{"id":242112,"date":"2025-10-26T13:46:28","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T13:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/242112\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T13:46:28","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T13:46:28","slug":"pacific-coaches-call-for-more-respect-and-fairness-from-nrl-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/242112\/","title":{"rendered":"Pacific coaches call for more respect and fairness from NRL – NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

International rugby league is in full swing, and while both the Ashes and Pacific Championships taking place at the same time has been nothing but a boon for the NRL<\/a>, some participants aren’t feeling the joy.<\/p>\n

Samoa<\/a> coach Ben Gardiner<\/a> and Tonga<\/a> coach Kristian Woolf<\/a> have called on the NRL<\/a> to show greater respect and support for Pacific nations ahead of next year’s Rugby League<\/a> World Cup.<\/p>\n

According to news.com.au, the pair believe the smaller nations deserve fairer treatment, highlighting the massive role they’ve played in growing the international game in recent years.<\/p>\n

More than 45,000 fans are expected at Suncorp Stadium for Sunday’s Tonga<\/a>\u2013Samoa<\/a> clash, a fixture both coaches say showcases the heart of modern rugby league.<\/p>\n

\"EnglandLEEDS, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 2: Samoa’s Blaize Seuala-Talagi looks on during the Autumn International Series test match between England and Samoa at Headingley Stadium on November 2, 2024 in Leeds, England. (Photo by Ed Sykes\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cTeams like Tonga<\/a>, Samoa<\/a>, New Zealand<\/a>, Papua New Guinea<\/a> and Fiji<\/a> should be respected,\u201d Gardiner said to news.com.au.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shows how the Pacific nations are leading the way with rugby league at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woolf said there’s still an imbalance in how the NRL<\/a> treats the Pacific nations compared to Australia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings are more equal and we get more respect than we used to, but we’re still a long way behind the bigger nations, Australia<\/a> in particular,\u201d Woolf said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look at the conditions afforded to other teams, I think it’s time we got a bit more respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both coaches called for equality around travel, accommodation, and financial support, especially with the World Cup approaching.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there’s a need for fairness across the board,\u201d Gardiner said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeams like Australia<\/a> have been given special conditions around their CBA, everyone deserves to be treated equally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"EnglandLONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 25: Josh Addo-Carr of Australia reacts during the Rugby League Ashes match between England and Australia at Wembley Stadium on October 25, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Paul Harding\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The coaches also defended current eligibility rules that allow players like Stephen Crichton<\/a> and Jarome Luai<\/a> to represent New South Wales in Origin and Samoa<\/a> internationally.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’d be detrimental if those rules changed,\u201d Gardiner said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe international game is the best it’s ever been because of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woolf added that the Pacific revolution began when Jason Taumalolo<\/a> and Andrew Fifita<\/a> switched to Tonga<\/a> in 2017, paving the way for Samoa’s rise in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s no longer just three teams who can win a World Cup,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s now four, five, six, even seven nations capable of going all the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their vocal disappointment is expected to cause a chain reaction, with the league needing the international game’s leaders on board if they want to continue their global expansion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"International rugby league is in full swing, and while both the Ashes and Pacific Championships taking place at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-242112","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}