Pacific Championships 2024

[Damien]

Full draw:

2024 Pacific Championships Draw 
Pacific Cup - Men 
Fri 18 Oct Australia v Tonga Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane 
Sun 27 Oct New Zealand v Australia Apollo Projects Stadium, Christchurch 
Sat 2 Nov New Zealand v Tonga Go Media Stadium, Auckland 
Sun 10 Nov Final CommBank Stadium, Sydney 

Pacific Cup - Women 
Fri 18 Oct Australia v PNG Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane 
Sun 27 Oct New Zealand v Australia Apollo Projects Stadium, Christchurch 
Sun 3 Nov PNG v New Zealand Santos Stadium, Port Moresby 
Sun 10 Nov Final CommBank Stadium, Sydney 

Pacific Bowl – Men 
Sat 19 Oct Fiji v PNG Fiji 
Sat 26 Oct Fiji v Cook Islands Fiji 
Sun 3 Nov PNG v Cook Islands Santos Stadium, Port Moresby 
Sun 10 Nov Promotion/Relegation Playoff CommBank Stadium, Sydney

Pacific Bowl – Women 
Sat 19 Oct Tonga v Samoa Fiji 
Sat 26 Oct Fiji v Cook Islands Fiji 
Sat 2 Nov Final Go Media Stadium, Auckland 
Sun 10 Nov Promotion/Relegation Playoff CommBank Stadium, Sydney

https://www.nrl.com/news/2024/08/30/2024-pacific-championships-draw-announced

 

Edited August 29 by Damien

[Jparrish]

23 minutes ago, Damien said:

Full draw:

2024 Pacific Championships Draw 
Pacific Cup - Men 
Fri 18 Oct Australia v Tonga Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane 
Sun 27 Oct New Zealand v Australia Apollo Projects Stadium, Christchurch 
Sat 2 Nov New Zealand v Tonga Go Media Stadium, Auckland 
Sun 10 Nov Final CommBank Stadium, Sydney 

Pacific Cup - Women 
Fri 18 Oct Australia v PNG Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane 
Sun 27 Oct New Zealand v Australia Apollo Projects Stadium, Christchurch 
Sun 3 Nov PNG v New Zealand Santos Stadium, Port Moresby 
Sun 10 Nov Final CommBank Stadium, Sydney 

Pacific Bowl – Men 
Sat 19 Oct Fiji v PNG Fiji 
Sat 26 Oct Fiji v Cook Islands Fiji 
Sun 3 Nov PNG v Cook Islands Santos Stadium, Port Moresby 
Sun 10 Nov Promotion/Relegation Playoff CommBank Stadium, Sydney

Pacific Bowl – Women 
Sat 19 Oct Tonga v Samoa Fiji 
Sat 26 Oct Fiji v Cook Islands Fiji 
Sat 2 Nov Final Go Media Stadium, Auckland 
Sun 10 Nov Promotion/Relegation Playoff CommBank Stadium, Sydney

https://www.nrl.com/news/2024/08/30/2024-pacific-championships-draw-announced

 

So a quadruple header at Commbank Nov 10. Certainly will get tickets but not keen on hanging around for 4 games. 

Hoping the plan next year is for Samoa to slot into Australia's place ? Great to see Fiji hosting too. 

[sam4731]

25 minutes ago, Damien said:

Full draw:

2024 Pacific Championships Draw 
Pacific Cup - Men 
Fri 18 Oct Australia v Tonga Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane 
Sun 27 Oct New Zealand v Australia Apollo Projects Stadium, Christchurch 
Sat 2 Nov New Zealand v Tonga Go Media Stadium, Auckland 
Sun 10 Nov Final CommBank Stadium, Sydney 

Pacific Cup - Women 
Fri 18 Oct Australia v PNG Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane 
Sun 27 Oct New Zealand v Australia Apollo Projects Stadium, Christchurch 
Sun 3 Nov PNG v New Zealand Santos Stadium, Port Moresby 
Sun 10 Nov Final CommBank Stadium, Sydney 

