Dinamo from Pančevo is one of the greats of Serbian rugby history. A club with a very rich history and tradition. The golden period is associated with the functioning in SFR Yugoslavia, when tutle were also won in the senior competition. Let’s remember that Dinamo was the champion of Yugoslavia five times, while it was vice-champion nine times. Pančevci also have 6 SFRY Cups in their showcases. They were the only sports team from Pancevo that won the title of champions of the country at that time.
Dynamo after 1991 .
after the dissolution of the SFRY, Pančevci did not have much success in senior competitions. No Championship or Cup was won. Belgrade clubs took over the primacy. However, Dinamo had a lot of success in the younger categories, but they never managed to materialize and develop young prospects into a strong senior team that would finally win the title in the Championship or in the Serbian Cup. In the last thirty years, Dinamo has had several great generations, several strong teams. However, they never managed to make a noticeable result, even to make a continuity of performances in the Serbian Championship for seniors.
In order to be able to understand the current structure of players in Dinamo, we must also mention the dark period of the club, where there was no rugby in Pancevo since 2010. until 2015 . Now it may seem like a period from prehistoric times, but believe me it is not, this information is very important for the club because there was a huge break in the work, where the generations that were even before 2010 trained in the club were lost. The damage that was done was huge for rugby in general.
Restarting the club
The club started again from the ashes and actively participated in the system of development of young selections. Very quickly, younger categories were formed, which were very successful in competitions. From 2017 all the way to 2021 players from Pančevo won all U18s junior championships. If you strategically look at the development of young players, then by simple calculation you come to the conclusion that it takes 7-8 years for a player to pass the junior categories and enter the first team, as a trained rugby player who can play at a high level. And the most important thing is that you have to do it continuously. It can happen that you have one or two players left from the whole generation, and it can happen that you have ten left. Don’t get us wrong, it’s not a lottery, but many factors affect the success of your work.
Those boys who came from the successful younger categories make up the vast majority of Dinamo players. The team is young and very promising, with a huge space to improve and make success. The club now has a huge task to support that young core, to surround it with a little more experienced players with whom the youth would grow and mature over the years. Pančevci already have one standard representative of Serbia in rugby 15 and rugby 7 who turns 20 this year and is one of the most talented players in Serbia. We are thinking of Ivan Voštić, a generational talent in domestic rugby.
Dinamo is now a stable club, which is currently making a continuity of games in the A group and which is slowly but surely gathering the necessary experience, which at some point will materialize in the form of results. That result may surprise us and come much sooner than we can expect. Unfortunately, a number of players have suffered serious injuries and are or will be sidelined for some time. Some injuries were received on the field, and some had their feelings hurt. But we’re not into a whining and wailing contest, we’re into rugby. However, rugby is not for everyone and requires both physical and mental strength, which is the characteristic of true athletes.
What will Dinamo's team look like?
Forwards
Dinamo has a large number of talented players who can cover several positions in the scrum. However, the first line will be very problematic during the season. Somehow, in the last few seasons, Pančevci have had the biggest problems in the positions of props and hookers. Last season there were several lineups that were used the most. It even got to the point that the first line was extremely experienced, where Joži Caran, Vladimir Ambruš and Dejan Manojlović very often made up the first lineup. Players who were born in the 70s of the last century. And they were quite successful.
In several matches, Đorđe Mišić, who is a representative of the younger generation, played on the first line. A great challenge was put before him, where he absolutely lived up to expectations. At some point, Stefan Dramičanin covered the pole position as needed, even though his primary position is in the third line. In the first part of last season, Petar Hinić also played in the position of the first line, who even made it to the jersey of the Serbian national team, where he played in the match against Andorra. To our great regret, we did not see him in the second part of the season after he recovered from his injury. However, rugby in Serbia is played at an amateur level, so after high school, players often choose a career instead of the sport they love, are good at and have been training for all their lives. It’s a bit of a bummer to leave something you love and play at a high level, but that’s life.
In the class of 2004, Dinamo has two players who can certainly be an excellent pledge for the future. There is Vuk Krivokuća in the position of counter, who also played that position for the U18 junior national team. There is also Petar Mljač who most certainly, with hard work, can become a respectable first league player. In the class of 2005, Dinamo had a generational talent in the form of Nemanja Milenković, who we all predicted would have a great career, not only in Serbia, but also abroad. Nemanja had everything, he was at a high level in every segment of the game. But the injury took its toll, in the meantime he has renewed his injury and the big question is how ready he is to return to the field. Our editorial staff wanted to see Nemanja on the field this year, because we believe that he should have been the future of rugby in Serbia. But unfortunately, sometimes wishes and reality are not on the same plane. However, this is another time where other things are more important than working hard and representing your country in the sport you love.
