2023 Pacific Championships: A New Era for Southern Hemisphere Rugby League
by Thomas Law
In little over five weeks’ time, the Pacific Rugby League Championships will kick off, a concept tried in the past but not with this level of backing and interest from so many parties. Over four rounds in October and November, this will be the first major taste of international rugby league in the Southern Hemisphere since the 2019 Oceania Cup, with more teams involved than ever before, plans for future editions in years and financial commitments to equality across nations and gender.
In addition to Tonga’s pre-scheduled tour of England, Aotearoa New Zealand and last year’s World Cup finalists, Australia and Samoa, will compete in a round-robin, top-tier Pacific Championships, whilst Papua New Guinea, the Cook Islands and Fiji compete in a bowl hosted in Port Moresby. Concurrently there will also be a series of women’s games featuring all seven nations.
With millions in Australian federal government funding, increased women’s scheduling, the semblance of a semi-regular calendar, a World Cup to be hosted in the Antipodes in 2026 and talk of a Papua New Guinea side joining the NRL, these seem like heady times for Pacific rugby league.
As with everything rugby league, there are an inevitable number of gripes, and legitimate questions that remain unanswered. Details around the World Cup, including qualification formats, group structure, host nations and whether and how many games are hosted in Pacific Islands themselves are still firmly marked ‘TBC’.
But with multi-year commitment, serious money and buy-in from all major relevant parties, this could represent the breakthrough, or at least the germination of an idea that could blossom into a genuinely elite and captivating competition.
How we got here:
At the beginning of August, following a three-day meeting in Singapore, International Rugby League (IRL) announced plans for the next World Cup (after France withdrew from its previous commitment to host in 2025, citing burgeoning financial costs and subsequent government-imposed restraints). After some of the more outlandish expressions of interest from Qatar and South Africa were dismissed, it was decided to delay until 2026 and host in the Southern Hemisphere. However, the choice of whether to host in Australia or Aotearoa New Zealand was delayed, with a decision, according to the IRL, to “be made by the end of this year.”
There has been loose talk of taking games to the Pacific Islands, with Charles Carlson, President of Cook Islands Rugby League (CIRL) telling the Coconet that “we did discuss the possibility of including the Pacific Nations as part of New Zealand’s bid to host . . . It would be a fantastic opportunity for the Pacific Nations if each island were to host at least one or two games.”
Such a decision, along with how the men’s competition will be formatted and the means of qualification – Carlson confirmed that “CIRL is still waiting to see how the World Cup qualifier will be scheduled” – seemed just so typically rugby league; plenty of talk, very little action, and with the men’s tournament contracting to 10 teams, much outcry from the developing rugby league World Cup (Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga, as quarter-finalists in 2022, will automatically qualify for 2026 alongside England and Lebanon).
When IRL said “announcements about regional championships and other tournaments... will be made soon” it was easy to resort to eye rolling. However, somewhat uncharacteristically for rugby league, real action did materialise soon after.
All of this is on top of a three game series that will see Tonga travel to England, the first such standalone tour by a ‘Tier 2’ nation in living memory, and an indication of just how far the Pacific Island teams have come in a relatively short period of time.
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The Schedule:
- Saturday 14 October: Australia Women vs New Zealand Women – Townsville (double-header)
- Saturday 14 October: Australia Men vs Samoa Men – Townsville (double-header)
- Sunday 15 October: Samoa Women vs Fiji Women – Port Moresby (double-header)
- Sunday 15 October: Papua New Guinea Men vs Cook Islands Men – Port Moresby (double-header)
- Saturday 21 October: New Zealand Women vs Tonga Women – Auckland (double-header)
- Saturday 21 October: New Zealand Men vs Samoa Men – Auckland (double-header)
- Sunday 22 October: Papua New Guinea Women vs Cook Islands Women – Port Moresby (double-header)
- Sunday 22 October: Fiji Men vs Cook Islands Men – Port Moresby (double-header)
- Saturday 28 October: Australia Women vs New Zealand Women – Melbourne (double-header)
- Saturday 28 October: Australia Men vs New Zealand Men – Melbourne (double-header)
- Sunday 29 October: Papua New Guinea Men vs Fiji – Port Moresby
- Saturday 4 November: Pacific Championship Final – Hamilton
- Sunday 5 November: Pacific Bowl Final – Port Moresby
The plan is for Samoa to replace Tonga next year, with Australia taking on a touring England side in 2025, before Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia travel north in 2027 and 2028 respectively.
