Tonga get huge reception

[frank]

Tonga have received a huge reception from their supporters on their arrival in Auckland.Over two thousand  were packed into a hall to greet them.

League is missing a great opportunity in  not arranging more games for Tonga.If they go well against Aussie a tour of the UK would be great.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

I would love to see the Tongans play here and I'm sure most rugby league fans in this country would love it but I don't know that an England v Tonga series would really excite the casual supporter or even the media that much. They might take note if Tonga put on a good display but I couldn't see it generating much talk before the series started. 

You have to bare in mind that the reason they are getting such great reception and the game against England (and probably this Aus one) had such great atmosphere and passion was because of the amount of Tongans or people of Tongan heritage living in NZ and at the game. According to Wikipedia only 300 or so Tongans live in uk and I can't imagine many more if heritage is taken into account. I don't think it would generate anywhere near the same atmosphere are we are seeing in NZ and i couldn't see it selling out even just 15-20,000 capacity grounds.

Dont get me wrong though, the games would be fantastic! We definitely need to get them playing more games and the big 3 need to play them often but down under, not here in Europe. 

[Abicus]

 

[Damien]

55 minutes ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

I would love to see the Tongans play here and I'm sure most rugby league fans in this country would love it but I don't know that an England v Tonga series would really excite the casual supporter or even the media that much. They might take note if Tonga put on a good display but I couldn't see it generating much talk before the series started. 

You have to bare in mind that the reason they are getting such great reception and the game against England (and probably this Aus one) had such great atmosphere and passion was because of the amount of Tongans or people of Tongan heritage living in NZ and at the game. According to Wikipedia only 300 or so Tongans live in uk and I can't imagine many more if heritage is taken into account. I don't think it would generate anywhere near the same atmosphere are we are seeing in NZ and i couldn't see it selling out even just 15-20,000 capacity grounds.

Dont get me wrong though, the games would be fantastic! We definitely need to get them playing more games and the big 3 need to play them often but down under, not here in Europe. 

I disagree. I don't know why some Rugby League fans have such a low opinion of the game and the spectacle it offers. If marketed and played at the right venues I think matches against Tonga would be every bit as big and as well attended as matches against New Zealand. In the 2013 World Cup matches against Ireland and Fiji England sold out the KC in Hull and Huddersfield with a touch over 25k  and a touch over 24k. These matches would be far less appealing than playing Tonga at this moment in time.

Of course if we went small time and played Tonga at Leigh then we would get the attendance and media coverage that such a decision would deserve. However I reckon a test series with a match at Hull, Wigan and maybe even Elland Road would go pretty well and would attract plenty of interest from RL fans alone. Tonga may be a harder sell to non RL fans so playing a match in somewhere like London may be a risk.

[JoneslessBishop]

A Tonga test series in the UK would be very attractive to RL fans. Would seem perfect for a Wigan/ Hudd or new Headingley/ Hull series.

Maybe doesn’t have the appeal to a wider audience that would justify an Anfield/ Elland Rd or London game, not that we do the latter anymore!

Obviusly a bit academic as we have our autumns scheduled until the World Cup, and a bad showing from Tonga is 2021 could reduce their appeal. 

However, never discount the Aussies capacity for revising their Interntional commitments. However, if they did, they’d probably want Tonga in the Southern Hemisphere in 2020 to warm up for 2021 without the travel.

it is so rugby league that we have done away with the 4 Nations at the exact moment we now have a 4th Nation, following on from prior iterations when Samoa nearly did it in 2014 (only losing to England and NZ in dying minutes) and arguably did when Scotland drew with NZ in 2016.

[Southern Reiver]

Not sure if the rather narrow minded London media doesn’t take notice is the reason not to do it. It is not about the media local to the northern hemisphere.  It’s about Tonga, and other pacific countries having regular international games and a proper calendar to grow the game in those countries, so the choice for a Tongan is to play for Tonga, not Australia or NZ as that’s the only place they can get a game at the international level. Yes money comes into it but somewhere the international game needs to be taken seriously.

if regular competitive internationals taking place the media will take notice. Certainly if the games are on national TV

[The Hallucinating Goose]

2 hours ago, Damien said:

I disagree. I don't know why some Rugby League fans have such a low opinion of the game and the spectacle it offers. If marketed and played at the right venues I think matches against Tonga would be every bit as big and as well attended as matches against New Zealand. In the 2013 World Cup matches against Ireland and Fiji England sold out the KC in Hull and Huddersfield with a touch over 25k  and a touch over 24k. These matches would be far less appealing than playing Tonga at this moment in time.

