Crowds, ratings highlight passion for international game
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Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga believes international rugby league has rarely been stronger as crowds, TV ratings and jersey sales confirm the Pacific Championships is the fastest growing area of the game.
After avenging last year's record 30-0 loss to New Zealand in the Pacific Cup final with a 20-14 win against Tonga at CommBank Stadium, the Kangaroos are now preparing for next year’s Ashes series against England.
Australia has not played England since the 2017 World Cup final and Meninga warned that the Kangaroos will need to be at their best after back-to-back series wins by Shaun Wane’s men against Samoa and Tonga.
“Every time you go into an international game at the moment, I feel that the opposition are a chance of winning so international rugby league is in a really good state,” Meninga told NRL.com.
The Sipi Tau has CommBank Stadium going off
“The passion is huge. The Pacific Championships had 34,000 at Suncorp, a sell-out at Christchurch, nearly a sell-out in Auckland and a sell-out in Sydney, so we don’t really need any more evidence than that.”
Having been involved in international rugby league as a player or coach for more than 40 years, Meninga is uniquely qualified to comment on the state of the game.
The 13th Immortal played on a record four Kangaroo tours (1982, 1986, 1990 and 1994) and has guided Australia to World Cup wins in 2017 and 2022 as coach. He played 47 Tests and has coached the Kangaroos on 27 occasions.
Just in case you thought it was a Kangaroos home game
Meninga’s view is backed up by crowds, TV ratings and sales of the iconic Kangaroos jersey, with:
- The 2024 Pacific Championships delivering record-breaking attendance and viewership, with a total audience of 6.2m across all tournaments, marking a significant 40% YoY increase;
- The Pacific Cup final between Australia and Tonga drawing 1m viewers – a 79% increase on the 2023 decider between the Kangaroos and Kiwis;
- The Kangaroos vs Kiwis Test in Christchurch attracting 545k viewers on FTA and nearly 1m views across all platforms, surpassing last year’s corresponding match by 22% and exceeding both Bledisloe Cup fixtures earlier this year, which attracted 477k and 283k FTA viewers respectively;
- The 28,728 crowd for the final at CommBank Stadium being the biggest for a Test in Sydney since 2008;
- More than 4000 Kangaroos jerseys being sold during the Pacific Championships;
- Average viewership for men’s Pacific Bowl matches rising by 35%;
“International rugby league is on the rise again, there’s no doubt about that,” Meninga said. “That is being driven by the number of eyeballs that are on it, from a ratings point of view, and the media has been excellent in getting behind it.
“The players have reacted really positively through the whole Pacific Championships, the performances have been great, and the matches are exciting."
The Top 10 plays from the Pacific Championships
The Kangaroos will next year meet England in a three-Test Ashes series - initially scheduled to be played in Australia, but now possibly to be held in Britain.
A decision is expected before the end of the year but regardless of the location Meninga said England would be a tough opponent after beating Samoa in Tests in Wigan and Leeds.
“England has always got a competitive side," Meninga said. "They play a different way, they have got a different style, and I love watching the English game because of their openness and the way they play the game.
"They are very fluent in the way they do it but when they put that English jersey on they are always competitive, they are such a hard side to beat, they have a great history, and they have got great players over there.
“I think there is no doubt the Samoa side can be better as well but for our international space it is great to see England doing well.
“I don’t know where we are going to play at this stage, but we won’t just be expecting to win. We know we are going to have our work cut out. It is an Ashes series and there is so much tradition and history around that.
"We haven’t done one for such a long time, so it is going to be enormous, and I know the players in the Australian side at the moment are excited by it, particularly if we go to England.
"There is nothing better than getting a group together and travelling to England to play three tough Tests in an Ashes series."
The Jillaroos will also play England for the first time since 2017 in the March 1 quadruple header at Allegiant Stadium, which will kick off the NRL season and includes a Super League fixture between Wigan and Warrington.
The top 10 plays from the Women's Pacific Championships
Driven by support for the Jillaroos, the women's Pacific Championships also enjoyed strong growth, with:
- The Pacific Cup final between the Jillaroos and Kiwi Ferns attracting 353k viewers;
- The opening fixture between the Jillaroos and PNG Orchids and the Pacific Cup final also achieving attendance figures of 18,486 and 17,503 respectively - the two best attended Jillaroos matches on record.
The Jillaroos achieving an average viewership of 274k throughout the tournament; - 1.4m people tuning in to watch the women's Pacific Championships;
- Average viewership for the women’s Pacific Bowl matches increasing by 18% from last year's tournament, underscoring the growing support of the women’s international game.
"I am really proud of where the international game is going at the moment," Meninga said.
"The players love playing in front of big crowds and every time we pull on the green and gold jersey we want to give our best performance. I think our fans deserve that.
“I think all rugby league fans understand you can’t win all the time, and the opposition is now much, much stronger. Long gone are the days when we put an Australian jersey on and run on the footy field and we just expected to win.
"We have got to work hard and there is a lot of effort that goes into your preparation and goes into your games. That is where our game has gone to.
"You look at how many Pacific Islanders and English players there are in the NRL, there is a great diversity in our competition, and I think that has helped all the nations to become stronger."
