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Play Video Play 0:00 / 0:00 Loaded: 0% Progress: 0% Fullscreen Tevita Pangai Jr cleared of serious injury TEAMS Why 2019 can be the year international rugby league goes to the next level Nick Campton, The Daily Telegraph an hour ago MONDAY BUZZ: Suburban grounds a boost for the NRLPRE-SEASON: What we learned from week two Test football! Are there any words more thrilling to the human soul? With the announcement of the trans-Tasman Test double header in Wollongong the international schedule for 2019 is taking shape. It promises to be a bumper year for international footy and there are some intriguing possibilities on offer. Let’s walk through every event and what they can mean. NEW ZEALAND VS TONGA - JUNE 22 What it means: More Tonga, which can only be a good thing With the sad demise of the Denver Test, this is the best thing Test footy could hope for. The most recent meeting between the two, at the 2017 World Cup, was a historic moment for international rugby league and one of the best rugby league matches of the decade. Assuming the Tongans come locked and loaded - Tevita Pangai Junior has made some noises about playing State of Origin for NSW, Tui Lolohea has switched to Super League and Ata Hingano is recovering from a shoulder injury - they should be able to give New Zealand another scare. Giving Tonga regular matches against Tier 1 nations is the most important step in them going to the next level. Not only does it give the team more exposure, it’s more of a carrot for dual eligible players and helps build the team’s brand. The end point could be Tongan tours to the Northern Hemisphere, or a three-match series between Tonga and Australia. Those dreams are years away, but this is where they begin. This game will be the day before Origin II on a stand-alone weekend for rep footy. It’s a slam dunk success and given the amount of matches in Auckland at year’s end it should be played elsewhere - maybe a return to Waikato, where the two teams had their epic duel in 2017, although the Chiefs may have a Super Rugby final there on the same date.. Tonga must play as many games as possible/Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images.WORLD NINES - OCTOBER 18 AND 19, BANKWEST STADIUM What it means: Rugby league goes back to the future Big time international nines return after a 22-year absence. It’ll be the first time Test footy (of a sort) graces the new stadium at Parramatta and could be the start of something exciting for international football. The details of the tournament are yet to be fully hashed out - how many teams, how big are the squads, what rule changes there may be from the Auckland Nines - but it could be a great chance for emerging nations to score some silverware and build rugby league in new countries in the same fashion rugby union has used sevens football. After 22 years, the World Nines will return.AUSTRALIA VS NEW ZEALAND - OCTOBER 25, WIN STADIUM What it means: Taking Test footy to the people, but is that the right way? This match will allay fears the world champions could go a calendar year without taking the field, which would be a terrible result for the international game, and after New Zealand’s win in Auckland last October the Kiwis will fancy their chances of scoring another win. Wollongong’s WIN Stadium will host its second Test after Australia played Samoa there in the 2014 Four Nations and despite the undoubted success of that fixture, which attracted a near sellout crowd of 18,456, the South Coast is a surprise. That’s not a shot at Wollongong, which boasts a great stadium and has long been a strong rugby league area, but should the Kangaroos be aiming higher? For whatever reason, the national side has been absent from the big venues in and around Sydney for several years now. Australia have played New Zealand in Sydney just three times in 12 years and haven’t played England/Great Britain on NSW soil since 2006, a streak that may continue until 2022 at the earliest. The last time Australia played at ANZ Stadium was 2005. It’s great that a national team isn’t restricted to the big cities and part of what makes Test footy such a great spectacle is the way it’s able to engage the community, but there needs to be a balance. Rugby league can struggle sometimes with a lack of ambition and Test football is a developing and untapped resource that can take the game a long way. The Kangaroos last played in Wollongong in 2014. Picture by Mark Evans.GREAT BRITAIN TOUR (LOCATIONS AND DATES TBC) v Tonga v New Zealand v New Zealand v Papua New Guinea What it means: Test football is falling into a real structure After 12 years on the shelf the Great Britain Lions are back for an old school tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. It’s definitely a positive that Great Britain are coming south without the vestiges of a tournament or World Cup and if the tour is a success it could inspire more such visits in the future. These tours were once the backbone of international rugby league and their return would be a great step forward, proof that a tournament style structure isn’t nessecary for international football. Having a Great Britain team rather than an England team is an exercise in branding - with due respect to the Irish, Welsh and Scottish players, not a one of them will crack this side barring some sort of developmental spot. The RFL and IRLF must be hoping the grandeur of a “Lions tour” sells a few more tickets and it may well do. Great Britain are back after 12 years on the sidelines. According a report in the Sun, the tour will open with a match against Tonga before two games against New Zealand and a clash with PNG in Port Moresby to finish. The rematch of the epic 2017 World Cup semi-final will be a showstopper and the Poms and New Zealand have played some good matches in recent years but the highlight of the tour could sneak up on us in PNG. These are not the Kumuls of old - the rise of the PNG Hunters in the Queensland Cup has given local stars a legitimate pathway to first grade and provides the national side with far more discipline and cohesion than ever before. PNG haven’t faced a Tier 1 nation at home since 2001 but the fans will be hanging from the rafters when England come to town and the Kumuls are a different team at home - they won their three home matches in the 2017 World Cup by a combined score of 128-12. Tonga are the trendiest team in international rugby league but there are real, tangible possibilities of PNG rising with them. While the Tongans will always rely on ancestral players to some extent there’s a resovoir of talent all across PNG that’s just waiting to be harnessed. There’s a multitude of challenges, but getting Tier 1 nations to play in Port Moresby is as good a way as any to get started. Nobody loves rugby league like Papua New Guinea. Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images.AUSTRALIA V TONGA, FIJI V SAMOA (DATE, LOCATION TBC) What it means: If executed well, it could be a watershed moment
