Header Ads

Rugby League in Oceania

Rugby League is one of the major sports played in the Oceania.  In  Australia Rugby league  is one of the most popular sports. It is the dominant winter sport on the country's eastern seaboard, including the states of New South Wales and Queensland as well as the Australian Capital Territory, which together comprise around half of the country's population.The elite club competition is the National Rugby League (NRL), which features ten teams from New South Wales, three teams from Queensland, and one team each from VictoriaAustralian Capital Territory and New Zealand.

New Zealand has a team (New Zealand Warriors) in the NRL. Besides New Zeland has its domestic competitions. 



Most of the Pacific Island Countries have their on domestic rugby league competition. In Papua New Guinea, a semi professional Rugby League Competition called Dicigel cup  is played starting in May till October every year.. Fiji and other Pacific Island countries have their on domestic leagues.

Players.

Most Pacific and New Zealand rugby league players move to play in the NRL in Australia. Others pursue their carriers in the Super League in England.


Test Matches.

Australia and New Zealand  play two test matches every year.

1.  Anzac Day Test 
2. End of the year Test Match.

Papua New Guinea and Fiji plays two tests matches every year. 
Currently Papua New Guinea has hosted all these test matches. Plans are in place to move the games to Fiji.


Prime Ministers 13

Australia and Papua New Guinea play a Prime Ministers 13 test every year in Port Moresby. 

Pacific Cup

Apart from Australia and New Zealand, the Pacific Island countries participate rugby league tournament called Pacific Cup. The  team that wins the Pacific Cup qualifies for four nation tournaments.  Papua New Guinea is the current Pacific Cup holder after she hosted the game in Port Moresby and won the cup in 2009.  

State of origin

State of Origin is a rugby league match played by two rival Australian States: The New South Wales and the Queenlands States.

There teams are called, NSW Blues and Queensland Maroons.

3 matches are played every year. 




Powered by Blogger.