Straight Talking – Pacific nations grab the stage

TIM BUTCHER, co-editor of the League Express Rugby League Yearbook, shines the spotlight on developments in the southern hemisphere.

This is the first in a series of articles written by a series of writers entitled ‘Straight Talking’ in League Express.

Whenever the Pacific Islands play Rugby League, a wave of optimism flows over me.
The men’s Pacific Championships finished last week with a rousing final, with a brilliant Australia side hanging on against a brilliant Tonga. The sea of red in the stands reminded me of a great night in 2017 when Tonga and Samoa met at a packed-out Waikato Stadium in Hamilton. There were pre-match media warnings that crowd violence could erupt, but it turned out to be the most friendly and harmonious sporting crowd I’ve ever been in.
Seven years later, international Rugby League has grown in popularity, at least in the southern hemisphere. The 2024 Pacific Championships enjoyed record attendances and a 40 per cent rise in TV audience figures. The final drew a million TV viewers – an almost 80 per cent increase on the 2023 decider between the Kangaroos and New Zealand.
The women’s Pacific Cup final between the Australia Jillaroos and New Zealand Kiwi Ferns attracted 353,000 viewers and a live attendance of 17,503.
The 2025 tournament should be even bigger.
France pulling out of hosting the 2025 World Cup was a sickener, especially after the French Prime Minister backed the high-profile launch, although French Prime Ministers generally don’t last very long and neither did the FFR XIII’s dream.
But every cloud has a silver lining. Postponing the World Cup to 2026 has opened the way for a full-blown Ashes series next year. And we are told that it will take place in England.
Let’s hope that the tour is confirmed pronto and the Rugby Football League thinks big when it comes to the three Test venues and launches a mega-promotional campaign. There was enough spectacular action in the recent internationals to fill many an hour’s highlight reel.
The Tri-Nations and Four Nations, which was last played in 2016, were good. But the prospect of a three-match series, the expectation of winner takes all the following weekend is hard to beat.
England haven’t been in such a good position as they are now for years. Shaun Wane is doing a great job with the team. No more loose forwards playing stand-off, second-rowers playing centre.
And thankfully, the Pacific Championships will still happen too next year. Without the participation of Australia it will likely be even more exciting.

De-mike the referees
Before all that we have another Super League season, the thirtieth, to savour.

The live televising of all games this year was a mixed blessing, with some games being shifted to Sky Sports+ and live games on the BBC sporadic. It was hard to know at times when and where you could watch the most interesting games.
And many games were spoiled by the continuous and loud calls of the referees. Not that the referees should stop their incessant orders to players if they feel the need. I just don’t want to hear them. Only when the referee is talking to players about a decision do I want the mikes turned up.
Combine the ‘release-hold’ stuff with a seeming habit of producers to mute crowd noise and we have a perfect recipe for making Super League atmosphere resemble a game in the park. Can anyone at the RFL give a rational reason for making refs the star of the show?
The absence of any branding on pitches and often visible soccer markings at some grounds also diminishes the English game. Seems like small stuff but it all adds up.
On the plus side, blanket live TV coverage gave us video referees at every game, which made it an even playing field, although it didn’t eradicate some wrong calls in some big matches. And next year the Captain’s Challenge, which has proved a good thing in the NRL, will be introduced for Super League matches.

Common sense on Aston
I was relieved but not too surprised to see the RFL cave in on Mark Aston’s wish to take his appeal to the Sports Resolution mediation service.

What were they trying to hide?
I get the feeling the RFL has made some big mistakes and certainly has egg on its collective face. The punishment, an 18-month ban, never fitted the breach of the rules. To treat somebody like Aston in such a draconian fashion was plain wrong. You could put together everyone who works for the RFL and they wouldn’t have done as much for Rugby League as Mark Aston.
Well done to former Sheffield Eagle Chairman Ian Swire and the group of high-profile coaches who persuaded the RFL to change its mind. The RFL should just apologise now and settle with a suspended fine for the club.

That was the year, that was!
The League Express Rugby League Yearbook is currently at the printers and will be in the post in time for Christmas. Perfect stocking filler and all that.
The yearbook has covered the 29 seasons of Super League and the widening of the game makes its production more challenging every year, especially for my co-editor Danny Spencer, who has this year introduced the records for the Women’s Rugby League season on top of every club at all three levels of the RFL.
It’s been another positive year for Rugby League. Domestically, Wigan swept the board. A World Club Challenge 16-12 home win over Penrith Panthers in February; an 18-8 Challenge Cup Final win over Warrington in June, and the League Leaders’ Shield in mid-September. And the Super League title was also retained with a 9-2 Grand Final win over Hull Kingston Rovers.
Superstar Bevan French made history by becoming the first player to win the man of the match award in a Challenge Cup Final and Grand Final – the latter renamed the Rob Burrow Award – in the same season. And with youngsters like Junior Nsemba, Zach Eckersley and Jack Farrimond coming through, Wigan will take some toppling.
But in many ways it was a positive year for a majority of clubs. Hull FC fans might be choking on their cornflakes but even the Airlie Birds finished the year with optimism, with new wealthy owners, a new head coach in place and a new intake of star players.
London Broncos? They were given no chance but they were couple of Brodie Croft field-goals away from finishing eleventh and they gave us all some great entertainment.
Hull KR were contenders right to the end, losing only six league games, with star halfback Mikey Lewis named Steve Prescott Man of Steel at the end of the year and Willie Peters the Coach of the Year. The response of the fans was phenomenal.
Robins winger Ryan Hall made history when he scored two tries in Hull KR’s 32-6 home victory against Huddersfield Giants on Friday 14th June to become the greatest try-scorer in Super League history, with 248, one more than previous record-holder Danny McGuire.
Sam Burgess’s Warrington were serious challengers all through the year. With Burgess committed to the club until the end of the 2026 season, optimism should abound at the Wolves, who in 2024 also saw some very promising youngsters announce themselves in Leon Hayes, Adam Holroyd and Arron Lindop.
Okay, it was not so good for St Helens who finished in sixth place, their lowest table finish since 1994. Injuries and suspensions hit them hard but when they mustered their best in the Eliminators, only a George Williams field-goal in golden-point extra time could end their season.
And Catalans didn’t make the play-offs for the first time since 2019. They topped the table in April but it was mostly downhill after that, prompting the comeback from retirement of Sam Tomkins.
Ninth-placed Huddersfield saw assistant Luke Robinson, eventually take over permanently after the sacking of coach Ian Watson and the Giants want to build their own stadium, though who knows where.
Leeds Rhinos offloaded coach Rohan Smith as they wallowed in seventh spot in June and Brad Arthur replaced him in mid-July. He couldn’t work the miracle and the Rhinos finished eighth but the former Parramatta coach is committed for next year and he will surely change fortunes at Headingley.
Leigh got their injuries out of the way early on and finished like a train, a 14 per cent rise in attendances reflecting the good feeling around the Leigh Sports Village.
Castleford Tigers also recorded a big rise in attendances despite a patchy season and they go into a new year with a new owner.
At the other side of the globe, Rugby League became the most watched TV sport in Australia, with record attendances across the board, the NRL kicking off its season with two round-one games in Las Vegas.
The most poignant part of the season for many came in June, with the passing of Rob Burrow at the age of 41, after his brave fight against Motor Neurone Disease. The Challenge Cup Final provided an emotional day at Wembley. And the Leeds club paid a brilliant tribute at their first home fixture, against Leigh, after the death of their legendary number seven. There wasn’t a dry eye inside Headingley that night.