Barrow Raiders forward Anton Iaria has been named in Italy’s 25-man squad ahead of the upcoming Rugby League World Cup.
Iaria, 26, enjoyed a memorable debut campaign at the Raiders in 2022, and his performances have now resulted in a national team call-up.
In total, he featured 31 times for the Raiders, 28 of which were starts. He also scored six tries.
Iaria helped the Azzurri qualify for the group stages in 2019 and has made four appearances for his country to date.
The powerful front-rower qualifies for Italy through his grandparents’ heritage.
He is one of six UK-based players in the squad, joining Whitehaven’s Ryan King, London Broncos duo Rinaldo Palumbo and Dean Parata, Keighley Cougars’ Brendan Santi and Swinton Lions’ Richard Lepori.
Former Raiders forward Alec Susino, now at Penrith Panthers, has also been named.
Italy have been drawn in Group B alongside Australia, Fiji and Scotland.
They begin their World Cup campaign against Scotland on Sunday 16 October at Newcastle’s Kingston Park, meaning Iaria could be in line to face Raiders team-mates Charlie Emslie and Shane Toal, who were named in the Bravehearts’ squad ahead of the tournament.
25-man Italy squad: Daniel Atkinson, Jake Maizen, Luke Polselli (all Sunshine Coast Falcons); Nathan Brown, Luca Moretti, Jack Colovatti (all Parramatta Eels); Joseph Tramontana, Luke Hodge (both Blacktown Workers); Cooper Johns (Melbourne Storm); Ryan King (Whitehaven); Jack Campagnolo (South Sydney Rabbitohs); Alec Susino (Penrith Panthers); Kyle Pickering (Cronulla Sharks); Ethan Natoli (Newtown Jets); Nicholas Tilburg (Wentworthville); Gieole Celerino (Racing St Gaudens); Simone Boscolo (RC Salon XIII); Giordano Arena (Catania Bulls); Ippolito Occhialini, Alex Rojatto (both Lignano Sharks); Dean Parata (London Broncos); Brendan Santi (Keighley Cougars); Anton Iaria (Barrow Raiders); Richard Lepori (Swinton Lions).
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