Plenty of praise for diplomacy in action

SPORTS diplomacy is the winner of the Rugby League World Cup and Cairns has been the perfect example.

Samoa’s High Commissioner to Australia, Hinauri Petana, attended the match at Barlow Park on Saturday and said the World Cup was a reflection of Australia’s support in the Pacific region.

“They’re investing in terms of teaching the game and basic skills and it has been happening for about two or three years now and I think it’s a very good investment going into the future,” she said.

“This is the next step to making sure there’s a pool of capable Pacific people who can be selected, whether they’re playing for their own respective countries, Australia, New Zealand or elsewhere.”

British High Commissioner to Australia Menna Rawlings said Cairns had put on a great atmosphere for the World Cup, promoting cultural awareness.

“It’s a great opportunity to profile Scotland, which is an amazing and beautiful country within the UK with a great sporting tradition and I think when our teams travel around the world they take that story with them,” she said.