Rugby League fans across the Pacific are set to be able to watch their national teams play in the Pacific Championships on free to air television, via PacificAusTV and the NRL’s broadcast partners.
Kicking off at Suncorp Stadium on Friday, the Pacific Championships will feature 13 men’s and women’s teams from seven countries playing 16 international matches in four countries in Pacific Cup and Bowl tournaments.
The men’s Pacific Cup will feature Australia, New Zealand and Tonga, with Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea in the women’s tournament.
The men’s Pacific Bowl will be contested by Cook Islands, Fiji and Papua New Guinea, while the women’s tournament doubles as a qualifying tournament for the seventh berth at the World Cup in 2022 between Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.
The Kangaroos meet Tonga and the Jillaroos face the PNG Orchids in the opening matches on Friday night, while Fiji host the PNG Kumuls, and Samoa take on Tonga at Suva’s HFC Stadium on Saturday night.
Next weekend, Fiji and Cook Islands play in a men’s and women’s double-header on Saturday night, while the Kangaroos and Jillaroos travel to Christchurch to face their Kiwis counterparts on Sunday.
The third weekend features matches in Port Moresby and Auckland before the men’s and women’s finals are staged in Sydney, along with promotion-relegation play-offs between the Pacific Bowl winner and the third placed Cup team.
PacificAus TV, which is managed by Free TV Australia, has played an important role in delivering high-quality content that resonates with Pacific audiences since 2020.
"We are excited to share the Pacific Championships with our Pacific partner broadcasters in the Cook Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, and Tuvalu through PacificAus TV,” said Free TV CEO, Bridget Fair.
"Following on from the success of the Prime Minister’s XIII matches, this initiative reaffirms our commitment to deepening relationships across the Pacific by offering quality programming that entertains and informs.”
The announcement is particularly significant for fans in the Cook Islands and Samoa as they will be able to watch their teams on FTA for their first time in recent memory.
The Director of PacificAus TV, Shane Wood, said, “PacificAus TV is proud to be sharing the best of Australian sport and quality television programs with 17 free-to-air broadcasters in 11 Pacific nations across 6 time zones.”
