It’s been 605 days since the last game of international rugby league with any relevance to the upcoming World Cup was played.
Now, with questions marks as to whether or not the World Cup will even take place this year or fade away into the ether as another ‘logistical complexity’, it’s getting very irritating that the last time my itch was scratched saw Papua New Guinea roll over Great Britain.
While that historic victory at Port Moresby was dazzling to watch – and I sometimes find myself returning to view the highlights – in this void of international competition I’ve begun to wonder: where did the annual Anzac Test between Australia and New Zealand go?
No other sporting code in the oceanic holds a similar contest annually to acknowledge the efforts and pay respects to our proud Australian and New Zealand Army Corp.
Obviously rugby league has the annual Roosters and Dragons clash, followed by Storm and Warriors, but seeing as the second game – a greater representation of Australia and New Zealand – has only morphed into conception in the last ten years and the former only about 20 years shows these are not ancient rituals.
If these contests where as old as the birth of the game then yes, out of respect to history, wave six again and play on. But they aren’t, so would it really be a horrible idea if the Anzac Test was resurrected and made a permanent fixture as opposed to these two NRL clashes?
The club clashes could move to the NRL before and or after and still be maintained as a permanent fixture of the NRL’s Anzac round. But allow Anzac day to host an annual Test between Australia and New Zealand.
This fixture could align with an international round being played the same week, so other nations could compete and give the NRL a break – similar to the already existing rep round.
This week of international footy could be a nice break from the weekly grind of the NRL and a chance to see some of the best players in the world duke it out in honour of those who served, while also giving international rugby league – yes, that includes you Australia – a fixture during the typical footy season, rather than be shunted to a small window in November.
However, the likelihood of this happening in the near future is well, unlikely.
The original fixture was already scrapped after being moved a few weeks away from Anzac day and becoming more of an afterthought than an annual event. This is sad, as it could become a major annual sporting fixture that many fans – not just of rugby league – would tune in to see.
Stanley Tumu
Guest
I ask why do we have to have he op flight players when this is a ideal for showing off the players whom are coming through the reserve grades to show off their talents ,you can't tell me that their would be any lack of good players on show, just a thought , regards Stan
Noodles
Roar Rookie
No but at least some footy would be on a Saturday, if the kiwis are too good then just play a tier 2 team and leave the ANZAC test for end of the year.
Opposed Session
Roar Rookie
My comment above is about the World Cup not mid year tests. How Tonga / Samoa / Fiji / PNG didn’t play a mid year test is baffling. Over 90% of players from those nations are currently based in Aust. Therefor a test strength squad could and should have been assembled for the rep round on origin 2 weekend.
Noodles
Roar Rookie
No but at least some footy would be on a Saturday, if the kiwis are too good then just play a tier 2 team and leave the ANZAC test for end of the year.
Maxtruck
Roar Rookie
Need to sort out eligibility rules first. The last Anzac test was Australia, Samoa & NZ combined verses NZ, Tonga, Cook Islands combined. Should be clear rules similar to Origin
Tommo617
Guest
Unfortunately the NRL appears to only care about the goose that laid the golden egg - State of Origin. The NRL / ARL long ago lost any interest in anything that isn't Origin - hence the continued calls from non-eligible players from multiple nations (including the likes of SBW and Sam Burgess!) for an expansion of eligibility to include all comers. The Kangaroo tours long ago became a thing of the past when the UK moved its League competition to Summer to avoid clashing with the two other football codes. the UK Superleague is now held at the same time as the NRL season, so any Kangaroo tour would impact on the NRL clubs.
Opposed Session
Roar Rookie
Yeah no one would be full strength. So a bold move by organisers if no guarantees from Aust or NRL clubs.
andrew
Roar Rookie
I want international games to be the pinnacle of our code and not Origin. It's probably a pipe dream at the moment but representing your country is the top of the tree as far as I'm concerned. I'd like to see the Pacific Island nations become a force, after all, they have enough top players in the NRL.
