NRL-PNG deal sparks concern for Pacific rugby union leaders

The Drua say their games are watched by half Fiji’s population of 900,000, but the money flowing toward rugby union from Australia pales in comparison to what has been pledged for the government-financed Pacific rugby league soft diplomacy strategy. Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka addresses the National Press Club in Canberra this week. Credit: Bloomberg The Fiji Rugby Union last month signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese Rugby Football Association and Tonga Rugby Union also has a partnership in the works with China, which funded the Polynesian kingdom’s new $40 million national sports complex. In Samoa, meanwhile, China has offered to build a new national stadium. Tonga Rugby Union chief Aisea Aholelei said he would like to have seen more consultation from Australia on the impact of the government underwriting rugby league expansion. “You just tell them that there is money involved and it’s not hard for the players here or parents here to go to rugby league,” he said.

“It’s a small place, and Australia government funded money, it would be good that it has a lot of mileage through organisations, sports bodies and the population, not just for the benefit of rugby league. “It would be nice to have it on equal par with the funding to rugby league. What I would like [the Australian government] to consider is rugby union has been the national game for a long time in Tonga, Fiji and Samoa ... to have a consideration how much impact it has had in the past and what impact it will have in the future, especially the near future of the 2027 World Cup [in Australia].” In Samoa, rugby union is “still the sport that determines the mood of the nation”, according to Seumanu Douglas Ngau Chun, who heads the 15-a-side game there. But he said it would not be able to compete with the deep pockets the Australian government has given rugby league in the Pacific. “Samoa only has a population of 200,000 people, with a limited private sector. Seeing that kind of investment going to league it concerns us. That means it might be a nail in the coffin for rugby here in the Pacific, especially for Samoa. As a struggling nation we are concerned,” the Samoa Rugby Union CEO said. “We’re tired of sending our elite players overseas to end up playing for the All Blacks and for other countries. With this kind of proposal that we’re making to Australia, this will benefit our people to remain on island. But we’d also have access to top-quality assistance from Australian rugby.”

The three island nations have drawn up a proposal for funding be boosted to a level where they could draw closer to Australia and New Zealand in international rugby union, as well as to enable Tonga and Samoa to push for their own Super Rugby franchises rather than see more players enticed to play for overseas teams. It is understood they will put forward a proposal for $150 million in assistance from the Australian government. Sewabu cited Fiji rugby union’s tour of 1952 which drew large crowds and helped lift the Australian game up from financial troubles and fierce competition from rugby league. Israel Folau leads out the Tongan rugby team against Fiji in Suva in 2022. Credit: Getty Images “Our two countries have been rugby partners since 1952, when Fiji’s visit helped keep rugby union alive in Australia,” he said. “Today we face a new crossroads and can again work together for the good of Pacific rugby.” He said he hoped Australia could return the favour to “protect the game we love that has so much historical, cultural and social significance to our people and our country”.

An Australian government spokesperson said it already partnered with Rugby Australia and Oceania Rugby including with financial support in what was “a great example of the power of sports diplomacy in bringing the Pacific family, of which Australia is a part, closer together”. “Rugby union is something we have in common with our fellow Pacific family members. We share a rich history, whether it be through Tonga’s iconic victory over the Wallabies in 1973 or through former World Cup-winning Wallaby Toutai Kefu, whose father Fatai played in the 1973 Tonga team. Again, this weekend, those ties will be strengthened further when the Wallabies and Fiji compete for the inaugural Vuvale Bowl. Samoa players sign their national anthem. Credit: Getty Images “Australia is a proud member of the Pacific family. Australia continues to be the Pacific’s largest development partner, and security partner of choice. The Pacific is best served by Pacific-led institutions and processes.” Loaded with NRL players, the Tongan and Samoan national rugby league teams have made great strides in the past decade, with Tonga recording historic wins against Australia and New Zealand and Samoa shocking England to reach the Rugby League World Cup final in 2022. About 50 per cent of NRL players now are from a Pasifika background.

Rugby union, however, retains a firm link to the Pacific nations’ cultural identities and power bases. Rabuka himself is former international for the Flying Fijians, the country’s national rugby union team, and Tongan rugby’s president is the country’s prime minister, ’Aisake Valu Eke. The chairman of the Samoa Rugby Union is Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi, the long-serving former prime minister bidding to reclaim the top job at an election on August 29. The Australian reported that one of Fiji’s three deputy prime ministers, Manoa Kamikamica, told a forum at the Perth Sevens rugby union tournament in January that the NRL’s government-funded Pacific handout was “the biggest threat our sport has ever faced”. Rabuka, speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, was more phlegmatic, pointing to the potential benefits of Fijian players being paid more. “We are concerned that they might be pulling some of our people away,” he said. “It may affect rugby union, but I don’t think very much. But it could help the economy.” Loading

Albanese, a fan of NRL team the South Sydney Rabbitohs, has used rugby league as a tool to safeguard Australia’s national security interests in PNG in particular as Beijing seeks to expand its influence. But as cash-strapped Pacific rugby unions confront the prospect of state-sponsored rugby league, it has left a gap for China to step into the breach. “We need to expand our horizons and see who is willing to help us,” said Tongan rugby chief Aholelei, who toured Chinese cities in June to explore commercial, player pathway and coaching ties. “That’s the reason we embarked on the tour of China. Kindly, the Chinese government helped us to partake. It was very insightful and thee’s a lot of help there for us ... we’re really optimistic about that impending partnership with China.” Douglas said Samoan rugby was also exploring an MOU with China after being approached by officials from Beijing’s embassy in Apia.

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