Pacific Bowl – Men 
Sat 19 Oct Fiji v PNG Fiji 
Sat 26 Oct Fiji v Cook Islands Fiji 
Sun 3 Nov PNG v Cook Islands Santos Stadium, Port Moresby 
Sun 10 Nov Promotion/Relegation Playoff CommBank Stadium, Sydney

Pacific Bowl – Women 
Sat 19 Oct Tonga v Samoa Fiji 
Sat 26 Oct Fiji v Cook Islands Fiji 
Sat 2 Nov Final Go Media Stadium, Auckland 
Sun 10 Nov Promotion/Relegation Playoff CommBank Stadium, Sydney

https://www.nrl.com/news/2024/08/30/2024-pacific-championships-draw-announced

 

Where does this leave Samoa in the 2025 Championships? Presumably they will take the place of Australia... unless Australia get relegated.

[Hopie]

2025 comp, without Australia right...

RIGHT!?!

[BristolDevonCharlie]

7 hours ago, Hopie said:

2025 comp, without Australia right...

RIGHT!?!

Yes exactly. They will play three Tests against (likely to be) Great Britain. 

[BristolDevonCharlie]

8 hours ago, Damien said:

Full draw:

2024 Pacific Championships Draw 
Pacific Cup - Men 
Fri 18 Oct Australia v Tonga Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane 
Sun 27 Oct New Zealand v Australia Apollo Projects Stadium, Christchurch 
Sat 2 Nov New Zealand v Tonga Go Media Stadium, Auckland 
Sun 10 Nov Final CommBank Stadium, Sydney 

Pacific Cup - Women 
Fri 18 Oct Australia v PNG Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane 
Sun 27 Oct New Zealand v Australia Apollo Projects Stadium, Christchurch 
Sun 3 Nov PNG v New Zealand Santos Stadium, Port Moresby 
Sun 10 Nov Final CommBank Stadium, Sydney 

Pacific Bowl – Men 
Sat 19 Oct Fiji v PNG Fiji 
Sat 26 Oct Fiji v Cook Islands Fiji 
Sun 3 Nov PNG v Cook Islands Santos Stadium, Port Moresby 
Sun 10 Nov Promotion/Relegation Playoff CommBank Stadium, Sydney

Pacific Bowl – Women 
Sat 19 Oct Tonga v Samoa Fiji 
Sat 26 Oct Fiji v Cook Islands Fiji 
Sat 2 Nov Final Go Media Stadium, Auckland 
Sun 10 Nov Promotion/Relegation Playoff CommBank Stadium, Sydney

https://www.nrl.com/news/2024/08/30/2024-pacific-championships-draw-announced

 

Everything here is a minimum a double header, with the Finals day a quadruple header. 

It was alluded to by Troy Grant that the RLWC's in 2026 would have double and triple headers. I expect this, and the 2025 Pacific Champs, to be the blueprint for how the ARLC will run the World Cup. 

[Odsal Outlaw]

To be fair to the NRL, the pacific championships do look quite good, the stadiums and locations have got better this year, the top tier now all get 3 guaranteed games which wasn’t the case last year and their is P&R between the two tiers. A positive step. 

[Dave T]

1 hour ago, Odsal Outlaw said:

To be fair to the NRL, the pacific championships do look quite good, the stadiums and locations have got better this year, the top tier now all get 3 guaranteed games which wasn’t the case last year and their is P&R between the two tiers. A positive step. 

The staging looks very good this year. Sensible and ambitious grounds, looks like they are taking it a little more serious with ground choice. 

Interesting that they are introducing P&R! 

There is still a big flaw in this tournament that really does show the fact this should be mid-season, and that's that despite having P&R and a table, next year the Aussies won't be in it, Samoa not this year, Tonga missing last year. 

It is also still "blink and you miss it" with only 2 matches and a final per team. 

But yes, it looks better than last year's version. 

[Dave T]

2 hours ago, BristolDevonCharlie said:

Everything here is a minimum a double header, with the Finals day a quadruple header. 

