'I want to be the first Bangladeshi': Nafi chases NRL dream

Bangladesh-born Nafi Khandaker believes other athletes from South Asia will be inspired to play rugby league if he is able to fulfil his dream of playing in the NRL or Super League.  

Khandaker, who grew up in Sydney after his parents moved from Bangladesh when he was young, played at junior representative level for the Bulldogs and was also a member of the London Broncos pathways system.

A planned move to Salford last year fell through when the club fell into financial difficulty that cost the Reds their place in Super League but Khandaker refuses to give up his ambition to play at the elite level.

“I have always had a passion for rugby league,” Khandaker said. “I started playing when I was eight for Bankstown Bulls and then Greenacre Tigers.

"I went to Endeavour High, which has a rugby league program, and I made the Harold Mats (Mathews Cup) squad at the Bulldogs.

“I trialled with London Broncos when I was 17 and I spent 10 months there, but my parents wanted me to come home to finish my HSC. I was hoping to get a scholarship to go to university in the United States, but I did my ACL.”

A fullback or winger, Khandaker played last season for Ryde-Eastwood Hawks but is aiming to step up to a higher level and feels he can make an impact if he succeeds.

Bangladesh has a population of 180 million people, while the population of South Asia - also known as the Indian sub-continent, which includes Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - is more than 2 billion.

Wests Tigers secondrower Alex Seyfarth has a grandfather from Sri Lanka and boom Sea Eagles rookies Ashton and Onitoni Large boast Indian heritage but there is yet to be an NRL player born in South Asia.

“I definitely think rugby league is the most multicultural sport, and in the NRL you have Indigenous fellows, you have Pacific Islanders and you have people from Ireland, England, Europe and so many nationalities,” Khandaker said.

“But there is no one from Bangladesh and If I can make it that will create a pathway for athletes from my country, but also the entire sub-continent, to pursue rugby league.

“It would be such an amazing opportunity for the game to develop in the Bengali community and to promote the game to billions of people from the sub-continent and around the world. 

"Even in Australia and the UK there is such a big community of people from the sub-continent so for someone to be the first would definitely open up pathways and interest.”

A recent visit to Bangladesh generated significant media interest in Khandaker’s sporting story, which includes a possible tilt at NFL, as well as sponsorship to support his bid to become a fulltime athlete.

Bangladesh has a national rugby 7s team but cricket is firmly entrenched as the No.1 sport, and Khandaker said there was an opportunity for league.

“I’d love for them to pursue rugby league because I think rugby league is much better and much easier to understand,” Khandaker said.

“It just takes one person to make it professionally for them to say, ‘someone made it from our country, let’s have a look into this sport'.”