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Australian-born Euan Aitken has little knowledge of his Scots heritage – but he is keen to discover more, finds Kevin Ferrie
WHO do you think you are? With a couple of expletives thrown in that was, for many decades, the question regularly levelled at Scottish rugby players who had dared to accept offers to turn professional by joining rugby league clubs, whenever they returned to their old stomping grounds.
A fair few of the so-called “Kilted Kiwis” and other southern hemisphere imports recruited to the Scottish rugby cause over the past 20 years have, one way or another, been similarly challenged.
Yet it is also an enquiry that has become synonymous with genealogy thanks to a successful BBC programme and it is in that context that it is most relevant to Euan Aitken, the Australian whose pride in his heritage has drawn him to join Scotland’s cause in their forthcoming Rugby League Four Nations campaign.
Aitken knows his family is Scottish, but that is just about all. Grandfather Andrew, whose forename has subsequently been passed on to two generations to Aitken’s father and older brother, was one of the “£10 Poms” who headed Down Under in the 1950s and 60s. He was among the many who never returned, in his case barely having the opportunity since, after meeting his wife – a Latvian who had taken advantage of a similar one-way ticket – he died in his early 30s.
The story Aitken grew up with is incomplete since nothing useful was passed on in terms of contact with the old country. The 21-yearold is aware, then, that playing international rugby is not the only opportunity provided by this trip.
“There’s been a bit of family loss as a consequence,” said Aitken, who plays for St George Illawarra in global rugby league’s premier club competition, Australia’s National Rugby League. “It would be great to know a bit more about our connections here. It’s unfortunate that we don’t know more about remaining family here, but he came from Glasgow so it would be something pretty surreal if me playing in this competition played a part in re-establishing those links.”
While he focuses on the tournament, his parents may have a better chance of doing some sleuthing, but whether or not that proves successful Aitken knows just what this will mean for his father.
“My dad and mum [Jill] are coming over,” he said. “It will be very emotional for him. Obviously he grew up without a father but very aware of his Scottish heritage, so I’m sure when we get kilted up and we’re walking around the stadium that will be quite a moment for him. I think he might tear up.”
It will be emotional for Aitken, too, not least because that first match will be against Australia, the team he still hopes to represent one day, reflecting the fact that in seeking to develop an international dimension and move out of its heartlands, rugby league has had to take a pragmatic line on eligibility, allowing what amounts to free upward movement for players who catch the eye playing for Tier-Two nations, namely all those other than the big three.
The rule that debarred those representing countries other than Australia from playing in the prestigious annual State of Origin Series, between New South Wales and Queensland, has also been relaxed.
“I was born and raised in Australia so that’s my country as well, but Scotland is a major part of who I am and our background was talked about when I was growing up, so I always said that if I got the chance to play for Scotland I’d love to,” Aitken said.
The reality is that the risks for these players hugely outweigh the rewards to the extent that, ironic as it may be given the abuse so long heaped on players for joining league’s professional ranks, the squad’s culture is almost a reversion to the amateur ethics of playing for the love of country and the sport.
Meeting league’s three superpowers on successive weekends, Scotland have no real chance, but in that regard, Aitken has absorbed essential lessons in Scottishness.
“Having a few NRL players and some Super League players in our own squad gives us confidence and the vibe around the camp is good,” he said.
“Everything around the squad is pretty professional and we’ve got a chance to shake up the competition. It makes it even better when you can do that as underdogs. That mentality was instilled in me from my dad from an early age.”