Clancy
Roar Rookie
While yes I can excuse the difficulty scheduling international footy during COVID, but with an eye to the future I would love for this to be a permanent fixture in the rugby league calendar and yes definitely should alternate between Australia and New Zealand each year as well. In terms of playing one-off tests I believe if they contributed to some sort overarching competition like the Oceanic Cup or a WTC style competition I think it would work. But yes token one-off tests by themselves are rather pointless and players would likely be encouraged to just skip them and have a break.
up in the north
Roar Rookie
I actually used paragraphs….. they disappeared I assumed it wasn’t held in 2020 because the lockdown was on in most places and so no dawn service or marching, remember the driveway vigil, crikey. It would have been pretty crass to play a game of footy in honour of our veterans but you couldn’t allow vet’s to get together with their mates on their sacred day. While I’m on it, they have the obvious problem that April 25 falls on different days. So just cut to the chase, call it the ANZAC Cup and play it on a Wednesday night like Origin, continue the normal round with Thurs, Fri, Sat and Sun. It’s only two teams worth of players and I doubt it would affect any club as adversely as Origin does, Penrith for example. The Warriors would have a goodly amount but there’s a broad spread of kiwi talent across the league who play at other clubs who are of rep’ quality. It also keeps ch 9 onside and gets another game that can buy advertising for useless crap that some marketing guru reckons I’m silly enough to buy. There. Make it happen Pete ol’ mate.
Clancy
Roar Rookie
Yes the fact that the Aussie tour of England originally scheduled for last year is now in danger of not happening at all is frustrating as while it was said to be postponed I believe there are talks to just replace it entirely with an England vs New Zealand test series.
Clancy
Roar Rookie
Yes Rugby Union has the bledisloe Cup however this article was more highlighting the lack of Australia and New Zealand sporting competition around the time of ANZAC day to directly honour those who served. Rugby League already has an annual Trans-Tasman Test usually played around October-November but the idea is to have something take place on ANZAC day between the two nations.
Clancy
Roar Rookie
Exactly and while the onus shouldn't be on the NRL to organise test matches it should allow the IRL freedom to schedule blockbuster events and cooperate with the international body in growing the game.
Clancy
Roar Rookie
Yes and while the tournament has been given the green light the fact Australia and the NRL has yet to commit to supporting and participating in the tournament concerns me as having the largest pool for rugby league talent slam the door shut on the world cup could be devastating to the tournament's entertainment.
DAVEC
Roar Rookie
it should be played in each country on a rotational basis
matth
Roar Guru
I found it usually to be a fairly poor match as the teams had no time to gel for a one off fixture.
Joe
Roar Rookie
I wouldn’t mind an NZ v Aus this year. At the very least it would be more competitive than this years Origin series. Pretty much every top prop in the game is from NZ than you have the likes of Teddy, Latrell, Turbo for Aus. B.Smith vs Cook/Grant. Hughes v Cleary. My NZ forward pack would be – 8 – J.Bromich 9-B.Smith 10-JFH, 11-Tohu, -12-K.Bromich, 13 NAS with JWH off the bench…that’s a monster pack! Who wouldn’t want to watch that team in action!
Tommyknocker
Guest
The biggest disgrace is that the Ashes, the oldest and in my opinion most important international trophy has not been up for grabs since 2003. How successive rl administrators have allowed this to occur is more evidence of their incompetence. Kangaroo Tours were and should be along with a premiership the highlight of a career.
fiwiboy7042
Roar Rookie
No other sporting code in the oceanic holds a similar contest annually to acknowledge the efforts and pay respects to our proud Australian and New Zealand Army Corp. Ummmm ... what? Have you heard about the Bledisloe Cup series? Super Rugby series? And Oceanic? Drawing a very wide bow there given that Anzac involves just Australia and NZ.
Paul
Roar Guru
I'm not fussed about international League disappearing thanks to covid. We only have to look at the issues the NRL has faced trying to stage SOO II & III to see why they'd be reluctant to try and play any Test footy, at least for now. I'm also not a huge fan of one-off Tests. I totally understand the ANZAC Day Test idea and am not a fan at all of manufactured "rivalries" which the NRL has created for that day. If international football is going to be relevant again, lets play a Test in Australia and one in New Zealand, with each nation having turn and turn about to host the games on ANZAC Day. The Kiwis are just as passionate about their ANZACs as we are, so a game over there on the 25th of April would be a must-watch.