# 2024 Rugby League Pacific Championships

The 2024 Rugby League Pacific Championships are the third edition of the Rugby League Pacific Championships and the second under their current name (having previously been called the Oceania Cup in 2019). The championships consist of several international rugby league tournaments being played from October to November 2024 between nations of the Pacific region.
The competition format has been confirmed as Pacific Cup and Pacific Bowl competitions for both genders, with teams being divided in each case between higher-ranked and lower-ranked sides.
The Asia-Pacific qualification tournament for the 2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup are being integrated into the 2024 Pacific Championships as the Women's Pacific Bowl competition.

## Background

The August 2023 announcement of the Pacific Rugby League Championships, by the NRL and Australian Government, indicated that Fiji and Australia would co-host the tournament in 2024. In May 2024, Fiji National Rugby League chief executive Don Natabe announced that Fiji were expected to host five national teams in a month-long Rugby League festival.
On 19 August 2024, news website Stuff reported that a men's match between New Zealand and Tonga had been scheduled for Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland on Saturday, 2 November 2024. This was again reported three days later by The New Zealand Herald, going further with reporting New Zealand will host Australia on 27 October in Christchurch. The report also suggested that Samoa would not participate, contrary to reports in England suggesting that Samoa had reduced the length of their tour of England from three to two matches in order to play both the tour and the Pacific Championships. On 23 August 2024, the New Zealand Rugby League confirmed the fixtures for their men's and women's teams, including home matches in Christchurch and Auckland and an away match for the Kiwi Ferns in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. A report on the NRL website confirmed that Australia's opening matches of the tournament would be a double-header at Suncorp Stadium on the weekend of 18-20 October, with the women playing Papua New Guinea and the men playing Tonga. An exact date for this double-header was not specified.
The remainder of the fixtures were announced in an NRL media release on 30 August 2024, apart from naming the venue, or venues, within Fiji for the games scheduled in that country. The date of the opening fixtures at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane was announced to be Friday, 18 October 2024.
The media release of 30 August also announced the introduction of promotion and relegation matches between the third-placed Pacific Cup team and the first-placed Pacific Bowl team in both the men's and women's tournaments. This is a change in format from the 2023 Pacific Championships.
* In the men's Pacific Bowl, the first-placed team (from the three teams competing) will be determined based on the three scheduled fixtures, without a final.
* In the women's Pacific Bowl, the first-placed team (from the four teams competing) will be determined based on three knockout matches, with seedings based on IRL rankings. Two semi-finals will be held over the first two weekends, with a final on the third weekend of the tournament. The winner of the final will qualify for the promotion / relegation play-off to the 2025 Pacific Championship.
The women's Pacific Bowl will also act as the Asia-Pacific qualifying tournament for the 2026 World Cup. The Bowl winners will become the seventh team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, while the runners up will go forward to the 2025 qualifying tournament to decide the eighth and final team to go to the World Cup.
On 9 September 2024, the National Stadium in Suva was confirmed as the venue for the games that Fiji are to host on 19 and 26 October 2024.

## Teams
### Squads

Australia were the first nation to announced their playing squads, on 7 October 2024. Playing squads for other nations will be announced closer to the tournament's 18 October 2024 commencement.

### Men's teams

| Competition | Team | World ranking | Coach | Captain |
| Pacific Cup | Australia | 1 | Mal Meninga | Isaah Yeo |
| Pacific Cup | New Zealand | 2 | Stacey Jones | James Fisher-Harris |
| Pacific Cup | Tonga | 5 | Kristian Woolf | Addin Fonua-Blake and Jason Taumalolo |
| Pacific Bowl | Cook Islands | 10 | Karmichael Hunt | Brad Takairangi |
| Pacific Bowl | Fiji | 6 | Wise Kativerata | Tui Kamikamica |
| Pacific Bowl | Papua New Guinea | 7 | Jason Demetriou | Rhyse Martin and Lachlan Lam |
* Samoa (ranked 4th) undertake a tour of England with two tests scheduled for Sunday, 27 October and Saturday, 2 November 2024.

### Women's teams

| Competition | Team | World ranking | Coach | Captain(s) |
| Pacific Cup | Australia | 1 | Brad Donald | Kezie Apps and Ali Brigginshaw |
| Pacific Cup | New Zealand | 2 | Ricky Henry | Georgia Hale |
| Pacific Cup | Papua New Guinea | 5 | Tahnee Norris | Elsie Albert |
| Pacific Bowl (Asia-Pacific qualification tournament for the 2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup) | Cook Islands | 6 | Rusty Matua | Kiana Takairangi |
| Pacific Bowl (Asia-Pacific qualification tournament for the 2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup) | Fiji | 26 | Josaia Dakuitoga | Talei Holmes |
| Pacific Bowl (Asia-Pacific qualification tournament for the 2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup) | Samoa | 24 | Jamie Soward | Annetta-Claudia Nuuausala |
| Pacific Bowl (Asia-Pacific qualification tournament for the 2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup) | Tonga | 14 | Kelvin Wright | Vanessa Foliaki and Natasha Penitani |
Note: NRLW Roosters' coach John Strange was appointed Tonga coach in early September 2024 but subsequently stood down.

