As the sun sets over the Welisara Navy Camp, another Dialog Rugby League season came an end for the Sailors.
They thumped the hapless CH & FC line- up 76 – 13 but Navy SC, last season’s runners up, will be disappointed with their overall showing in the League Championship, finishing behind Champions Kandy SC, a resurgent Havelock SC and CR & FC in the league table. A mass player exodus left the Sailors in a fix at the beginning of the season, as they lost 9 of their starters from the previous season to Kandy SC and Police SC.
The Sailors were in need of some new heroes and in came Thilina Weerasinghe, the stocky full back who had spent much of the previous seasons in the shadows of Nuwan Hettiarachchi and Reeza Mubarak. His boot bisected the posts a whopping 45 times over the course of the championship but what was most impressive was his prowess with the ball in hand, crossing the line 8 times to finish as the second highest try scorer behind Havelock’s Hooker Prasath Madhusanka.
ThePapare.com caught up with the 24 year old for Kingswoodian at the end of the game versus CH & FC in which Thilina scored 26 points, including 2 tries.
After a gruelling contest to end the season, Thilina’s elation at his achievement was apparent, “Today is the most special day, the most memorable day of my rugby career, I feel great finishing as the League’s top scorer for this season. I am very happy that I was able to score two tries, I think I may have been able to score more but at the same time I am satisfied with my performance.”
Thilina’s journey in rugby started when he was just a boy of 11 at Sarasavi Uyana College in Peradeniya when one of his friends asked him to come for rugby practices.“I started playing in grade 6. One of my friends played so he just asked me if I wanted to come for practices one day, so I did and that’s how my rugby life started.”
After he completed his GCE O Levels, Thilina found his way to Kingswood College, Kandy where he played under the watchful eyes of current Navy SC coach Nilfer Ibrahim. “Nilfer Sir and Nalaka Weerakkody coached me at Kingswood. Nilfer sir is the one who worked with me on my kicking initially.”
Kingswood has been at the forefront of the schools’ rugby scene for many years and it was no different during Thilina’s time there, he does rue the fact that they were unable to capture a title during that time though.“We were runner’s up in the schools’ rugby championship in 2010 and in 2011 we finished in 4th position.”
He has been fortunate enough to have had a relatively settled life in rugby so far. “I have always played at Full Back, all through my school career and now in club rugby. It’s now my 4th year in club rugby, I’ve played my entire career so far at Navy SC. I didn’t really face many obstacles along the way – I only had injuries during my school career and as a result I missed out on playing at the U20s. But other than that, nothing much has gone wrong”
Coming from the hill capital, for most youngsters the dream is to play for Sri Lanka’s most dominant Club team, Kandy SC. Not for Thilina though, as he was grateful for any opportunity to play in the domestic scene. “As soon as I finished schooling, I was approached by Navy SC, the coach back then was also Nilfer sir. I didn’t really have any preference as to which club I wanted to play for, I just knew that I wanted to play club rugby so when I got the offer from Navy, I took it.”
Thilina’s career could have also gone in the direction of Police SC as his parents are both part of the Sri Lankan Police Force. “At home it’s just my mum, dad and my older sister. My parents are from the Police. No one in my family has played rugby. So they didn’t push me to play for any team – they gave me the freedom to choose where I want to play.”
Thilina is a keen student of the game, making sure he learns a few lessons from all the players he gets to watch. “I never really had a specific idol growing up, I watch all the good players and try to emulate their good qualities. In international rugby, my favourite player is Quade Cooper, I love the way he steps. Fazil aiya and Yoshitha aiya are good in the local rugby scene.”
Obviously in order to succeed at this level a few different things factor in, Thilina’s approach to the game is simple – practice makes perfect. “I’m not the type of player who really enjoys spending much time in the gym or the pool. But I usually do some extra kicking before the team practices, it’s after I’ve completed that that I join the team.”
According to Thilina, there is no real secret to his success this season. “I am part of a team and because we played as a team I was able to get a lot of points. I got a lot of support from my team-mates and that’s the reason that I was able to finish the league season as the top points scorer. We also get a lot of support from the Navy. The Navy Commander, Nilfer Sir, our Manager, Saranga aiya, my teammates, my family, I’m thankful to all of them for their support”
So what is it that we can look forward to from the League season’s top points scorer in the foreseeable future?
“In the previous season I didn’t get to play in many games because Nuwan Hettiarachchi and Reeza Mubarak were here, but this year I got the opportunity to play and prove myself. My primary goal right now is to play for the Tuskers, so far I haven’t gotten the opportunity, I think I will be able to fulfil that ambition in the near future.”
“In terms of the team, obviously our goal was to finish the league as champions, but since we lost a few games we weren’t able to achieve that. Now our target is to be crowned knockout champions – I honestly believe we can do it.”