How we got here:
The process of finalising and announcing these games was eased by the settlement between the Rugby League Players Association (RLPA) union and the NRL. This industrial dispute has been protracted and at time contentious, with alleged denied pregnancy and parental leave for NRLW players and, claims by Tonga international Felise Kaufusi that league head Peter V’landys had accused the RLPA of racism.
However, a deal was agreed and Andrew Abdo, head of the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) told a press conference to launch the Pacific Championships of his pleasure “that we have reached an agreement because I think that sets up for announcements like today, sets up for growth, an opportunity to work together to grow the game.
You have to respect that it was a difficult process, you can always learn from it . . . Having said all that, I have to commend the RLPA for the way in which they approached negotiations at the end. The spirit of these negotiations sets us up for a much more collaborative and positive partnership going forward.” That settlement and new found spirit of collaboration enabled further announcements for the game, including finalising NRL’s Round 1 double-header in Las Vegas next season.
But what sealed these Championships, the vital prerequisite, was AUS $7 million in Australian federal government funding. Training camps, stadium hiring, insurance, transport, and player fees do not come cheap. Carlson confirmed that “It’s a challenge for CIRL to cover any match fees when the priority is to raise enough funds to get the team there, purchase playing kit/formal apparel, medical kit etc.”
But Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, a noted rugby league fan and South Sydney Rabbitohs follower, expressed official government support for the tournament concept. His speech is as follows:
“I’m proud to announce that Australia is committing over $7 million over the next two years to support these Championships, in partnership with the NRL. People form bonds based on shared experiences, and Australia and our Pacific Island neighbours have long had a passion for rugby league and for sport in general. I was at my first meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji, and it happened to be State of Origin night, and the leaders of the different nations lined up depending on whether they wore a Blues or a Maroons jersey.”
“So many NRL stars have Pacific heritage and indeed, of the Penrith Panthers starting 13 in the Grand Final last year, nine of the 13 had Pacific heritage. At the international level, Pacific nations are making their mark too, with Samoa making the World Cup final last year and Papua New Guinea making it to the women’s semi-final in the tournament last year.
We want more Pasifika players, both men and women, to come through the ranks of the NRL, and the Pacific Championships will bring together teams from [all seven nations] to compete in an elite level tournament, inspiring a new generation of girls and boys throughout the Pacific, all the while contributing to Australian bonds with the Pacific family. I’m so pleased that Papua New Guinea will co-host the tournament this year, along with Australia and New Zealand, with Fiji co-hosting in 2024.”
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Equal Pay:
One of the lesser remarked upon points from all these announcements has been the confirmation of equal pay for all players, regardless of nation, for men and women. Pat Conroy, the Minister for International Development and the Pacific, told the press conference “one of the great things from this announcement today is that women and men will receive exactly the same player payment from participating in the tournament, a great symbol of the fight for gender equality on the playing field. It’s also a great avenue to advance healthier lifestyles in countries as well as bring countries themselves together.”
The Pacific revolution in rugby league really kicked off when Jason Taumalolo and Andrew Fifita turned down the chance to represent the Kiwis and Kangaroos respectively at the 2017 World Cup and turn out for Tonga instead, rejecting what was on paper a greater chance of success and far more money. In the process, they inspired more players to do likewise, and created a unique bond with the fans.
With equal payments, there is the chance for more competitive and intense games, with players, across both the men’s and women’s editions, purely following their heart rather than financial considerations. Careers are short, and a rugby league career does not set you up for life – for the women, it does not even sustain a full-time career at this point.
That said, the commitment to the women’s international game, at least in words, ran throughout the press releases and conference speeches. The ARLC’s Kate Jones called it “a significant milestone involving women to play on the international stage” whilst Albanese made several references to the power of women in sport to enact change for the better.
