Mikhael Shammas has quit the AUB Wolves RLFC, replaced by Faysal Jaber, who will take charge of the Corniche-siders’ next game, against derby rivals LAU a week on Saturday. Shammas, who replaced Remond Safi at AUB at the beginning of this season, will take up his post-graduate studies at Harvard in the USA. According to LRLC chief operating officer Danny Kazandjian, Jaber has big shoes to fill.

“I would like to pay tribute to the outstanding contribution Mikhael Shammas has made not only to AUB rugby league but to Lebanese rugby league as a whole,” he said. “Mikhael managed to completely overhaul AUB’s football team, particularly their morale, off-the-field organisation and unity. He’s instigated many initiatives that the sport will benefit from, such as taking a leading role on the club formation project, developing his club’s brand on a professional level, as well as ably assisting the Cedars during their heroic World Cup Qualification campaign last year.

“All of his work has been undertaken under an umbrella of unshakeable positivity which has been a breath of fresh air and should serve as an inspiration to us all. His loss is severe and I wish him well in the future. Hopefully he’ll be back in Lebanon in two years to play a leading role in the further rise of Lebanese rugby league.”  

The Wolves, the early power of Lebanese rugby league after winning the first two Winter Championships, had been in a prolonged slump for two years, compiling a miserable 8-20 record over the past four seasons, operating a small squad that at times struggled to meet the minimum required quota and slipping into an innate culture of defeat. One contributing factor to AUB’s slump was the removal of their athletics facilities due to a major redevelopment project on the campus. This month, the new $20 million Charles W. Hostler Student Center became available to the rugby league team, giving AUB the best sporting facilities in the country, let alone the league. The welcome addition of influential foreign players Daniel Egan and Darren Kinnaird has also been a factor in the team’s resurgence, along with the maturing of established local players and a healthy batch of talented newcomers.

Australian Jaber, a former St George junior, takes over with four games in the regular season remaining, and with third-placed AUB balancing on a 6-6 record, locked in a struggle with Jounieh, LAU and Balamand for a place in the final. How he handles the post-Shammas transition will be a critical factor for AUB’s chances.