New York Test in danger as real costs laid bare
by
Christian Nicolussi
28 July 2018 — 4:12pm
A $1 million tab is threatening to thwart the Kangaroos' hopes of playing an historic Test in New York.
The October 20 showdown between Greg Inglis and Boyd Cordner's world champion Australians, and Jason Taumalolo and Andrew Fifita's Tonga at Red Bull Arena is now looking shaky after the real costs of staging the game were laid bare to promoter Ricky Wilby.
Wilby told Fairfax Media this week he was keen to stage the game as a double-header with the US national team to feature in a curtain-raiser at the 25,000-seat stadium.
But it is understood in the past 48 hours the NRL has outlined the full costs of staging such a game, which was said to be met with a lukewarm response.
As part of the negotiations, the NRL also indicated they were keen for Wilby to provide at least half the player payments in advance.
The NRL will continue to do their due dilliegence with an answer on New York hopefully to be made by the end of the week.
Wilby would be required to outlay a seven-figure sum to cover business-class flights, accommodation, ground hire and player payments.
Player payments are looming as the biggest concern for the NRL, which will not make any money out of the New York exercise, but have an obligation to look after the players.
Fairfax Media can reveal several Kangaroos players have already indicated they are prepared to take less than the $20,000 match fee negotiated for all Tests if it means the Tongans are paid the same amount.
The yawning pay gap between tier-one nations, such as Australia, and tier-two minnows, such as Tonga, was highlighted at the World Cup, where the Tongans received just $500 a game.
Despite minimal financial incentives, the Tongans fell just short of a fairytale final against Australia at the World Cup.
Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga remains committed to the US Test, especially with a World Cup to be played on American soil in 2025.
Should the Test not proceed in New York, Meninga is determined for the Tongan showdown to go ahead closer to home with several venues, including Suncorp Stadium and Eden Park in New Zealand, serious options. Darwin and Penrith were also briefly discussed, while Melbourne's AAMI Park has appeal, but the game would clash with an A-League derby between Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City.
There was some hope the game's powerbrokers, who met at the Rugby League International Federation conference in Singapore on Saturday, would provide some clarity about the Test's location.
Wilby, who is behind New York's Super League bid, would need a packed house to make the game financially viable.
"I'm an aspirational person – I'd love to see this game in New York, not to develop the game in the States, but to give it a profile,'' Meninga said. "And if I'm a player in the NRL who can play for Australia, the chance to play in a place like New York, the biggest city in the world, and with everything paid for, I'd personally do it for nothing.
"I know one sticking point has been around the costs and there have been talks.
"If it doesn't happen we have looked at other venues around Australia and NZ. It's still an important game for the national program that we play Tonga at the end of the year."
Australia will play a Test against New Zealand in Auckland a week earlier.
Fifita is one player keen to play against Australia, a team he represented last year, and vowed to lead the pre-match spiritual Sipi Tau if the Test went ahead.
Another Tongan player sure to one day press for a Kangaroos jersey is Tevita Pangai jnr, the young Broncos back-rower who is keen to play Origin for NSW in the coming years.
