Burns
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An opinion piece by Tony Smith of Stuff.nz
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/leagu...world-cup-should-lead-to-a-pacific-cup-series
And here is Andrew Voss two cents:
"Tonga v Samoa: Loved every bit about this one including the on-ground events before kick off. I will keep up my call for there to be a tri-series each year between New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga at the same time we have the State of Origin series in Australia. Why can’t this just happen beginning 2018?"
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/wo...s/news-story/0b20e3469c014de4176c80199ae4592a
This is addition to the other media types commenting on Twitter that action is required to get the Pacific nations playing more regularly.
Will anything happen?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/leagu...world-cup-should-lead-to-a-pacific-cup-series
OPINION
: The welcome rise of the Pacific nations could be the boost international rugby league - and the New Zealand game - urgently needs.
The New Zealand Rugby League should immediately launch an annual series against a Pacific Barbarians team to coincide with Australia's State of Origin window.
It'd be a box office smash if the Rugby League World Cup trends are any proof.
Tonga, Fiji and Papua New Guinea have captured the crowds' hearts this spring.
The RLWC still has some way to go before it can be regarded as a top-tier global event.
Some Europeans players look like they're Down Under for an end-of-season holiday. Especially the three Scots (Englishmen, actually) sent home in disgrace, too drunk to board a flight from Christchurch after their 74-6 drubbing by the Kiwis.
Cynics may claim the big blowouts in the early rounds do nothing for the competition's credibility. But, open the other eye, All Blacks fans. Is it any different to the mismatches in the pool stages at every Rugby Union World Cup?
The quality and tension will ratchet up at Rugby League World Cup, like its union equivalent, when the big guns meet the ambitious underdogs in the playoffs stage.
But, two rounds in, it's already been a qualified success.
Look at passion and pageantry in the crowd at Hamilton for Tonga v Samoa. Or the sell-out audiences in Port Moresby for the Papua New Guinea Kumuls' home games. (What a masterstroke to stage matches in the only nation where rugby league is the national sport).
Name any NRL club where the supporters are as exuberant? Oh, you can't - thought as much.
Never mind the number of players on the pitch, there's one stark difference between union and league.
The former regards test matches as the pinnacle. League's showpiece remains the NRL and Australia's State of Origin competition.
But, would anyone seriously rather watch the Warriors v the Newcastle Knights ahead of that Samoa-Tonga tussle?
Fiji - semifinalists at the last two World Cups and this tournament's top scorers - are already talking up their chances of toppling one of the Top Three - Australia, England and New Zealand, the only teams to win a world title.
"Everyone's coming for them," Fiji captain Kevin Naiqama said after a 72-6 thrashing of Wales.
"There's lots of NRL players in all the Pacific nations and it's definitely lifting the standard in all the tier two nations."
But, the NRL hasn't always helped the international game to grow and prosper.
Witness the past difficulties in getting some players released from Australian clubs to play for the Kiwis or Australia's decision to can the mid-year Anzac test.
Kiwis coach David Kidwell is desperate for more tests in New Zealand after a three-season starve.
The World Cup is supplying the ultimate solution.
There's enough depth now to have a regular, end-of-NRL-season Pacific Cup series featuring six teams: New Zealand, Australia, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. Play off in two pools of three - one game home and one away - with crossover semifinals culminating in a grand final.
The Pacific champion could meet with the winner of a northern series featuring England, France, Italy, Wales, Ireland and Scotland (if they can make the plane).
Alternative: the global final between the two hemispheres.
The only obstacle is the age-old one which led league to break away from union in 1895. Cash.
But, if Tonga and Samoa can draw 18,000 to Hamilton and PNG can build a stadium big enough to house all their fans, a Pacific Cup series should be viable.
Rugby league has obvious appeal as an expansion sport to promote to untapped markets like Asia and the Americas. It's a simple game for the uninitiated to understand, without rugby union's set piece complexities and arcane rules.
Now, all we need to crown rugby league's new dawn is for Tonga or Fiji to make the final.
Australia's Kangaroos are more dominant than the All Blacks - with 10 world titles - so it's asking too much to expect a Pacific champion just yet.
But, the tide is turning - and not before time
And here is Andrew Voss two cents:
"Tonga v Samoa: Loved every bit about this one including the on-ground events before kick off. I will keep up my call for there to be a tri-series each year between New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga at the same time we have the State of Origin series in Australia. Why can’t this just happen beginning 2018?"
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/wo...s/news-story/0b20e3469c014de4176c80199ae4592a
This is addition to the other media types commenting on Twitter that action is required to get the Pacific nations playing more regularly.
Will anything happen?