Pngrfl wants pacific cup revived

[The Partisan]

I wouldn’t mind seeing each of these Pacific countries (including PNG) have something like a Development XIII that concentrated on having players from below the NRL , perhaps even NSW / QLD Cup levels.

More emphases of guys in 3rd tier, country / affiliated states and most importantly guys from the domestic comp of the various countries.

Have a Regional Australia v Pacific weekend with regions bidding / putting forward proposals to have a game in their patch.

Could end up with something like NQ V PNG Dvlpmnt XIII; Newcastle Region v Samoa D..XIII; Toowoomba & SW V Tonga D ..XIII; …etc.

Expenses to be covered by profits from the RLWC and the ARL.

Gives exposure to the various nations and a chance for country blokes and Pacific Residents to play in an ‘international’ !

 

[roughyedspud]

i floated the idea that following on from the PNG hunters going into the QLD cup then why not have fiji 'A',samoa'A',tonga 'A' etc also following them into the QLD or NSW cups...

 

[mikail-eagle]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-07/an-pacific-rugby-soccer/5435604

PNG rugby league set for games on the world stage

Rugby league in Papua New Guinea has achieved a significant boost with the number of international matches involving the Kumuls set to rise significantly over the next few years.

The PNG delegation to the recent Rugby League International Federation meeting in Sydney also pushed for a much larger slice of the action at the 2017 World Cup.

Instead of staging just one or two matches, they want hosting rights for a complete group.

Brad Tassell, the Chief Executive of the PNG Rugby Football League, told Pacific Beat the RLIF is also very keen for PNG to host a pool.

"We put a really strong case in regards to it which is still being assessed but we're pretty confident we will get the nod to do that with all the development that's happening particularly the rugby league programs and all the facilities up here," he said.

"I think there is a real groundswell of support - at the meeting we had delegates from all around the world and they've heard a lot of things about what's happening in Papua New Guinea, the rejuvenation on the game, everyone knew about the PNG Hunters as well from around the world.

"So there's a real focus on Papua New Guinea at the moment and being a nation of seven million people and having rugby league as a national sport, its vital that PNG are strong on the international scene."

The PNG delegation also called for the revival of the Pacific Cup as a four-nation, biannual event between PNG, Samoa, Tonga and Fiji. PNG wants to host the first tournament in the off-season in October next year .

"We need to get up regular international games between the Pacific nations," Mr Tassell said.

"It's after the end of the NRL season, the end of the Queensland Cup season when players will be available and we'll be expecting the release of those players to compete in that tournament."

PNG also wants the go ahead for a one-off international this year and Mr Tassell said it would be against either Samoa or Italy on October 19.

Mr Tassell says the RLIF meeting was vital for Pacific nations to impress on the world body that they need to play regular test matches.

It's proposed that in the year when the Pacific Cup isn't played, Pacific nations would hold a test series - PNG versus Fiji and Samoa versus Tonga.

"We need to play more test matches, we need to give our players more international exposure and that's the only way that we're going to improve," he said.

 

[mikail-eagle]

Audio of Interview with PNGRFL's Brad Tassel

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-07/png-womens-soccer-loses-national-league/5435758

 

[tmfsd]

^
4 nation pacific cup with the above 4 countries would be awesome in my opinion. I would like to think that those games would be quite competitive. Keep Aus, NZ, England in their own tri nations for a while until these pacific nations develop a bit more

 

[RedVee]

I have read on more than one occasion that the PNG Govt would fund a NRL bid.
How about the PNGRL ask them to fund a Pacific tournament in PNG? PNG, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga would be a good starting point and not take to long to run through.

 

[Rodney]

Bloody impressive from PNG.

 

[Bronco Rob]

^
4 nation pacific cup with the above 4 countries would be awesome in my opinion. I would like to think that those games would be quite competitive. Keep Aus, NZ, England in their own tri nations for a while until these pacific nations develop a bit more

I disagree, the 4 nations provides an incentive for nations from either Europe or the Pacific to aim for. If the 4th position is dependent on the winner of each hemisphere's respective tournaments ie Pacific Nations & European Cup, nations are going to take the tournament seriously and have a real crack.

 

[deal.with.it]

We need a 4 nations to promote development. This opportunity presents great opportunities to apply for increased gov funding, increased sponsorship and convince more juniors to play rugby league for the opportunity to play the big boys regularly.

 

[stormbati]

This would be awesome. Regular test matches and no doubt they'll be competitive and entertaining.
I wont get to see the Bati till who knows when and that's sad considering the side we have.