Play Video Play 0:00 / 0:00 Loaded: 0% Progress: 0% Fullscreen Tevita Pangai Jr cleared of serious injury TEAMS Why 2019 can be the year international rugby league goes to the next level Nick Campton, The Daily Telegraph an hour ago MONDAY BUZZ: Suburban grounds a boost for the NRLPRE-SEASON: What we learned from week two Test football! Are there any words more thrilling to the human soul? With the announcement of the trans-Tasman Test double header in Wollongong the international schedule for 2019 is taking shape. It promises to be a bumper year for international footy and there are some intriguing possibilities on offer. Let’s walk through every event and what they can mean. NEW ZEALAND VS TONGA - JUNE 22 What it means: More Tonga, which can only be a good thing With the sad demise of the Denver Test, this is the best thing Test footy could hope for. The most recent meeting between the two, at the 2017 World Cup, was a historic moment for international rugby league and one of the best rugby league matches of the decade. Assuming the Tongans come locked and loaded - Tevita Pangai Junior has made some noises about playing State of Origin for NSW, Tui Lolohea has switched to Super League and Ata Hingano is recovering from a shoulder injury - they should be able to give New Zealand another scare. Giving Tonga regular matches against Tier 1 nations is the most important step in them going to the next level. Not only does it give the team more exposure, it’s more of a carrot for dual eligible players and helps build the team’s brand. The end point could be Tongan tours to the Northern Hemisphere, or a three-match series between Tonga and Australia. Those dreams are years away, but this is where they begin. This game will be the day before Origin II on a stand-alone weekend for rep footy. It’s a slam dunk success and given the amount of matches in Auckland at year’s end it should be played elsewhere - maybe a return to Waikato, where the two teams had their epic duel in 2017, although the Chiefs may have a Super Rugby final there on the same date.. Tonga must play as many games as possible/Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images.WORLD NINES - OCTOBER 18 AND 19, BANKWEST STADIUM What it means: Rugby league goes back to the future Big time international nines return after a 22-year absence. It’ll be the first time Test footy (of a sort) graces the new stadium at Parramatta and could be the start of something exciting for international football. The details of the tournament are yet to be fully hashed out - how many teams, how big are the squads, what rule changes there may be from the Auckland Nines - but it could be a great chance for emerging nations to score some silverware and build rugby league in new countries in the same fashion rugby union has used sevens football. After 22 years, the World Nines will return.AUSTRALIA VS NEW ZEALAND - OCTOBER 25, WIN STADIUM What it means: Taking Test footy to the people, but is that the right way? This match will allay fears the world champions could go a calendar year without taking the field, which would be a terrible result for the international game, and after New Zealand’s win in Auckland last October the Kiwis will fancy their chances of scoring another win. Wollongong’s WIN Stadium will host its second Test after Australia played Samoa there in the 2014 Four Nations and despite the undoubted success of that fixture, which attracted a near sellout crowd of 18,456, the South Coast is a surprise. That’s not a shot at Wollongong, which boasts a great stadium and has long been a strong rugby league area, but should the Kangaroos be aiming higher? For whatever reason, the national side has been absent from the big venues in and around Sydney for several years now. Australia have played New Zealand in Sydney just three times in 12 years and haven’t played England/Great Britain on NSW soil since 2006, a streak that may continue until 2022 at the earliest. The last time Australia played at ANZ Stadium was 2005. It’s great that a national team isn’t restricted to the big cities and part of what makes Test footy such a great spectacle is the way it’s able to engage the community, but there needs to be a balance. Rugby league can struggle sometimes with a lack of ambition and Test football is a developing and untapped resource that can take the game a long way. The Kangaroos last played in Wollongong in 2014. Picture by Mark Evans.GREAT BRITAIN TOUR (LOCATIONS AND DATES TBC) v Tonga v New Zealand v New Zealand v Papua New Guinea What it means: Test football is falling into a real structure After 12 years on the shelf the Great Britain Lions are back for an old school tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. It’s definitely a positive that Great Britain are coming south without the vestiges of a tournament or World Cup and if the tour is a success it could inspire more such visits in the future. These tours were once the backbone of international rugby league and their return would be a great step forward, proof that a tournament style structure isn’t nessecary for international football. Having a Great Britain team rather than an England team is an exercise in branding - with due respect to the Irish, Welsh and Scottish players, not a one of them will crack this side barring some sort of developmental spot. The RFL and IRLF must be hoping the grandeur of a “Lions tour” sells a few more tickets and it may well do. Great Britain are back after 12 years on the sidelines. According a report in the Sun, the tour will open with a match against Tonga before two games against New Zealand and a clash with PNG in Port Moresby to finish. The rematch of the epic 2017 World Cup semi-final will be a showstopper and the Poms and New Zealand have played some good matches in recent years but the highlight of the tour could sneak up on us in PNG. These are not the Kumuls of old - the rise of the PNG Hunters in the Queensland Cup has given local stars a legitimate pathway to first grade and provides the national side with far more discipline and cohesion than ever before. PNG haven’t faced a Tier 1 nation at home since 2001 but the fans will be hanging from the rafters when England come to town and the Kumuls are a different team at home - they won their three home matches in the 2017 World Cup by a combined score of 128-12. Tonga are the trendiest team in international rugby league but there are real, tangible possibilities of PNG rising with them. While the Tongans will always rely on ancestral players to some extent there’s a resovoir of talent all across PNG that’s just waiting to be harnessed. There’s a multitude of challenges, but getting Tier 1 nations to play in Port Moresby is as good a way as any to get started. Nobody loves rugby league like Papua New Guinea. Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images.AUSTRALIA V TONGA, FIJI V SAMOA (DATE, LOCATION TBC) What it means: If executed well, it could be a watershed moment