### Wheelchair teams

| Competition | Team | World ranking | Coach | Captain | Ref |
| Wheelchair | Australia | 3 | Brett Clark | Brad Grove | |
| Wheelchair | New Zealand | No Ranking (on debut) | Edie George | Jayson Hooker | |

## Venues

Venues in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji have been confirmed.
Six venues across four countries were selected to host the Championships.
* Brisbane, Australia: Lang Park will host two matches on the evening of Friday, 18 October 2024, Australia playing Papua New Guinea in the women's Cup and Tonga in the men's Cup.
* Suva, Fiji: National Stadium will host two-double headers (four games in all) on Saturday, 19 October and Saturday, 26 October 2024.
* Christchurch, New Zealand: Rugby League Park will host two matches on 27 October 2024, a women's and men's double-header between New Zealand and Australia.
* Auckland, New Zealand: Mount Smart Stadium will host two matches on 2 November 2024, the women's Bowl Final and a men's Cup match between New Zealand and Tonga.
* Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea: PNG Football Stadium will host a double-header on Sunday, 3 November 2024.
* Sydney, Australia: Western Sydney Stadium will host a quadruple-header on Sunday, 10 November 2024. The order of matches is: women's playoff, women's Cup final, men's playoff, men's Cup final.

## Men's Pacific Cup
### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Australia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 10 | +30 | 4 | Advance to final |
| 2 | Tonga | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 42 | −17 | 2 | Advance to final |
| 3 | New Zealand | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 34 | 47 | −13 | 0 | Consigned to Relegation playoff |
NB: Samoa had intended to participate, but opted for a tour of England instead.

### Fixtures
#### Group stage

* 18 October 2024 19:10 AEST (UTC+10:00)
| Australia | 18–0 | Tonga |
| Tries: 3 Trbojevic 12' Tabuai-Fidow 51' Dearden 78' Goals: 3 Lomax 3/4 13', 53', pen 58' | 1st: 6–0 2nd: 12–0 Report | Tries: 0 Goals: 0 |
* Lang Park, Brisbane Attendance: 33,196 Referee: Gerard Sutton (Australia) Senior review official: Ashley Klein (Australia) Touch judges: Drew Oultram (Australia), Michael Wise (Australia) Player of the Match: Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (Australia)
* 27 October 2024 18:05 NZDT (UTC+13:00)
| New Zealand | 10–22 | Australia |
| Tries: 2 Isaako 25' Warbrick 64' Goals: 1 Isaako 1/2 27' | 1st: 6–12 2nd: 4–10 Report | Tries: 4 Collins 15' Lomax 35', 58' Moses 71' Goals: 3 Lomax 3/5 15', pen 39', 73' |
* Rugby League Park, Christchurch Attendance: 17,005 Referee: Ashley Klein (Australia) Senior review official: Gerard Sutton (Australia) Touch judges: Phil Henderson (Australia), Chris Sutton (Australia) Player of the Match: Harry Grant (Australia)
* 2 November 2024 20:05 NZDT (UTC+13:00)
| New Zealand | 24–25 | Tonga |
| Tries: 4 Papali'i 35' Kini 50' Crossland 58' Tapine 66' Goals: 4 Isaako 4/5 36', 51', 59', 67' Field goals: 0 Johnson 0/1 Isaako 0/1 | 1st: 6–24 2nd: 18–1 Report | Tries: 4 S. Katoa 2' Fonua-Blake 22' Havili 26' Luke 32' Goals: 4 I. Katoa 4/5 4', pen 12', 23', 33' Field goals: 1 I. Katoa 1/1 75' |
* Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland Attendance: 22,363 Referee: Todd Smith (Australia) Senior review official: Wyatt Raymond (Australia) Touch judges: Dave Munro (Australia)

#### Men's final

* 10 November 2024 16:05 AEDT (UTC+11:00)
| Australia | 20–14 | Tonga |
| Tries: 4 Tabuai-Fidow 15' Coates 25' Trbojevic 35', 42' Goals: 2 Lomax 2/4 37', 44' | 1st: 14–4 2nd: 6–10 Report | Tries: 3 S. Katoa 6' Olakau'atu 57' E. Katoa 73' Goals: 1 I. Katoa 1/3 58' |
* Western Sydney Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 28,728 Referee: Ashley Klein (Australia) Senior review official: Liam Kennedy (Australia) Touch judges: Drew Oultram (Australia), Michael Wise (Australia) Player of the Match: Tom Dearden (Australia)

