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Post by johnathon on Nov 8, 2009 16:23:00 GMT 10
With Papua New Guinea advancing to the Four Nations tournament, Fiji, Tonga, Cook Islands and Samoa will be left to do battle in the 2010 Pacific Cup. Where would you propose it be staged and why?
This is one problem the RLIF should be very glad to have. There is no better promotion for the sport than taking the game to the islands and handfeeding it to the locals, and the type of football displayed by the Pacific teams recently is certainly not going to lose the game any fans.
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Post by sportsmad on Nov 8, 2009 17:39:22 GMT 10
Fiji would have to be the obvious choice for this. its the largest of the nations and has decent inferstructure to stage it. they are also the home of sky pacific i think so televising it wont be a problem. if its not entirely held in FIji then it will probably have a european cup style format with each country getting at least one game and the final being in Fiji. eaither way , fiji is pretty much ur answer there jonothan
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Post by arh21980 on Nov 8, 2009 23:15:32 GMT 10
Penrith, Parramatta and Leichardt they have a huge islanders concentration there so maybe in the West of Sydney
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jim
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Post by jim on Nov 8, 2009 23:29:22 GMT 10
I would re-structure the entire thing.
First of all have the first two from the Atlantic Cup play with them to make it 6, 1st when PNG are back. Play it in 2 groups of 3 like the european cup 2009.
Group 1 - Cook Islands, Tonga, Jamaica
Group 2 - Fiji, Samoa, USA
Have each country host a game each with the final in USA or Australia.
Don't really care if Jamaica don't suit the name, The atlantic nations have to have some way of reaching the top (4N), even Estonia and Ukraine have avenues to reach the top competition but USA, Jamaica, South Africa, Japan or any new nation from the America's, Asia or Africa don't.
Whilst off topic a bit I would run the European Cup as a 6 team round robing tournament.
Ofcourse all this depends on whether all competing teams can afford it, which they might not be able to.
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Post by sportsmad on Nov 9, 2009 5:16:25 GMT 10
theres a lot of "australian pacific islanders" in those areas. having it here in australia will be a step backwards and threaten the credibility of the tournament.
im all for USA and jamaica being included in the comp as long as theres plans to develope a proper atlantic cup along with south africa in place
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Post by Druzik on Nov 9, 2009 6:52:19 GMT 10
For a start there is no 2010 Pacific Cup, actually the next one is not scheduled till after the WC from what I know.
Samoa have a tour set doen for next year, and PNG aside from the 4 Nations also are doing a 2-3 test series against the Fijians.
I am sure Tonga will also be doing something similar and the Cook Islands will probably get a few more games up their sleve now.
See with the PNC winner going to a 4 Nations sport, and no 4N in 2012 then there is no point having one next year.
As I said many a time the International structure is still needing lot s and lots of work.
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Post by sportsmad on Nov 9, 2009 9:48:53 GMT 10
shit your right druzik , i completely forgot. samoa have that hectic schedule where they play in dubai a couple of times. u have to think theres no money going into their domestic comp (if there is one). PNG v Fiji series is an annual fixture now thanks to sponsorship. no pacific cup next year could actually be a good thing as it allows the nations to set their own schedule after theyve been granted some of the profits from the 08 world cup.
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Post by johnathon on Nov 9, 2009 16:24:18 GMT 10
A Samoan tour? Hmm... I haven't heard of this before, but it sure sounds interesting. What is known about it so far?
So no Pacific Cup 2010...bit of a bummer, but it does give the islands a chance to organise some tests of their own. Tonga will probably New Zealand again as a warm up game for the 4N, but imagine if Fiji played Australia ahead of the 4N as well. You'd like to think Australia would learn from this year's mistakes, and I reckon Fiji would be ample opposition. They stuck it to the Kangaroos for a few good periods in their semi final last year, and they've only been getting more games together since then.
Wikipedia says there's a Pacific Cup scheduled for 2011 as well...
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Post by Druzik on Nov 9, 2009 17:14:40 GMT 10
I haerd it from Tuilaki, the Samoan CEO I guess about a month back.
Also the 2011 PNC... from what I have been told that is not happening... I mean it is Wikipedia after all, not the most reliable source.
But you never know.
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Post by johnathon on Nov 9, 2009 21:22:42 GMT 10
In some ways a shame, was a good concept and was very successful this year. On the other hand, the likes of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga will hopefully find their own independent feet.
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jim
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Post by jim on Nov 9, 2009 21:38:20 GMT 10
theres a lot of "australian pacific islanders" in those areas. having it here in australia will be a step backwards and threaten the credibility of the tournament. im all for USA and jamaica being included in the comp as long as theres plans to develope a proper atlantic cup along with south africa in place That shouldn't be a problem, don't all their domestic comps end around August? so that means they could play the Atlantic Cup and Pacific Cup, although that would be questionable on their budget. I don't imagine a team like Japan or Jamaica could make trips to SA, USA and PNG in sucessive months without some sort of airline sponsor. EDIT: Airline sponsor like Virgin Atlantic maybe?  Of course Druzik had to be the killjoy and remind us all the sad reality that there is no pacific cup next year because the ARL RLIF can't be assed to organise it... |
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Post by Druzik on Nov 9, 2009 22:50:38 GMT 10
theres a lot of "australian pacific islanders" in those areas. having it here in australia will be a step backwards and threaten the credibility of the tournament. im all for USA and jamaica being included in the comp as long as theres plans to develope a proper atlantic cup along with south africa in place That shouldn't be a problem, don't all their domestic comps end around August? so that means they could play the Atlantic Cup and Pacific Cup, although that would be questionable on their budget. I don't imagine a team like Japan or Jamaica could make trips to SA, USA and PNG in sucessive months without some sort of airline sponsor. EDIT: Airline sponsor like Virgin Atlantic maybe? Of course Druzik had to be the killjoy and remind us all the sad reality that there is no pacific cup next year because the ARL RLIF can't be assed to organise it... Sorry Jim... I have a habit of doing that lol I am not sure its about being too lazy... the PNC cost over $1million to stage this year and its the kind of money they dont have. Basically as I understand it from talking with a few people $1.1 million 2009 PNC $1.1 million 2010 ENC $1.3 million WC war chest $1.5 million development or there abouts, the figures are always rough when talked about. |
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Post by Marv on Nov 11, 2009 0:13:57 GMT 10
Of course Druzik had to be the killjoy and remind us all the sad reality that there is no pacific cup next year because the ARL RLIF can't be assed to organise it... maybe mate, but there is nothing to stop these guys going out and organising their own games, especially with the big boys in Aus next year for the 4N |
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