Rugby league administrators should be rushing to combine the four Pacific island nations – New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa and Fiji – into their own State of Origin series.
If we have learnt anything from the current Rugby League World Cup, it is that the Kiwis are no longer the ‘big brothers’ in a class of their own from their three neighbouring ‘minnows’.
Scheduling will be the key, but imagine a two to three-week break from the NRL and a weekend that could start with Samoa vesus Fiji on Friday night, Tonga versus New Zealand on Saturday night and the Blues versus the Maroons on Sunday.
What an extravaganza! But wait, there’s more.
The Pacific nations would play again the following weekend to decide the top two teams followed by Game 2 between the Blues and the Maroons. Later in the season, perhaps midweek, the two big finals could be played, with the Pacific island match played in Auckland. All matches would be a rating bonanza but, importantly, would be amazing for the growth of the game.
(AAP Image/David Rowland)
Laurie Daley described the recent Samoa versus Tonga match as the greatest opening he had ever seen for any match. The changing of the guard, with many players choosing their native country over playing for the powerful Kiwis, has balanced the Pacific nations scales, and all four teams are competitive relative to each other, although Samoa is still a work in progress after a 14-all draw with the battling Bravehearts. An interesting side note is that $80,000 was traded on Samoa at 1.01 against Scotland.
The newfound competitiveness from the Pacific islanders has been a shot in the arm for rugby league, and if it is managed correctly by the administrators, the end result will be a new revenue stream from a fat TV contract that will complement the goldmine that is State of Origin.
Channel Seven have covered the RLWC and Network Ten, with new owners, would also be obvious contenders for the rights to cover an Origin-style contest between the Pacific island nations.
We have all seen the potential, but it all falls short if the big guns of Australia and New Zealand hand-pick the best from the top and offer huge sums of money in player grabs that will weaken Tonga, Samoa and Fiji.
It was the players who initiated this move, but it should be the game’s leaders who should change the rules to ensure that it is equally financially attractive for Jarryd Hayne to play for Fiji and Jason Taumalolo to play for Tonga.
(Image: NRL)
As I sat in the stand at Allianz and watched the amazing Lebanon crowd cheer their heroes, somehow it just did not sit well as Josh Mansour, a son of a Beirut-born father, ran out for the Kangaroos after playing three matches for the Cedars.
The strong will always be strong, but the exciting 28-22 Tongan win over the Kiwis signalled the birth of a new revenue stream for our game. The Tongans were fabulous, but this was the weakest Kiwi team I have ever rated, which was exacerbated by poor selections. Many considered Jesse Bromwich and Kevin Proctor were harshly treated when they were dropped from the Kiwi team, and this led to other defections.
Also young Storm hooker Brandon Smith was overlooked after playing a starring 80-minute role in the Queensland Cup final. He is a star and has been chosen as the man to succeed living legend Cam Smith, but somehow the Kiwi selectors preferred the pedestrian Thomas Leulual. Playing Kodi Nikorima on the left side in place of Te Marie Martin also raised many eyebrows, and Tonga enjoyed great success down that side.
The Kiwis can and will get much stronger, but let’s hope that it is not at the expense of another neighbouring country.
Wilson
Guest
Adrian lam used to play for QLD and Kumuls
Robbo
Guest
All these people banging on about having pacific tests and origin type games forget the populations off most of these countries are very low for this to continue into the future- only reason why players can play for these countries is a father or grandfather was born on those countries- that eligibility rule will soon be over in a generation to come - Samoa -195k/Tonga- 107k / Fiji- 900k/Cook Islands-18k - PNG is the only viable league nation with 8 mill population - need to get the game going in Europe/USA one has to say
Goerge
Guest
Sorry Scott - can’t agree. Your use of the words vision and viable seem out of context. 1. The vision that you speak of is no more or no less viable now that a sprinkling of stars have switched allegiances than it was before Taumalolo and Fifita grabbed RLWC headlines. All of the reasons why international Rugby League fixtures and tournaments should be the focus moving forward were there long before any of this recent commentary. 2. Viability is not something that is predetermined in entertainment -and footy in all its formats is no exception. You can look at any number of influential factors when making the decisions about the potential of an entertainment product to take on new, expanded or reinvented formats but they will only ever tell a percentage of the story. In this case the game of Rugby League has almost all of the influential factors in its favour for unprecedented and insane growth- it’s almost the perfect storm. However- ultimately a strong leadership structure, individual or group have to show ( or have the vision to ) initiative and instigate growth. Quite simply, that is where the discussion falls over before it even began.
tamaolevao
Guest
Great article Scott some good points with a lot of great ideas going forward for both Samoa and Tonga........ But there missing ingredient in all of this would be the administration of the Samoan and Tongan national teams .... Just to give you a little insight into what I'm talking about there is the Queensland Samoan rugby league under 16, 21 ,NSW , Melbourne ect all with the same ....with every other Samoan team in NZ all of which developed the majority of nrl talent on show right now ...... These teams are coached by amateur coaches with the help ,motivation and mentoring from past Samoan nrl players there is a gluten of talent filtering through any given Samoan team .... as for the administration you can only imagine the logistical and organisational headaches associated with a lot of talent and no centralised body no funding ect......... I haven't even began to mention the RL in Samoa itself .... It's like the current state of the heavyweight division heaps of titles and belts all fighting for their own identity.... in architecture all beautiful buildings rely on the solid foundation that it was built upon This will be so for our PI teams ...... If the revelations that the Aussies get paid 20 grand per game compared to the token 500 dollars islanders receive in comparison then you'll be in for more shocking revelations before this World Cup is through......