It was alluded to by Troy Grant that the RLWC's in 2026 would have double and triple headers. I expect this, and the 2025 Pacific Champs, to be the blueprint for how the ARLC will run the World Cup. 

Whilst double headers are a lazy cheap choice, I have a little more comfort with double headers in Oz for example. Sitting in the warm sunshine having a couple of beers for 5 hours is great - less so in November in Manchester!

[GeordieSaint]

On 25/08/2024 at 11:34, Damien said:

We should have been having huge, blockbuster matches between Samoa, Tonga and NZ every year, it's a disgrace we haven't.

The NRL doesn’t want it so it hasn’t happened. Too scared it will impact the NRL season or have players not wanting to play in Origin. 

A regular mid season window with NZ-Tonga-Samoa competition hosted in NZ running alongside Origin would be massive. 

 

[Mathius Hellwege]

10 hours ago, Damien said:

At last:

The National Rugby League (NRL) has today announced the draw for the 2024 Pacific Championships to be played in four countries across four consecutive weekends in October and November. 

In a major development, the 2024 edition will see the introduction of promotion and relegation with the winner of the Men’s and Women’s Pacific Bowls to play off against the third-placed Pacific Cup nations for a place in their respective 2025 Pacific Cup pools. 

Fiji will host Pacific Championship matches for the first time as the event expands further into the Pacific in 2024, with Port Moresby’s Santos Stadium to once again host matches alongside Brisbane, Christchurch, Auckland and Sydney.

https://www.nrl.com/news/2024/08/30/2024-pacific-championships-draw-announced

promotion and relegation not only offers another great game but is a huge structural development

the NRL believes in these Pacific Cups....and GB will only get a tour by the seventh team in the three years betwenn RLWC

[Mathius Hellwege]

29 minutes ago, Dave T said:

The staging looks very good this year. Sensible and ambitious grounds, looks like they are taking it a little more serious with ground choice. 

Interesting that they are introducing P&R! 

There is still a big flaw in this tournament that really does show the fact this should be mid-season, and that's that despite having P&R and a table, next year the Aussies won't be in it, Samoa not this year, Tonga missing last year. 

It is also still "blink and you miss it" with only 2 matches and a final per team. 

But yes, it looks better than last year's version. 

the only solution I see is sending GB down the three years betwenn the RLWC and do 2 4N-tournaments with promotion an relegation.

Then you would have four games for nearly every team and two big games per week

[BristolDevonCharlie]

14 minutes ago, Mathius Hellwege said:

promotion and relegation not only offers another great game but is a huge structural development

the NRL believes in these Pacific Cups....and GB will only get a tour by the seventh team in the three years betwenn RLWC

Well, the reason for the  2 x 3. Cup & Bowl format is to fit England into the schedule. With NZ and Australia coming up in 2027 & 2028, we can see that format continuing.

I assume they have kept 2029 free for now until they decide on the qualifying particulars for 2030's Men's RLWC. 

As they have said they want world rankings to play a greater part of qualification, I'd imagine it would be like the ICC tournaments where the hosts (and maybe 2026 winners) qualify automatically, then those ranked in the top 8 (assuming that includes the hosts & 2026 winners) before a certain cut off date. That would then leave two teams to qualify from the 2029 World Series. Regional qualifiers in autumn 2028 to feed into that. 

[Tommygilf]

 

 

[Dave T]

12 hours ago, sam4731 said:

Where does this leave Samoa in the 2025 Championships? Presumably they will take the place of Australia... unless Australia get relegated.

2025 is likely to be Samoa, NZ and Fiji. 

Or it could be Samoa, Tonga and Fiji

[Damien]

13 hours ago, Damien said:

At last:

The National Rugby League (NRL) has today announced the draw for the 2024 Pacific Championships to be played in four countries across four consecutive weekends in October and November. 

In a major development, the 2024 edition will see the introduction of promotion and relegation with the winner of the Men’s and Women’s Pacific Bowls to play off against the third-placed Pacific Cup nations for a place in their respective 2025 Pacific Cup pools. 

