Former Wallabies captain turned independent senator David Pocock has warned that the Australian Government’s $600 million funding package to establish an NRL team in Papua New Guinea risks undermining rugby in Fiji.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade official told a senate estimates committee in October that of the $600 million pledged by the federal government, potentially $175 million could be spent on rugby league development across Fiji, Samoa and Tonga – all countries with rich rugby union traditions but which have lacked financial resources compared with richer rugby-playing nations.
Former Wallabies captain Senator David Pocock.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
It was anticipated $250 million would be allocated to the PNG Chiefs, who will enter the NRL competition in 2028, with the remaining $350 million to be spent on “pathway development programs” for rugby league.
Out of that figure, $175 million is expected to be spent in Papua New Guinea, with the other $175 million to be shared between Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.
“For a country like Papua New Guinea, investing in rugby league makes a lot of sense,” Pocock told this masthead. “But for Pacific Island nations, and particularly Fiji – who have a gold medal in [men’s] rugby sevens [in 2016 and 2020] – this seems designed to essentially set up a talent pathway for league and just to ship players to Australia, and I strongly disagree with that.
“Where a country has a really strong history with rugby union, who do incredibly well in sevens, are super competitive with the 15s game, both in men’s and women’s – and a country like Australia, seemingly at the behest of the NRL, would do this.
The Fijian Drua have been a considerable success for men’s and women’s rugby in Fiji.Credit: Getty
“This doesn’t seem like a request from countries like Fiji. This is very much Australia saying, ‘Oh, we’re going to come and do this’.”
The Fijian Drua, who are playing their fourth season in Super Rugby and face the Waratahs in Sydney on Friday night, have been given financial support from the Australian government but on a much smaller scale, with $1.2 million of annual funding shared across their men’s and women’s programs.
