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https://www.nzherald.co.nz/league/news/article.cfm?c_id=79&objectid=12310784
The Kiwis won't get the chance to play the Kangaroos on home soil this year, with the annual transtasman clash again in Australia in mid-October after the NRL season.
The teams met in Wollongong last year and at Mt Smart Stadium in 2018, when coach Michael Maguire's team recorded a memorable victory.
The international calendar was restructured after the 2017 World Cup, with the axing of the mid-year Anzac test, which was a fixture from the late 1990s.
That match was almost always played in Australia (only two were in New Zealand) and with the new end-of-year fixture, there was an expectation tests would be staged on a rotation basis.
But that hasn't eventuated, as the Kiwis will have to travel across the ditch for the match on October 17.
"It's not guaranteed to be here ... there is no formal reciprocal agreement," said New Zealand Rugby League chief executive Greg Peters.
He said the match will be in Australia for "commercial reasons".
As part of the Oceania Cup, the Kiwis will also face Fiji on October 24 in New Zealand.
It will be just the second clash between the two nations, after the infamous 4-2 quarter-final defeat of the Kiwis in Wellington at the 2017 World Cup.
Maguire's squad will then face Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby on October 31.
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More at the link.
Good to see PNG getting a home match against another Tier 1 side. Looks like Samoa v NZ won't happen then.
The Kiwis won't get the chance to play the Kangaroos on home soil this year, with the annual transtasman clash again in Australia in mid-October after the NRL season.
The teams met in Wollongong last year and at Mt Smart Stadium in 2018, when coach Michael Maguire's team recorded a memorable victory.
The international calendar was restructured after the 2017 World Cup, with the axing of the mid-year Anzac test, which was a fixture from the late 1990s.
That match was almost always played in Australia (only two were in New Zealand) and with the new end-of-year fixture, there was an expectation tests would be staged on a rotation basis.
But that hasn't eventuated, as the Kiwis will have to travel across the ditch for the match on October 17.
"It's not guaranteed to be here ... there is no formal reciprocal agreement," said New Zealand Rugby League chief executive Greg Peters.
He said the match will be in Australia for "commercial reasons".
As part of the Oceania Cup, the Kiwis will also face Fiji on October 24 in New Zealand.
It will be just the second clash between the two nations, after the infamous 4-2 quarter-final defeat of the Kiwis in Wellington at the 2017 World Cup.
Maguire's squad will then face Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby on October 31.
~~~~~
More at the link.
Good to see PNG getting a home match against another Tier 1 side. Looks like Samoa v NZ won't happen then.