I found this in the letters page of a Cooks newspaper. Made for interesting reading on how thw two codes are seen in the islands. Also shames the RLIF for it's disrespect for the Cook Islanders as being too small a nation.
http://www.cinews.co.ck/letters.htm#7
Play rugby union or what!
Dear Editor,
As a sports person and a staunch rugby union player/supporter I would like to congratulate the Cook Islands Rugby League on a very successful season both locally and internationally. Also congratulations to all our Cook Islands league players who are here for the tri series and to those who have represented us internationally.
I truly admire your commitment to the game and I heard that you guys paid your own airfares including taking time off work to represent our little nation.You guys have truly done us Cook Islanders proud and I am sure the whole nation was supporting you all the way especially during the NZ Maori tour. I am amazed that league doesn't receive any overseas funding and yet they are the most pro-active and successful code on the island in achieving what no other code has achieved in the past couple of years.
As a staunch rugby union supporter, I am wondering why the rugby union can't do something like what league is doing. I heard our local union receives big funding from the IRB and yet we struggle to make an impact in the local and international competition. We have so many Cook Islands rugby union players playing the game overseas at senior, semi-professional and professional levels and yet we continue to discriminate against our own flesh and blood players like outcasts. In fact, one prominent coach openly admits that he prefers our local players because these overseas players are just a bunch of twinkies with no heart.
Surprisingly, union executives and coaches are checking out our league players playing in the current league tri series when we have more excellent rugby union players playing the game overseas. Why not take a lesson from league, just bite the bullet and select the best of the best Cook Islands rugby union players from all over the world? If all the players in the squad come from overseas so be it, they are still Cook Islanders.
The league U18s beat the NZ Maori 2-1 test series and our rugby union U18 got a thrashing something like 44-3, 46-6, 50-3 in all three games at the Pacific challenge AND without scoring a single try in the three games - this is certainly a big worry for the future of union.
We are living in modern times and why not bring big-name overseas players into the national squad rather just staying with the locals. The local stake has gone very lean over the years with no more fat left.
The writing is on the wall for the union so do something about it before our code gets relegated to another social event on the calendar. The worse thing to happen will be to get another good hiding from Niue in the 7s and, worse, get beaten by Tahiti in a couple of years time! Prophet Jonah
(Name and address supplied)
http://www.cinews.co.ck/letters.htm#7
Play rugby union or what!
Dear Editor,
As a sports person and a staunch rugby union player/supporter I would like to congratulate the Cook Islands Rugby League on a very successful season both locally and internationally. Also congratulations to all our Cook Islands league players who are here for the tri series and to those who have represented us internationally.
I truly admire your commitment to the game and I heard that you guys paid your own airfares including taking time off work to represent our little nation.You guys have truly done us Cook Islanders proud and I am sure the whole nation was supporting you all the way especially during the NZ Maori tour. I am amazed that league doesn't receive any overseas funding and yet they are the most pro-active and successful code on the island in achieving what no other code has achieved in the past couple of years.
As a staunch rugby union supporter, I am wondering why the rugby union can't do something like what league is doing. I heard our local union receives big funding from the IRB and yet we struggle to make an impact in the local and international competition. We have so many Cook Islands rugby union players playing the game overseas at senior, semi-professional and professional levels and yet we continue to discriminate against our own flesh and blood players like outcasts. In fact, one prominent coach openly admits that he prefers our local players because these overseas players are just a bunch of twinkies with no heart.
Surprisingly, union executives and coaches are checking out our league players playing in the current league tri series when we have more excellent rugby union players playing the game overseas. Why not take a lesson from league, just bite the bullet and select the best of the best Cook Islands rugby union players from all over the world? If all the players in the squad come from overseas so be it, they are still Cook Islanders.
The league U18s beat the NZ Maori 2-1 test series and our rugby union U18 got a thrashing something like 44-3, 46-6, 50-3 in all three games at the Pacific challenge AND without scoring a single try in the three games - this is certainly a big worry for the future of union.
We are living in modern times and why not bring big-name overseas players into the national squad rather just staying with the locals. The local stake has gone very lean over the years with no more fat left.
The writing is on the wall for the union so do something about it before our code gets relegated to another social event on the calendar. The worse thing to happen will be to get another good hiding from Niue in the 7s and, worse, get beaten by Tahiti in a couple of years time! Prophet Jonah
(Name and address supplied)
