Pacific Tests bumped from mid-season schedule
THE NRL’s new free-to-air deal has delivered a blow to the mid-season Pacific Test matches, after killing off the Sunday night State of Origin experiment.
Nine Network and the NRL agreed to a five-year deal worth $575 million on Monday that included the return of Origin to Wednesday nights.
The stand-alone Sunday Origin game paved the way for the NRL to hold a mid-season representative round, showcasing a number of Pacific Test matches and women’s Origin.
But the new TV deal will now likely see the Pacific Test matches played in October or November.
“We’re not scrapping them, because we are returning to three Wednesday Origin games we are not going to have the stand-alone representative weekend in the middle of the season,” NRL
CEO Andrew Abdo said. “It’s about creating a dedicated international window calendar after the grand final.”
There is a chance the mid-season Tests could be played once more in 2022, but that would be dictated by the border restrictions and security protocols in place at the time.
The mid-season Pacific Tests had been growing in popularity before Covid but have not been played since the pandemic.
Abdo is confident moving the Test matches until after the season won’t put a dent in the support for international football.
“Not at all, I think it’s the opposite,” he said.
“Coming out of COVID we want to make sure that the international game continues to grow.
“The rivalry that exists, particularly among all the southern hemisphere countries, like between Australia and New Zealand, Fiji, PNG, between Tonga and Samoa as well, is gaining momentum.