The NRL is hoping to grow rugby league in an emerging recruiting hotbed after launching a Pacific Strategy intended to grow the game in the region.
NRL CEO Dave Smith has his eyes set on Samoa, Fiji, Tonga and Papua New Guinea and has recruited league stars Jarryd Hayne and Sonny Bill Williams to help make the push into the area.
Both players have ties to the region- Hayne represented Fiji at the 2008 Rugby League World Cup while the half Samoan Williams is a dual international having played for the All Blacks 2011 World Cup-winning side before helping the Roosters claim the NRL premiership last season.
The pair will make separate Pacific visits to promote the game and its interests with local government and businesses.
According to Smith, 37 percent of NRL players originate from Pacific nations.
“The interest in our game in Samoa is incredible, especially now that they have qualified for the Four Nations tournament at the end of the year,” he said.
“And, with the next World Cup in 2017, there is no reason one of the Pacific nations cannot make the finals of our biggest international event.
“We saw Mal Meninga coaching the Papua New Guinea Kumuls for the last World Cup and we have seen the PNG Hunters perform incredibly well in the Queensland Cup.
“So the game is on the rise in the Pacific and the timing is perfect to build our relationships on and off the field.”
An NRL emphasis will focus on clinics teaching all aspects of the sports; on and off the field. The NRL already has placed 12 staff in Papua New Guinea in an effort to reach 50,000 students across 80 schools over a three-year period.
“We are looking to engage up to 10,000 students in Samoa and Fiji through the NRL’s literacy and anti-bullying programs which will replicate our current “League for Life” Program in PNG.
“At the same time we want to help young people in Fiji, PNG, Samoa and Tonga develop their rugby league careers by expanding the pathways already in place which enable them to play in local competitions and, ultimately, their national teams.”
Photo: Matt King/Getty Images