In the second line, Dinamo has considerable stability in very young players. From the former champion class of 2000, there is Mihailo Marjanović, who can stabilize the scrum and always provide a great game. Then there are two players from the class of 2004, Lazar Aleksić and Vukašin Vasić, active junior national team players who played fantastically against U18 Croatia in Zagreb last season.
The Gavrilović-Ambruš coaching tandem certainly has nothing to worry about for the third line, which is quite strong. We can safely say that the coaches will have a hard time because they will have a very difficult choice. Nikola Advigov is already an experienced solution in the third line, even though he was born only in 2000. . He already has enough games in his legs to be one of the leaders on the field. From the 2002 team, the primary option is Stefan Dramičanin, who improved considerably during the last season and who can be an extremely high-quality solution at the number 8. We waited a long time, wrote a lot, and in the end successfully welcomed the return of Stefan Milevski to the field after a sudden injury and surgery. Although his time and role were carefully dosed last season, he showed that he has not forgotten rugby. So we are impatiently waiting to see how it will look this season. David Pal had the game of his rugby life two years ago, before an injury prevented him from continuing at that pace last season as well. However, one of the best players in Serbia in the class of 2003 does not know how to give up, and he will certainly be fantastic this year as well.
Backs
In the lineup this year, Pančevci will have a huge talent that will face big challenges. We will see how the Pančevac diagonal will look in the first match of the season. Pančevci have enormous potential. First of all, we are referring to the already mentioned Ivan Voštić, who is already a regular in the Serbian national team. He can cover several positions, from winger, fullback, center and even flayhalf. He gets along best with Milan Kuzmanović, who we can say is the first brain of the team, a player who loves responsibility and pressure and knows how to cope with it very well. He played in the positions of scrumhalf and center. For us, Marko Košpić is a player who can give a new dimension to Dinamo’s game, speed it up sharply and chase away the high tempo. These three guys are extremely young, Ivan was born in 2003 , while Milan and Marko are representatives of the class of 2004. We must not forget Ognjen Voštić, a product of the class of 2005, who is a universal player and can perfectly cover several positions in the team.
In the central position, good games are expected from perhaps the most experienced player in the team, Bojan Nešić, even though he is only 26 years old. An extremely penetrating player who can make a difference on the pitch both in attack and defence. In the wing positions, we can also expect the performances of Vladan Dabić and Dejan Krkljuš, who can respond to all the challenges that are put in front of them with their speed. Krkljuš is one of the fastest players in Serbia who did well in the Dinamo jersey. We would like to see if he still has the foot speed and toughness for senior rugby. Strahinja Adžić, as a representative of the 2004 generation, can be very good in several positions. Last season, he was the first playmaker for both Dinamo and the junior national team of Serbia. One of the players who showed good form last season is Vanja Cvetanović, who played excellently in tandem with Nešić, where they showed that they can play at a high level. However, a high level is achieved through hard work, so if you are not ready to give your all in training, and in a very demanding sport like rugby, then it is suggested that you find a softer sport where you will feel safer.
Unfortunately, injuries did not bypass Dinamo this season either. Standard first-team player Dušan Gavrilović suffered an inconvenient injury in the off-season, which may keep him off the field for a long period of time. Dušan successfully covered the center and wing positions. We have to say that perhaps we most secretly expected to see Aleksandar Krkljuš finally on the field, after a very long time. He suffered a very inconvenient injury from which he successfully recovered. However, we won’t see him until the fall part of the season because he went to military service. So we can expect the two of them on the field from September.
Young people are slowly knocking on the door of the first team
Players from the class of 2006 will turn 17 this season and become eligible to play for the first team. You should never be in too much of a hurry with young people because you need to first gain enough knowledge and experience to be able to perform on the big stage. Here we mean Nikola Begunić, who can cover positions in the second and third line. He is a player who has been successfully performing in the younger categories for many years and from whom a lot is expected. Apart from him, a lot of hope is also placed in Danilo Bošković, who has made incredible progress in a very short time and distinguished himself as a great young talent. Danilo is a player who covers the positions of the second and third line and who works well on the field with Begunić.
What can we expect from Dinamo this season?
We can definitely expect great progress. Young players need time and experience to develop. People from Pančevici are not in a hurry and time works for them. This season, they have strengthened themselves in several positions, so it will be extremely interesting to watch their games. As far as we can see, top rugby will be played in Pancevo this season, so rugby fans will have the opportunity to watch good rugby. In the first round, Dinamo will host the defending champion Rad.
