Pacific Nations offered to Kiwis

PLANS are afoot for the Kiwis to play in a Pacific Nations championship which will be contested over a two to four-year period.

The Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) is encouraging New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Papua New Guinea to play regular tests against each other, with the results of these games going towards a championship.

A stand-alone State of Origin weekend from next year and the removal of the Anzac test from the fixture list has opened up a window in the calendar for the Kiwis to play other nations.

The Pacific nations have been playing one-off tests against each other in Australia over the same weekend as the Anzac test for the past few years.

But RLIF CEO David Collier is pushing for a new competition to be set up, to give some meaning to tests played during this window and at the end of each NRL season.

‘‘We’ve been discussing how to help, support and enhance an Asia/Pacific championship,’’ Collier said. ‘‘If you made sure people played each other over a period of two or three years, you could make that into a full championship.

‘‘What this World Cup has shown is that those nations are more than capable of providing a strong spectacle for nations to visit or play against them.

‘‘The Pacific tests have always been a spectacle and I’ve been lucky enough to go to a couple of them.

‘‘If we can enhance it into a championship, it would be fantastic.’’

NZRL CEO Alex Hayton says they’re interested in the idea, but not yet fully sold on it.

‘‘Certainly in that stand-alone Origin weekend we’re looking to play test matches and most probably against Pacific Island countries,’’ Hayton said.

‘‘If we’re playing as part of that cycle we’d be involved in it, I’m not sure what it’s going to look like and it’s different to the old Pacific Cup, where it was played over two or three weeks.

‘‘How you tie one-off games together over a four-year period is a bit tricky.’’

While this World Cup was a disaster from a Kiwis’ point of view, it has highlighted there’s a big appetite for test footy in New Zealand when the Pacific nations are involved.

‘‘Each nation has to work out its own numbers to make sure it works, but what this World Cup has done is shown to broadcasters that these are hugely attractive fixtures to go onto TV,’’ Collier said.

‘‘That certainly helps nations to promote those matches if there is interest from broadcasters.’’