen area of the country which could prove great value in the coming years."

Ryan, 27, moved to the Gold Coast at the age of six, and fell in love with rugby league, while growing up Down Under with his Australian father and Norwegian mother.

When he moved back to Norway his passion for Rugby League continued, and the new Rugby League Norway development officer said: "I'm really excited about Rugby League growing in Norway and I can't wait to work with the kids and teach them all about the greatest game of all."

The long term goal of Rugby League Norway is to attract more locals to take up the sport and eventually start up a competitive competition.

Heilig added: "We have about a group of 40 guys who really enjoy watching it, and after the tournament hopefully we have converted more.We have two clubs and 1 Swedish club from Gothenburg who are all interested in playing some games of rugby league throughout the year.
"Hopefully this tournament will spark the interest of many more and we can build up a few more clubs in the next year or so."

But how much of a threat to their development is rugby union?

"It's here but it's not very big. There are only five major clubs here,so guys dont really get many games over here. Hopefully thats where we can come in and offer them more matches.

"Even though its rugby league I dont think the guys will care too much, as most are unaware of the history between the two codes."

And Heilig believes that the two codes can work together to help each other in Norway.

"Definitely. We are already doing that. They are happy to work with me, and I am happy to work in with them because it's really a case of scratch my back and I will scratch yours.

"In truth this tournament will raise the profile of both codes and give Norwegian kids the option now to play which ever code they think best suits them."

We will be bringing you coverage of the first ever Rugby League Norway tournament next week. To learn more about the game in Norway, visit www.norskrl.com.