Of course if we went small time and played Tonga at Leigh then we would get the attendance and media coverage that such a decision would deserve. However I reckon a test series with a match at Hull, Wigan and maybe even Elland Road would go pretty well and would attract plenty of interest from RL fans alone. Tonga may be a harder sell to non RL fans so playing a match in somewhere like London may be a risk.

You have to remember though that those Fiji and Ireland games were world cup games and had more meaning.  Just done some quick adding up and found that in the stands at KCOM that are available for sale at the moment for the NZ test, there are still approximately 9,500 seats available plus the top tier not open yet (5,000), only 10-11,000 tickets have been sold for that game so far.  That game is in 2 1/2 weeks, those are worryingly low sales figures.  Are we really gonna sell 15,000 more tickets in the next 2 weeks? Doubtful.

[londonrlfan]

23 minutes ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

You have to remember though that those Fiji and Ireland games were world cup games and had more meaning.  Just done some quick adding up and found that in the stands at KCOM that are available for sale at the moment for the NZ test, there are still approximately 9,500 seats available plus the top tier not open yet (5,000), only 10-11,000 tickets have been sold for that game so far.  That game is in 2 1/2 weeks, those are worryingly low sales figures.  Are we really gonna sell 15,000 more tickets in the next 2 weeks? Doubtful.

They were never going to be big sellers, the same opponent 3x times all within a couple of hours of each other. Fans will pick only one game. Now if it was 4 Nations and it was NZ, Tonga and Aus tickets would be selling much better. 

[B rad]

I think rugby league should strike while the iron is hot and schedule as many games in NZ against Tonga as they can from the big 3. This kind of reception and passion is all over the news and puts rugby league on the media spotlight for all the right reasons. Its great PR. The players love it also. I remember an English player from last years world cup saying it was his greatest sporting experience playing against Tonga in New Zealand.  

 

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/amazing-scenes-as-thousands-of-fans-greet-tongan-stars-ahead-of-kangaroos-clash/news-story/428a55b8ac7157840f478ca7eddc68e4

[Kirmonds pouch]

It's nice to see Tonga do well but hell folks will you get some perspective!

Tonga has a population of 100,000 people, the only SL teams with a lesser populations is Cas and tbf if you were to chuck in the surrounding areas where they draw support from even this wouldn't be the case.

Tonga has a great pool of player talent and a good number of avid fans (most of whom live in NZ) but in economic and media terms the potential of Tonga as a RL nation is hugely limited - this is nothing like what a genuine breakthrough in France or Canada would produce, they are strictly small fry even when compared to PNG and apparently RU is still their national sport,

[Kayakman]

6 minutes ago, Kirmonds pouch said:

It's nice to see Tonga do well but hell folks will you get some perspective!

Tonga has a population of 100,000 people, the only SL teams with a lesser populations is Cas and tbf if you were to chuck in the surrounding areas where they draw support from even this wouldn't be the case.

Tonga has a great pool of player talent and a good number of avid fans (most of whom live in NZ) but in economic and media terms the potential of Tonga as a RL nation is hugely limited - this is nothing like what a genuine breakthrough in France or Canada would produce, they are strictly small fry even when compared to PNG and apparently RU is still their national sport,

Although if Tonga is playing in a non Pacific area many of the other Pacific Islanders would come out to support them since the immigrant communities from the South Sea Islands generally support each other unless their own nation is actually involved...

[DiH68]

Just want to add that the Tonga-Eng World Cup semi in Auckland was one of, if not the, greatest sporting occasion I have ever attended. Their fans create an atmosphere like nobody else. The more we can involve them, the better 

[deluded pom?]

27 minutes ago, Kirmonds pouch said:

It's nice to see Tonga do well but hell folks will you get some perspective!

Tonga has a population of 100,000 people, the only SL teams with a lesser populations is Cas and tbf if you were to chuck in the surrounding areas where they draw support from even this wouldn't be the case.

Tonga has a great pool of player talent and a good number of avid fans (most of whom live in NZ) but in economic and media terms the potential of Tonga as a RL nation is hugely limited - this is nothing like what a genuine breakthrough in France or Canada would produce, they are strictly small fry even when compared to PNG and apparently RU is still their national sport,

That's why we need to make hay while the sun is shining.

[deluded pom?]

4 minutes ago, DiH68 said:

Just want to add that the Tonga-Eng World Cup semi in Auckland was one of, if not the, greatest sporting occasion I have ever attended. Their fans create an atmosphere like nobody else. The more we can involve them, the better 

I didn't attend the semi but I did attend the Tonga v Samoa group game and that was the best atmosphere I've ever witnessed at a game.

