They were some of the wildest scenes witnessed in rugby league and all without a single green and gold jersey or silver fern in sight.
The Pacific test match series at Campbelltown Sports Ground, in the forgotten far-west of Sydney last weekend, pitted the might of Melanesia (Papua New Guinea and Fiji), Polynesia (Samoa and Tonga), and England, against each other in one of the most exhilarating and exotic exhibitions of rugby league the game has ever seen.
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The winners of the three games on the night were PNG, Tonga and England respectively though it was the intensity of the collisions and the emotion on and off the field that signalled the long-awaited arrival of competitive international rugby league.
For decades now the game has been contested mostly between Australian, New Zealand and England (still ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively). It’s always been a sore spot for the game – it’s lack of global appeal – but that might be about to change.
In this the year of Rugby League World Cup, the strength of Polynesian teams in particular, along with the return of several of the world’s best players to their country of origin and parent’s country of origin has rugby league poised for its first ever truly international tournament.
It’s about time, too. A look through the NRL’s leading players reveals a host of Polynesian and Melanesian players at the top, among them Fijians such as Suliasi Vunivalu, Semi Radradra and Jarryd Hayne, Samoans such as Anthony Milford, ‘Big’ Sam Kasiano, Frank Pritchard, and Junior Paulo, and Tongans such as Manu Vatuvai, William Hopoate, Sika Manu and Daniel Tupou.
Big, fast and agile, with a culture rooted in warrior pride, Melanesians and Polynesians are the sleeping giants of rugby league and indeed the rest of the world’s contact football codes (rugby union and the NFL).
The problem is many of their best have pledged allegiance to Australia, New Zealand and many other developed nations, usually because of the increased opportunity, security and money offered by the first world versus their second and third world homelands and national teams.
On Saturday night there were signs we are reaching the end of that era. The relaxing of the NRL’s eligibility laws and the likes of NRL superstars, Jarryd Hayne, Anthony Milford and Suliasi Vunivalu choosing to represent their blood lines over their adopted nations is setting this year’s rugby league World Cup up as the first ever truly international event.
The pride, passion and immense collisions inherent to Melanesian and Polynesian rugby league provided some spectacle. These were the highlights.
PNG vs Rarotonga (Cook Islands) (32-22)
First up were the Papua New Guinean Kumuls, ranked 15th in the world, up against the 25th ranked Rarotongans. Rugby league is a game powered by self-less bravado and sacrifice, manifest in running as straight and hard as you can when you’ve got the ball and trying to send ball-runners airborne when you don’t. Although a little lacking in structure and some of the more refined aspects to the game, Papua New Guinea are world leaders in the art of running straight and pulling off immense collisions.
Rugby league is the only sport played in the third world nation (pop. 8 million) and is followed with religious fervour as a result. The Kumuls ran out in the first game of the evening against Rarotonga (Cook Islands) as the crowd was still filling in.
With the scores locked up at halftime, PNG players were reminded by their coaching staff that 8 million people were watching back home and, in many cases, up to 100 villagers around a single television.
They played the second half acordingly, putting on an inspiring, physical and exotic display of rugby league complete with their signature attacking ‘skel-skel’ style; a pidgin term referring to PNG’s unique brand of hard-running, off-load heavy play. Led by the Boas brothers and two-try hero, fullback Stargroth Amean, the Kumuls racked up a famous victory on a memorable day at Campbelltown.
Fiji vs Tonga (24-26)
This was the showpiece of the night. Fiji, ranked 7th, brought a team packed with NRL star power, including leading Melbourne Storm winger, Suliosi Vunivalu, Wests Tigers pocket-rocket, Kevin Naiqama, Brisbane Broncos forward, Corbin Sims and underground talents like Daniel Saifiti.
The team huddled together in the middle of the pitch and sang a beautifully harmonised version of the Fijian anthem reducing several players to tears. They then faced up to a Tongan haka led by the likes of Canterbury Bulldogs star, William Hopoate, Roosters star, Daniel Tupou, Warriors star, Manu Vatuvai, and Cronulla star, Tony Williams.
To give you some idea of how important this game is to Tongans, captain Sika Manu flew all the way from England to be beside his team despite having been suspended from playing in the fixture by the English Super League.
With a capacity crowd comprised almost ecxlusively of the large Fijian, Tongan and Samoan expat communities that call western Sydney home, national pride and emotion were at fever pitch.
At the first sign of conflict, the Tongans came charging in with the referee to pleading for calm. Once the game settled it became an end-to-end, tit-for-tat classic rooted in respect and bravery.
There was no better example of this then when Roosters forward, Kane Evans, was absolutely punished by a legal hit from Manu Vatuvai, sending his’ head pinballing off the shoulders of two other Tongans involved in the crushing sandwich.
Evans was forced begrudgingly from the field under the concussion rule though in a rare sight could be seen applauding and encouraging his Tongan opposition for the hit. This goes to the heart of island style rugby league: they love the collisions and are as proud to pull one off as get sat down by one. Tonga would eventually prevail courtesy of a late try to Leilani Latu.
Samoa vs England (10-30)
The final game began with unprecedented scenes. Tears flowed freely down the faces of Samoa’s most intimidating men, as male and female choirs sung the anthem and the capacity crowd joined in. The cultural pride was immense and you had to admire it.
Ranked 5th in the world, Samoa brought a team boasting NRL heavyweights, Anthony Milford (Brisbane Broncos), BJ Leilua (Canberra Raiders), Josh Maguire (Brisbane Broncos)and Junior Paulo (Canberra Raiders) into the match but were exposed by woefully inadequate players in key position. The third ranked English side, coached by all-time Australian great, Wayne Bennett, was typically well-drilled, crisp-finishing, and led by the Burgess brothers (South Sydney Rabbitohs), Josh Hodgson (Canberra Raiders), along with several leading players from the English Super League.
When Samoa mounted a comeback and got to within eight, the crowd entered the game. Each hit-up was accompanied by a deafening AHHHHHHH-OOGE! as the Samoans surged up field running high on emotion.
To compensate for their lack of expertise in key positions, QLD origin player, Josh Maguire, found himself in the unfamiliar role of hooker from where he simply looked to find Milford with the ball as much as possible.
But the Brits are world class and strong across the park. Clinical, mistake-free, structured rugby league proved to much for a Samoan team high on star power but lacking depth in key positions.
