A good example: Lebanon players Michael Lichaa and Robbie Farah, who believes sport is a "great source of uniting people". Credit:AAP But NRL players who normally run a mile from such issues went with him. The crowd fell silent. "We have an opportunity to change perceptions of our community," prop Mannah, the 29-year-old with more than 200 appearances for Parramatta, told 600 guests. Lebanon's coach is Brad Fittler, an 11th-hour replacement for Ivan Cleary who had an NRL club to coach and a kidney to donate instead. Fittler – who now looks like being the next NSW coach – thought Shehade's one-liners hilarious. But what Mannah said tickled Fittler's rarely seen unfunny-bone. "You talk to them, absolutely – they know a lot about it," says the 48-year-old veteran of 40 Tests for Australia. "Just driving around is probably [when they face] their biggest prejudice. They get pulled up. At airports and that sort of stuff.

"Some of the things the Lebanese community is associated with aren't pleasant – but that doesn't represent the community as a whole. "The big thing is they have a chance to change it. If it's actually happening and it's real, they get a chance to put across a group of people who want to work hard together and want to show those qualities that we're talking about. "You put that image across by the way you compete – you compete 'til the end. You put it across by your respect for different things. "They're the really strong things that I encourage. The results are something at the moment we're not that worried about. We want to make sure the fans are watching respectful, hard-working people." It's perhaps just as well the results aren't the focus. On the positive side, three teams progress from the Cedars' group at the World Cup. On the negative, two of the sides in group A are Australia and England.

On Sunday night, the loser of Lebanon v France at GIO Stadium can almost certainly start planning for a beach getaway during the quarter-finals. Captain Robbie Farah is at halfback.His only previous appearance in the position was also for the Cedars – in Tripoli, Lebanon, in November 2002. On that occasion, Hazem El Masri took advantage of a power blackout to move his conversion attempt 10 metres infield while the lights were out. "I remember being real nervous – I was 18 years old and got picked as a starting halfback in an international," Farah, 33, recalls. "I was s------- myself. "I remember scoring the first try of the game and then as we walked back to the halfway line, like you said, there was a blackout, and we were panicking.

"It was 2002, which was a year after September 11, and you're in the Middle East and you don't know what's going on. The generators kicked in and we ended up having a really convincing 36-6 victory." It's important to remember this isn't the Lebanese team, it's the Lebanon team. As in, it represents rugby league in Lebanon, where teams over the years have included the Immortals and the Balamand (University) Tigers. There are domestic players in the squad. But the impact it can have on Australia's Lebanese community looms large for Farah. "We're proud Lebanese people and sometimes in our community you get portrayed in the wrong way," said Farah. "There's a small minority, obviously, that gives you a bad name. "For us, we've got an opportunity to do something good here in the community and have a positive impact and bring people together.