[Kirmonds pouch]

1 hour ago, DiH68 said:

Just want to add that the Tonga-Eng World Cup semi in Auckland was one of, if not the, greatest sporting occasion I have ever attended. Their fans create an atmosphere like nobody else. The more we can involve them, the better 

Of that I've no doubt and they certainly add to the sport, but sadly they are not what you'd call the great stepping stone to true global recognition.

I'm going totally off topic now but if I ran RL and thankfully I don't I would concentrate our every resource on three nations. UK to help create a vibrant game in France, two SL teams and a quality 10-12 team domestic league.

Australia to help create a second NZ team and as with France improve the NZ domestic league.

As a wild card I think the Aussies should have another look at Japan, it would be a long term effort but other than baseball no team sport is especially entrenched in Japan.

Then we could have a top tier of England, Australia, NZ and France (The Pro teams) with a second teir with Semi-Pro nations like Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Lebanon, Samoa, Tonga, PNG, Japan with these teams made up mainly of there own domestic league players with a few NRL/SL players thrown in where possible and credible and maybe we would finally get some international credibility.

I also think to help things along, there is no reason why we can't tweak international rules to slightly help the lesser teams.

I'd go for a lazy 10 meters which would compensate for lack of fitness in the Pro-Am teams.

I'd only allow the Pro teams two injury subs when playing the Pro-Am teams, but allow 4 unlimited subs for the Pro-Am team. Again this compensates for the fitness issue.

Turn the kick of around so the conceding team gets the football after a try - again slows the game a bit and slows Pro teams from getting a roll on (hopefully).

Partly contested scrums, by this I mean that the scrum must at least pack down properly and the ball must at least feed into the tunnel. I don't want a Union type pedants charter but at least the possibility of some jeopardy would help.

Probably the most radical - on technical penalties such as crossing, offside, accidental offsides and knock on's make it a simple hand over rather than a kick. Foul play still results in a kick. This would stop canny Pro teams gaining cheap meters they haven't really earned and allow the Pro-Am to defend in depth.

These rules would be purely for when Pro teams play Pro-Am teams in knock out games. However I see no reason  why the Pro-Am  teams can't use them  in their own comp (again giving the a helping hand).

None of these changes fundamentally alter the game, nor should they baffle any Pro player, they just help help even it up a little - the Pro teams still maintain a notable advantage but it would help make the games more even with less blow out scores and perhaps even the odd shock.

[Tex Evans Thigh]

They are easily in the top four teams at the moment, arguably top 3. Success on the pitch is an important factor in any growth.

They have demonstrated they get strong crowds in NZ. They are probably the 2nd best supported international team in the world behind England.

Why are they not being given more fixtures, preferably planned tournaments or test series? Oh yes, because it's Rugby League.

They have a real chance of beating that Aus team, what happens if they do? Nothing more than likely.

[B rad]

7 hours ago, Kirmonds pouch said:

It's nice to see Tonga do well but hell folks will you get some perspective!

Tonga has a population of 100,000 people, the only SL teams with a lesser populations is Cas and tbf if you were to chuck in the surrounding areas where they draw support from even this wouldn't be the case.

Tonga has a great pool of player talent and a good number of avid fans (most of whom live in NZ) but in economic and media terms the potential of Tonga as a RL nation is hugely limited - this is nothing like what a genuine breakthrough in France or Canada would produce, they are strictly small fry even when compared to PNG and apparently RU is still their national sport,

They sell out games quicker then any international team. Their last 3 games have all been sell outs and this test sold out 4 weeks before the event. I believe they have now added extra seats to squeeze more in. 

Their fans bring fantastic atmosphere with many players and other nations fans saying its the best they have experienced. 

Their team is the first in many many years to be able to not only compete but beat (though Fiji followed suit straight after, funny the lack of fanfare about them) top tier nations. 

They bring a lot of positive media coverage to our game in New Zealand and Australia.

A story early in the year told of how a Tongan development program had to turn back juniors because they didn't have the resources to accommodate the massive influx of new kids wanting to play rugby league. They are growing the game in NZ at grass roots.  

Their team is very strong with depth in every position except the halves. 

I'm not sure what else they need to do in order to make some people get excited. Just  because they don't have a few more zeros on the back of their population number doesn't take away from the many things they are adding to our international game. Infact their small population adds to their underdog factor increasing their already massive public support. 

The West Indies didn't have a massive population in the early 80s (though it has since grown) when their cricket was the toast of international cricket.