By Otu Nkpoidet

The much anticipated Nigeria rugby league grand final saw Lagos Haven wining the NRLA 2022 title after two years.

Since the inception of the tournament in 2019, Lagos Haven have found it difficult in having a national league title into their cabinet but all that came to an end on Sunday after  Lagos haven defeated Kano Lions  24-16 at the kings college ground.

Speaking with the Coach for Lagos Haven, Samson Okeowo, he attested to the fact that both team had a very good game but the later end, drama by the referee demoralized the potentials of the opposition team to come back to the game.

“I am happy we won this title the time of the year when we are preparing for the MEA in Ghana. We have trained so hard for the tournament and this is the time to celebrate the boys.

Samson mentioned that, the upcoming MEA in Ghana shows that the boys are prepared to defend the title.

“We can’t afford to lose the title to anyone else. We would defend the title and it gives us a chance for 2025 world cup qualifiers.

In an interview with the captain of Kano Lions, Nuhu Ibrahim praised the spirit of the boys and hope the federation will have a better officiating of the game.

“As a team we are not afraid to lose but all we want is that the game shouldn’t be one sided where the officiating take sides. The game was exciting and we hope meet them next season.

Commenting on the MEA, Ibrahim stated that the title will still remain in Nigeria. ‘’ like I said in an interview with you, as the MEA championship we would like to play as good as we played in 2019 because now most of the players  understand the laws of the game and that’s quite alright.

‘’We are going to Ghana to win and we have to bring our self’s together as players thereby having more training camp so that we get to know ourselves better. Also qualifying for the world cup 2025 will be a massive achievement for the nation’’.