Attention rugby league fanatics - the
Palilulac Hammers need your patronage.
A Serbian rugby league team has been put
up for sale on eBay, hoping to attract a warchest of Dinars to help build some goal posts, get some new jerseys and start a youth team.
With rugby league still very much a fringe sport in eastern Europe, the club's owner, Vuk Popovic, is hoping a frenzied international bidding war will help his beloved Hammers establish themselves as one of Serbia's league giants.
"Rugby is great. The players don't wear helmets or padding, they just beat the living daylights out of each other and then go for a beer. I love that," says an unattributed quote on top of the club's website, giving potential buyers a small insight into the ethos of the organisation.
All of this could be yours. With the winning bid comes legal documentation, the right to change the name to a moniker of your choice (after consultation with the Serbian Ministry of Sports, obviously), a seat on the board, television airtime for advertising and prime position on the jerseys.
The Hammers are only a year old but according to mobile backrower Popovic, are in the midst of a meteoric rise through the ranks of Serbian footy.
They compete in the country's top tier competition, while the club's books boast 26 players, seven board members, a vice president, president and more than 50 fan club members.
The club is based in the southern Serbian city of Nis (pronounced Nish), the third-largest in the country, known as a historical gateway between Asia and Europe and for being the birthplace of the Emperor Constantine, who became the first Christian ruler of the Roman Empire.
In an email to brisbanetimes.com.au, Popovic described Nis as a "small, boring place", although the Wikitravel entry suggests otherwise, saying the city is "packed with historical sites worth visiting".
"We are group of genuine rugby league enthusiast but our funds are limited and most of the time it is the players that pay travelling expenses etc," says the broken English pitch on eBay.
"With a introduction of youth programs our goal is through subscriptions to fuel the club and raise level of rugby league in Nish and Serbia."
The side is coached by "rugby league legend" John Risman, while Popovic is something of a television personality, calling Australia's NRL games on regional Serbian television in a manner he is convinced puts "Ray French and Phil Guild" to shame.
He doesn't miss the chance to take a pot shot at rugby "yawnion" either, while saying league is also eclipsing American Football in the popularity stakes.
There is no reserve price for the auction, although the paperwork for the new owner is scheduled to take at least three weeks.
The club's website lists the vital stats of some of the players and also includes photos of team bonding sessions during a visit to Prague, further proof the latest off-field drinking controversies to plague the NRL are still to hit home in Europe.