“What this [competition] will be important for as well is for showcasing women’s rugby league. We’ve seen a further expansion of the [NRLW] this year and that will continue in the future. And I think we’ve seen with the Matildas [Australia’s women’s soccer team], we see an entire generation of Australians being inspired.”
Of course, talk is cheap, action harder to come by. But the way that the NRLW has come on in leaps and bounds in a relatively short space of time should leave no doubts as to the calibre of backing on offer, as well as the need to grow sustainably. Whilst this and next year will only see a series of one-off games, this is more than is often the case. Carlson told the Coconet that “We are grateful for the one international test match as we don’t often get these opportunities for our women.” It very much is a case of walking before running.
Is that it?
The headline figure is $7 million, repeated and printed ad nauseam. But that in effect is covering the costs of the Championships, not necessarily direct development of the game in the islands per se. Whilst the Australian government boasted about how the Championships would provide “high-performance pathways for Pacific athletes, coaches, referees, and administrators”, Carlson clarified that “CIRL does not receive any funding from the Government, NRL or ARLC” for such causes directly.
He has suggested that “some of these government funds should be channelled through the Asia Pacific Rugby League Confederation (APRLC) to provide high-performance pathways for our Pacific athletes. The APRLC is the most suitable organisation to offer this service to our Pacific communities, as it was established for this very purpose.”
Whilst the ties between the diaspora and the homelands are undoubtedly strong, often misunderstood and maligned by those without cultural context, in order to grow the game it is necessary to develop the grassroots in Melanesia and Polynesia.
The Australian government has already, independently of these Championships, committed $5 million to support rugby league in Papua New Guinea, with far more focus on player development, coaching, refereeing and so forth. But again, it comes down to the questions of which countries receive funding, and who controls the purse strings?
Regardless of whatever format is announced, there will always be people on hand to criticise. And taken in isolation, it is not entirely illegitimate. Australia’s men, at a maximum, will play a maximum of three games this year. For the pre-eminent national side in the sport, that is surely not enough, and pales into insignificance compared to 2005, another non-World Cup year in which they played five Tri Nations games, a mid-season ANZAC test, and a touring fixture against France. However, it is important to take the announcement as a whole, recognising that there a lot more teams competing now (with all the associated costs).
There are questions about the structure, as Tonga’s like-for-like replacement for Samoa leaves Papua New Guinea, Fiji and the Cook Islands with no means of promotion to face the big boys next year (despite Fiji beating New Zealand at the 2017 World Cup quarter-finals and taking them all the way five years later). There are also unanswered details about how the Cook Islands could fit in qualifying games for the 2026 World Cup with their commitment to the Pacific Championships this year and next. With the clock ticking, there are plenty of countries around the world keen to finalise these plans.
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Ending
The word ‘potential’ is perhaps one of the most frustrating in the English language. Internationalist followers of rugby league champion the game’s growth and celebrate its diverse talent pool, decrying the seeming lack of ambition at the top. The decision to cut the men’s World Cup from 16 teams to 10 is, despite the possible financial necessity, indicative proof supposedly. Rugby league has so much potential to grow, that anything short of imagined grandiose plans will inevitably disappoint. But these Championships represent a fantastic opportunity for further growth.
Kate Jones put it best when describing it as “an invaluable opportunity to create new pathways to grow talent, but more excitingly, for young NRL fans and rugby league fans to see their leaders and their players playing in their country. We know how important that is to inspire the next generation of rugby league players.”
Football runs quadrennial World Cups, along with continental championships every four years. For the longest time, winning the European Championship was considered a tougher achievement and as cherished as the World Cup, such was the concentrated level of elite competition compared to the somewhat more diluted global tournament.
There’s no reason a Pacific Championship, with all the talent in the world in the NRL and NRLW, could not become likewise. But it requires buy-in, long-term commitment, investment, and patience. So far the signs are good. In the meantime ... roll on October.
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Public Interest Journalism funded by NZ on Air.