Fiji will host Pacific Championship matches for the first time as the event expands further into the Pacific in 2024, with Port Moresby’s Santos Stadium to once again host matches alongside Brisbane, Christchurch, Auckland and Sydney.

https://www.nrl.com/news/2024/08/30/2024-pacific-championships-draw-announced

Forgot to say I do like the P&R element but 1 nation dipping in and out every year just doesn't work for me and doesn't really work with P&R either (unless we keep getting lucky).

[Damien]

I would love to see 2 tournaments of 4 teams every 4 years between World Cups (daresay the fabled intercontinental cup) where England and France are added.

Edited August 30 by Damien

[sam4731]

It'll be interesting to see if they stick to the P&R model if it isn't Tonga that are relegated.

[Hopie]

The thing is, if this tournament structure works next year without Australia, then it could run mid season without Australia too, whilst Origin is played. 

That would allow teams to travel or host series in the end of season window. And you could swap them around to be in either window.

No excuse for not having two windows if you really care about International Rugby League... unless you are scared NZ v Tonga in Auckland would outshine Origin or something. 

 

[Damien]

1 minute ago, Hopie said:

The thing is, if this tournament structure works next year without Australia, then it could run mid season without Australia too, whilst Origin is played. 

That would allow teams to travel or host series in the end of season window. And you could swap them around to be in either window.

No excuse for not having two windows if you really care about International Rugby League... unless you are scared NZ v Tonga in Auckland would outshine Origin or something. 

That's what I have always called for, it's perfect for a mid season tournament to then allow for cross hemisphere games at the end of the season.

We all know why this won't happen and why the mid season international window was scrapped.

[Dave T]

18 minutes ago, Hopie said:

The thing is, if this tournament structure works next year without Australia, then it could run mid season without Australia too, whilst Origin is played. 

That would allow teams to travel or host series in the end of season window. And you could swap them around to be in either window.

No excuse for not having two windows if you really care about International Rugby League... unless you are scared NZ v Tonga in Auckland would outshine Origin or something. 

 

Two windows really is a must. You really can't have a credible international sport spread over 4 weeks a year max.

[DoubleD]

28 minutes ago, Hopie said:

The thing is, if this tournament structure works next year without Australia, then it could run mid season without Australia too, whilst Origin is played. 

That would allow teams to travel or host series in the end of season window. And you could swap them around to be in either window.

No excuse for not having two windows if you really care about International Rugby League... unless you are scared NZ v Tonga in Auckland would outshine Origin or something. 

 

I think we'd all like to see this happen but I think it's unlikely because the golden goose that is Origin is now midweek and that's where they prefer it. It means NRL teams backing up, which is ridiculous, particularly from a player safety perspective. Ideally you'd have a 3 week break for Origin, combined with a 3 week international break. This would extend the season by 3 weeks though - the NRL could start earlier I suppose, to bring it closer to SL start

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

1 hour ago, sam4731 said:

It'll be interesting to see if they stick to the P&R model if it isn't Tonga that are relegated.

Am I right in thinking that the promotion/relegation game would involve the bottom of tier 1 vs top of tier 2? Otherwise surely it would just be called a promotion game? In which case it may mean that nobody is relegated from tier 1.

[GeordieSaint]

21 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

I think we'd all like to see this happen but I think it's unlikely because the golden goose that is Origin is now midweek and that's where they prefer it. It means NRL teams backing up, which is ridiculous, particularly from a player safety perspective.

Throwing the player safety perspective into the bin like Origin does, why can’t the internationals take place on the same Wednesday? 

[BristolDevonCharlie]

3 hours ago, Dave T said:

2025 is likely to be Samoa, NZ and Fiji. 

Or it could be Samoa, Tonga and Fiji

Or surely the most likely is New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga. Can't see Fiji or PNG beating Tonga in the playoff. 

This would give the NRL & NZRL what they want in a year without Australia - some very marketable games in New Zealand or Western Sydney.  These will include the first Tonga v Samoa game in the Southern Hempishere since 2018.