Moana Pasifika Super Rugby - Red flag for any NRL Pasifika team

[The Daddy]

Been talk recently of there being a united Pasifika NRL club based in Cairns and representing PNG, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa and all Pacific Islands playing games in each of those nations but mainly PNG.

I really think this is a terrible idea and got fail written all over it. 

The lack of interest in Super Rugby's Moana Pasifika team should give everyone involved the biggest warning and red flags they need to see. Poor crowds, general lack of interest, poor viewership.

Just don't do it. 

[The Daddy]

Interesting article 

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.theroar.com.au/2023/04/03/the-wrap-super-rugbys-two-speed-expansion-so-far-provides-multiple-headaches/amp/

[Damien]

We knew it would be a terrible idea anyway. Internationals are the way forward to tap into Pacific pride and rivalries.

Edited April 5, 2023 by Damien

[Pulga]

I feel the PNG Hunters and Kaiviti Silktails are doing a good job as it is. There is no need for them to be in the NRL. The Kumuls especially have come along really well since the Hunters were introduced.

[eal]

The comparison between the Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika is night and day. The Drua play to boisterous crowds in Suva and Lautoka and have a strong identity, Moana Pasifika just seem like a team of left over players from other teams that have Samoan or Tongan heritage. Not sure how viable it is for them to ever play games in Apia or Nuka'alofa. Fiji is a much bigger economy than either Samoa or Tonga.

[Madrileño]

7 minutes ago, Pulga said:

I feel the PNG Hunters and Kaiviti Silktails are doing a good job as it is. There is no need for them to be in the NRL. 

What makes you say that?

The Silktails team is semi professional. Whether via NRL or another competition,  there is definitely a need for them to progress to full time professionalism.  If they do not, their better players will be offered contracts elsewhere... some in the NRL admittedly,  but plenty others will be grabbed by union, where there are far more professional opportunities.  We are not here to provide a feeder team for union, the Silktails should be a way to offer a professional pathway in League, and keep Fijian guys in the game, thereby helping the national team to improve.  

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, Madrileño said:

What makes you say that?

The Silktails team is semi professional. Whether via NRL or another competition,  there is definitely a need for them to progress to full time professionalism.  If they do not, their better players will be offered contracts elsewhere... some in the NRL admittedly,  but plenty others will be grabbed by union, where there are far more professional opportunities.  We are not here to provide a feeder team for union, the Silktails should be a way to offer a professional pathway in League, and keep Fijian guys in the game, thereby helping the national team to improve.  

Do you think they should be based in Fiji or Australia? 

[Keith989]

4 hours ago, eal said:

The comparison between the Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika is night and day. The Drua play to boisterous crowds in Suva and Lautoka and have a strong identity, Moana Pasifika just seem like a team of left over players from other teams that have Samoan or Tongan heritage. Not sure how viable it is for them to ever play games in Apia or Nuka'alofa. Fiji is a much bigger economy than either Samoa or Tonga.

They are playing a home game in Samoa in a few weeks, it'll be interesting to see what kind of crowd and buzz they can generate  there. 

I think a similar side would be a lot bigger draw in the NRL, this was never going to work in super rugby in its current form. 

[Henson Park Old Firm]

The NRL/Governments should just make a NRL Pacific 8 team comp (professional) with all clubs affiliated with NRL clubs.

 

2 teams from PNG, 2 from Fiji,  from Tonga and 2 from Samoa.

 

Have to 2 pools of Melanesia and Polynesian. Pools play each other twice and once in the other pool. Winner of the pools goes on to the Grand Final.

[The 4 of Us]

5 minutes ago, Henson Park Old Firm said:

The NRL/Governments should just make a NRL Pacific 8 team comp (professional) with all clubs affiliated with NRL clubs.

 

2 teams from PNG, 2 from Fiji,  from Tonga and 2 from Samoa.

 

Have to 2 pools of Melanesia and Polynesian. Pools play each other twice and once in the other pool. Winner of the pools goes on to the Grand Final.

Sounds perfect until the beancounters get hold of it 

[Madrileño]

6 hours ago, Eddie said:

Do you think they should be based in Fiji or Australia? 

Fiji for me would be the ideal solution. If the only "professional " option was full NRL participation,  then it would be dependent on the numbers adding up. Perhaps a hybrid Fiji-Aus solution to get started with.

Semi pro can only go on for so long though.

Edited April 5, 2023 by Madrileño

[Eddie]

7 minutes ago, Madrileño said:

Fiji for me would be the ideal solution. If the only "professional " option was full NRL participation,  then it would be dependent on the numbers adding up. Perhaps a hybrid Fiji-Aus solution to get started with.

Semi pro can only go on for so long though.

Why can it only go on for so long, in your opinion? Do you think the same about other semi pro teams in the Q or NSW Cups? 

[Sports Prophet]

2 hours ago, Henson Park Old Firm said:

The NRL/Governments should just make a NRL Pacific 8 team comp (professional) with all clubs affiliated with NRL clubs.

 

2 teams from PNG, 2 from Fiji,  from Tonga and 2 from Samoa.

 

Have to 2 pools of Melanesia and Polynesian. Pools play each other twice and once in the other pool. Winner of the pools goes on to the Grand Final.

That is a very good idea. I am not sure whether each nation can service two teams. I would throw in consideration for two NZ teams in that setup as well.

[Madrileño]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

Why can it only go on for so long, in your opinion? Do you think the same about other semi pro teams in the Q or NSW Cups? 

