The Fiji National Rugby League (FNRL) is spearheading discussions for new regional tournaments aimed at creating playing opportunities for local players in the region.<\/p>\n
FNRL chairman Rajesh Singh has confirmed that discussions are being held with New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) and Asia Pacific Rugby League (APRL) to establish a Nines (9s) tournament series in the Pacific.<\/p>\n
At the same time, there are also plans to have a 13-a-side tournament similar to rugby union’s Pacific Nations Cup (PNC).<\/p>\n
Singh told local media in Suva last week the new 9s tournament would feature Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.<\/p>\n
“It will include all local players and it’ll be a pathway for our local resident club players,” Singh confirmed to local media.<\/p>\n
“We need to give our local players in the islands the opportunity to have competitive matches so they can also develop their skills and knowledge of the game.”<\/p>\n
The 13-a-side tournament will follow the same format as the PNC, which had Fiji, Samoa and Tonga initially, but now includes Japan, Canada and the United States of America.<\/p>\n
Singh said they also want test matches with the future Kiwis’ teams and the M\u0101ori selections.<\/p>\n
“We’re going to have more discussions to make rugby league great again,” he added.<\/p>\n
NZRL chairman Justin Leydesdoff told local media in Suva that they are working with FNRL to grow the game in the country by providing opportunities for resident club teams.<\/p>\n
“We’re (NZ) in the same pool with Fiji in the World Cup and Fiji has done well against the Kiwis previously, so I can commit to supporting Fiji in every game, except against the Kiwis and Kiwi Ferns,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We have a long and strong relationship as a country and as a sport. It’s about having close relations to ensure that we maximise the opportunities there.”<\/p>\n
APRL chairman Sandis Tsaka said they were assisting Pacific countries in developing the game.<\/p>\n
“There’s been a structured pathway and programs for elite players, but we feel we can do more within our region for our domestic competitions to support our young people,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The issues and challenges are the same across the region as discussed over the last 12 days.”<\/p>\n
India, China and stadium stalks<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Singh said the FNRL is also in discussion with India and China on possible assistance for the construction of a stadium.<\/p>\n
Fiji signed up to Australia’s Pacific Rugby League Partnership last month, with that funding expected to boost the sport locally, especially in boosting youth and women’s development.<\/p>\n
Singh said as part of their focus on getting a NRL spot for a franchise club the FNRL would need to have a proper stadium to host NRL matches.<\/p>\n
He confirmed discussions have started with both India, who have just been voted in as a member of the international federation, and China.<\/p>\n
Singh said to be considered for NRL inclusion Fiji must have upgraded facilities, including a custom built stadium.<\/p>\n
“That is important and we want to have that here,” he said.<\/p>\n
As far as the upcoming Rugby League World Cup (RLWC) is concerned, Singh said they have a 40-member squads registered with International Rugby League, for both the men and women’s teams.<\/p>\n
Those squads will be reduced to 23-members each ahead of the RLWC, which is scheduled for Australia and Papua New Guinea from 15 October to 15 November.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Fiji National Rugby League (FNRL) is spearheading discussions for new regional tournaments aimed at creating playing opportunities…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":883665,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-883664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883664","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=883664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/883665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}