Yes, we can agree that essentially Lebanon, Tonga and Samoa are the same - players representing a country that they weren't born in but identify as due to their heritage.
The problem I have with Lebanon and not with Tonga and Samoa is that Tonga and Samoa have a combined population of around 200,000 - that is about the population size of an Australian country town. Plus these two countries have had mass emigration to Australia and New Zealand. These two facts mean that even at their most developed state, Tonga and Samoa will always use heritage players - and that's ok as long as the game works towards a situation in the near future where these nations can rely on a pool of players that commit to that nation only. The introduction of the annual Pacific Tests even plus the NRL's pacific strategy where they are actively developing the game on the islands themselves and admitting entry to the Hunters and Fiji to the second teir, is helping all Pacific nations take a step forward in this regard.
Outside of the world cup tournament, Lebanon need to focus on efforts at home and in Europe (they are a RLEF member, not a Pacific nation). I actually don't mind if they even gave Aussie-Lebanon a run in Europe or at home on the rep weekend - fantastic! But I just don't see the greater benefit in running out Aussie-Lebanon in western Sydney at the Pacific Tests event. It seems short sighted as they are appealing to Sydney based Lebanese fans to attend the game and fill the stadium along with the Pacific Island fans. They should be using the gutsy quarter final loss to Tonga to really push the game in Lebanon where the upside is much greater than a small group of expats in Sydney.
On the Fiji side of the coin. I think they deserve much more than to get given a test against a nation that couldn't qualify for the world cup. PNG v Fiji would be an awesome matchup for both teams and the fans following another fairytale run by the Bati to their third WC semi final in a row!!
Please dont' get me wrong, I'm not anti-Lebanon, I just don't think that the best use of their successful team is in Campbeltown on a day that is supposed to celebrate Pacific Island Rugby League. No doubt that it is a smart move crowd-wise from the NRL - but let's face it, the game would have sold out anyway. If you are going to try and drag in fans from Fiji, PNG, Samoa, Tonga and Lebanon and really promote the even you would actually need a much bigger stadium. I think you could actually really give 30k a nudge for a lineup like this following on from the world cup momentum.
Your argument still doesnt stack up as the situations of the Pacific Countries you highlight are the same for Lebanon.
Lebanon rely on heritage players, so do the Pacific. Large migrant Pacific populations in OZ/NZ, same as Lebanese. The games in Sydney appeal to Sydney based Lebanese fans, same as the Sydney based Pacific fans. You're trying to find fault with Lebanon but not realising the same faults apply to the Pacific Islands.
The Cooks lost to Tonga in their World Cup qualifier, 28-8, that scoreline flattered Tonga as it was alot closer than what it suggests with Tonga only getting away with it in the last 10mins. Any other tier two team would've lost that game too so thats no blight on the Cooks effort and that was with a weakened Cook Islands side with only a couple of NRL players. The Cooks also beat Lebanon last year and narrowly lost to PNG this year so I wouldn't write them off so easily, especially if they could get their top players.
At the end of the day, Lebanon, like the Cooks need games, thats what it comes down to. Maybe if we changed the name of the Pacific tests to just mid-year tests will you see theres no harm in having Lebanon play in this test match as the Pacific Nations are still playing, so too Lebanon.
PS, the population of Samoa alone is almost 200,000, thats not including the even larger ex-pat Samoans around the world. Tonga is a shade over 100,000, once again, not including the large ex-pat Tongan population.