Rob9
Roar Guru
This is the point Scott, who’s to say it’s not both their heart and bank balance that preference Australia? My grandparents are Italian and I’m very proud of my Italian heritage. I’ll go for Italy in anything (damn Sweden this morning!!!) except when it comes to Italy playing Australia. If I were a promising young footballer signing my first NRL contract, it wouldn’t ever cross my mind to represent anyone else other than Australia. I also would have been bought up dreaming of playing in the SOO arena so why on earth would I turn my nose up at that opportunity. Trying to push players who can represent other countries on the grounds of their heritage is misguided. If they make that choice on their own, fine. But even though it pays to play for the Kangaroos, I’d dare say that most players who were born here, grew up here, played for their local clubs/schools here and went on to make junior representative teams here also have a burning desire to play the elite rep football for their state and country. Why try and influence that?
Sydneysider
Guest
If rugby league (and I'm talking about the RLIF NOT the NRL) have ambitions of expanding the game, then the 2025 world cup which is slated to be hosted in USA/Canada will be the key indicator. If the RLIF decides to take the tournament away from them and give it to England/Australia/NZ again, then we'll know that the RLIF aren't serious and nothing will have changed. Sorry to burst the bubble of the optimists in this thread, but having Australia as the host nation and getting some decent crowds to non-Australian games does not mean that international rugby league is thriving or expanding. The onus is on the RLIF to show some leadership and grow the game outside of the traditional big 3.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Heritage is great but the rules in international sport are practical ones. You can only go back as far as a grandparent. You'll hear a lot of nonsense about great, great grandparents and whether someone's First Fleet ancestor qualifies them as whatever. But the braindeads who lap up that argument or use it to justify their own biases tend to conveniently forget that the grandparent rule applies to all sports played internationally. Ir rugby league were to tighten eligibility to only parents, there'd be an outcry that the code is not following international precedence of other sports. Rugby league has done absolutely nothing wrong with making full use of the heritage rule. Nothing wrong at all. It is part of a long term strategy to step by step increase the viability and appeal of the code internationally. By the time the sons etc of the current players are no longer eligible, then it may very well mean that it is no longer the issue it seems to be today? I guess we'll see in 20-40 years time...
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Johnno Nup
Peter Phelps
Guest
You only need to look at this year's Grand Final to see refs orchestrating results. Clearly told at half time not to let Cowboys fans go home without something, a succession of dubious penalties ensure that before the whistle was once more buried deep in the ref's pocket. Mission accomplished. This is a massive massive blight on our game. It has to be stopped wherever it raises its ugly head.
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Mike, I expect him and Levi to play for the Kiwis for the next decade, that's a star in my book.
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Goerge Thanx for being objective mate...... You are correct that the discussion has been around for a while, but it was only when Tonga got some of their best players back and became a genuine force that the vision became viable. In a twisted fate, if Jesse Bromwich and Kevin proctor had not been sacked from the Kiwi team I doubt any of this would have happened. There is always a positive from a negative.
bearfax
Guest
Good points there. But one of the issues about SOO and Island states is that a number of players in the SOO matches would be eligible for their native land. If that balance was redressed, taking players out of the SOO winner's side that are native to the winning Island side, and allowing them to play for their native land, it would have elements of the original SOO concept. A team like Tonga, at full strength has just defeated NZ. I suspect they would be at least competitive against a NSW or QLD sides sans Tongan players, and just may win. And I doubt that crowds would stay away from such a contest if played here in Sydney. Not SOO crowds, but I wouldnt be surprised if 30-40,000 turned up, and probably 25,000 would be Tongan no doubt. The excitement out where I live, where there are Tongan communities, at their victory against NZ led to celebration on several streets until the early hours. Police politely had to suggest to them it was time to go home in the wee hours, because of the noise. They complied without incident might I add. But it shows the excitement such matches engender. The demographic in League is becoming super tribal, and that is enhancing the support of the game.
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Right Fred
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Fred, Country footy players are arguably the best source for players to play NRL; the only problem is that the source is wilting on the vine and struggling clubs need help to survive.
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Bunney, You have discounted the major influence that Player Managers have. If their client has a choice between earning 150k extra each year or 5k, it is very clear which way they will influence. Money generally wins out over the heart.
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Sammy Thanx sammy, well said.
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
beafax, Firstly, I rate SOO higher than International as a contest. The Origin winner would be around 1.2 or shorter every time they played a PI. In other words it would not hold a lot of interest and be a major drop down from a SOO to say nothing of the major interruption to the NRL H&A comp.
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
BigJ It would be a surprise if Hayne and Fifita are in Fittler's plans for next year.
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Kreig FYI, your new team the Knights tried to sign Matt Lodge.
Rob9
Roar Guru
Thing is, he’d be turning his back on Origin selection as well. I can’t see too many Australian born and bred players, that developed through our systems and played for local junior representative side, who may have a foreign born parent or grandparent turning their back on the chance to represent their state. And for what? To play for a country in games that command about as much attention as a regular season game in the NRL.