I said why in my previous post. They are in place to offer a professional pathway in League. Stay semi pro, and the best players will continue to leave Fiji for overseas union (or the NRL). UK league for some reason is almost never signing guys from Fiji. 

 

[Mr Frisky]

1 hour ago, Sports Prophet said:

That is a very good idea. I am not sure whether each nation can service two teams. I would throw in consideration for two NZ teams in that setup as well.

To be fair I think the Aussie NRL clubs put up with 1 NZ team, because they have to - NZ Warriors just don't bring anything to the value of the comp as NZ doesn't have the money the Aussies have and its a long way to go as well for the Aussies. No chance they would support a 2nd NZ team.

[Mojo]

17 hours ago, The Daddy said:

Been talk recently of there being a united Pasifika NRL club based in Cairns and representing PNG, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa and all Pacific Islands playing games in each of those nations but mainly PNG.

I really think this is a terrible idea and got fail written all over it. 

The lack of interest in Super Rugby's Moana Pasifika team should give everyone involved the biggest warning and red flags they need to see. Poor crowds, general lack of interest, poor viewership.

Just don't do it. 

The lack of interest in the Moana Pasifika team is due to alot of Samoans turning there interest to rugby league tbh. And also a lot of pacific islanders have moved to Australia, which is the home of rugby league. Fiji will always love rugby union but Tonga and Samoa, are slowly losing interest to rugby union. Due to the fact that the national team is corrupt and a lack of success is also killing them.

Putting the pasifika team in nz is a huge mistake. Because half of the Polynesian players are in Australia. And just like the warriors none of the star players would want to move to nz. Junior Paulo and Taumalolo have already come out and said they're keen to join the pasifika if there is one

[Mojo]

I also don't agree with the Moana Pasifika team in Super Rugby. Because it's partially owned by nz rugby. Which is even more of a joke. Because another pasifika owner wanted to make there own pasifika team in Super Rugby and base it in Hawaii. They had the money and everything needed to start there own pasifika team. But nz rugby declined them. Because they said they won't be "competitive". But the real reason was because the team had the money to sign up star players and they wouldn't be allowed to represent any other nations but the pacific islanders, and nz rugby shut that down quickly and started the Moana Pasifika instead

[Eddie]

6 hours ago, Madrileño said:

I said why in my previous post. They are in place to offer a professional pathway in League. Stay semi pro, and the best players will continue to leave Fiji for overseas union (or the NRL). UK league for some reason is almost never signing guys from Fiji. 

 

They already have left Fiji haven’t they? They play home games at the Mascot Oval.  

[Eddie]

31 minutes ago, Mojo said:

I also don't agree with the Moana Pasifika team in Super Rugby. Because it's partially owned by nz rugby. Which is even more of a joke. Because another pasifika owner wanted to make there own pasifika team in Super Rugby and base it in Hawaii. They had the money and everything needed to start there own pasifika team. But nz rugby declined them. Because they said they won't be "competitive". But the real reason was because the team had the money to sign up star players and they wouldn't be allowed to represent any other nations but the pacific islanders, and nz rugby shut that down quickly and started the Moana Pasifika instead

The league with teams from Argentina, Japan and SA already collapsed due to absurd travel and time zone distances - I can see why they wouldn’t want a team in Hawaii. 

[Mojo]

13 minutes ago, Eddie said:

The league with teams from Argentina, Japan and SA already collapsed due to absurd travel and time zone distances - I can see why they wouldn’t want a team in Hawaii. 

They also said they're willing to play in Auckland and pay there own way. They had a very rich owner who owns part of the NFL teams, they we're willing to offer star players huge money to commit to the team and the pacific island nations. Nz rugby wanted no part of that for obvious reasons.

[Keith989]

6 minutes ago, Mojo said:

They also said they're willing to play in Auckland and pay there own way. They had a very rich owner who owns part of the NFL teams, they we're willing to offer star players huge money to commit to the team and the pacific island nations. Nz rugby wanted no part of that for obvious reasons.

That group were a joke and were found out when they put in a failed bid for an MLR team. There was nothing serious about either of their bids. The stadium they wanted to play in, in Hawaii is falling apart. 

[Sports Prophet]

9 hours ago, Mr Frisky said:

To be fair I think the Aussie NRL clubs put up with 1 NZ team, because they have to - NZ Warriors just don't bring anything to the value of the comp as NZ doesn't have the money the Aussies have and its a long way to go as well for the Aussies. No chance they would support a 2nd NZ team.

I disagree with you there Frisk, the NRL does not have to include a NZ team at all, they do so because they do add value, both tangible and intangible. The Warriors are not supported by the NRL in any alternate manner than any other NRL club is supported. 

[Oxford]

Red flag for any NRL Pasifika team

 

The idea that the NRL would react to this by going into action or at all is a comedy idea on its own merit.

 

[Damien]

9 hours ago, Mr Frisky said:

To be fair I think the Aussie NRL clubs put up with 1 NZ team, because they have to - NZ Warriors just don't bring anything to the value of the comp as NZ doesn't have the money the Aussies have and its a long way to go as well for the Aussies. No chance they would support a 2nd NZ team.

NZ TV rights are fairly lucrative and the NRL gets back far more than it puts into NZ RL. I think it's fair to say these TV rights would be worth an awful lot less if it wasn't for the Warriors. 

[Damien]

2 hours ago, Keith989 said:

That group were a joke and were found out when they put in a failed bid for an MLR team. There was nothing serious about either of their bids. The stadium they wanted to play in, in Hawaii is falling apart. 

It was the same crowd who had previously failed to buy the Warriors wasn't it? There didn't seem much substance to any of it.