## Men's Pacific Bowl
### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Papua New Guinea | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 30 | +34 | 4 | Advance to Promotion playoff |
| 2 | Fiji | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 66 | 28 | +38 | 2 | |
| 3 | Cook Islands | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 98 | −72 | 0 | |

### Fixtures
#### Group stage

* 19 October 2024 20:10 FJT (UTC+12:00)
| Fiji | 10–22 | Papua New Guinea |
| Tries: 2 Valemei 47' Sivo 79' Goals: 1 Milne 1/2 79' | 1st: 0–16 2nd: 10–6 Report | Tries: 4 Derby 17' Rimbu 24' Namo 36' Macdonald 51' Goals: 3 Martin 3/4 26', 38', 53' |
* National Stadium, Suva Attendance: 7,581 Referee: Wyatt Raymond (Australia) Senior review official: Liam Kennedy (Australia) Touch judges: Phil Henderson (Australia), Jon Stone (Australia)
* 26 October 2024 20:10 FJT (UTC+12:00)
| Fiji | 56–6 | Cook Islands |
| Tries: 10 Jennings 19', 27', 60' Valemei 51', 74' Sivo 69', 71' Turuva 14' Kautoga 34' Nakubuwai 65' Goals: 8 Milne 7/7 16', 20', 29', 36', 53', 70', 73' Naiqama 1/2 66' Valevatu 0/1 | 1st: 24–6 2nd: 32–0 Report | Tries: 1 Ngatikaura 10' Goals: 1 S. Marsters 1/1 12' |
* National Stadium, Suva Attendance: 5,943 Referee: Chris Butler (Australia) Senior review official: Wyatt Raymond (Australia) Touch judges: Dave Munro (Australia)
* 3 November 2024 15:00 PNGST (UTC+10:00)
| Papua New Guinea | 42–20 | Cook Islands |
| Tries: 8 Roltinga 5', 49' Macdonald 31', 57' Lam 35' Derby 42' Namo 46' Morea 79' Goals: 5 Laybutt 5/8 32', 36', 44', 47', 50' | 1st: 16–14 2nd: 26–6 Report | Tries: 3 Moale 8' S. Masters 27' Ioka 71' Goals: 4 S. Masters 4/4 10', pen 17', 29', 72' |
* PNG Football Stadium, Port Moresby Attendance: TBA Referee: Peter Gough (Australia) Senior review official: Chris Butler (Australia) Touch judges: Phil Henderson (Australia),

#### Men's promotion/relegation playoff

* 10 November 2024 18:20 AEDT (UTC+11:00)
| New Zealand | 54–12 | Papua New Guinea |
| Tries: 10 McLean 4', 44', 56', 60' Isaako 11', 69', 74' Thompson 37' Nicoll-Klokstad 40' Whyte 72' Goals: 7 Isaako (7/10) 5', 39', 40', 45', 62', 71', 74' | 1st: 22–6 2nd: 32–6 Report | Tries: 2 Namo 20' Derby 64' Goals: 2 Rhyse Martin (2/2) 22', 65' |
* Western Sydney Stadium, Sydney Attendance: TBA Referee: Gerard Sutton (Australia) Senior review official: Chris Butler (Australia) Touch judges: Dave Munro (Australia), Chris Sutton (Australia)

## Women's Pacific Cup
### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Australia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 98 | 0 | +98 | 4 | Advance to final |
| 2 | New Zealand | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 36 | 14 | +22 | 2 | Advance to final |
| 3 | Papua New Guinea | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 120 | −120 | 0 | Consigned to Relegation playoff |
NB: All three teams have already qualified for the 2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup.

### Fixtures
#### Group stage

* 18 October 2024 17:05 AEST (UTC+10:00)
| Australia | 84–0 | Papua New Guinea |
| Tries: 17 Upton 7', 39' Robinson 15', 18', 27', 36', 52', 62' Whitfeld 24', 29', 33', 50', 55' Penitani 43' Kelly 47', 69' Sergis 68' Goals: 8 Aiken 8/16 9', 17', 28', 30', 40', 48', 63', 69' Taufa 0/1 | 1st: 36–0 2nd: 48–0 Report | Tries: 0 Goals: 0 |
* Lang Park, Brisbane Attendance: 18,486 Referee: Belinda Sharpe (Australia) Senior Review Official: Peter Gough (Australia) Touch judges: Daniel Schwass (Australia), Dave Munro (Australia)
* 27 October 2024 15:35 NZDT (UTC+13:00)
| New Zealand | 0–14 | Australia |
| Tries: 0 Goals: 0 | 1st: 0–4 2nd: 0–10 Report | Tries: 3 Penitani 31' Upton 50' Sergis 54' Goals: 1 Aiken 1/3 51' |
* Rugby League Park, Christchurch Attendance: 10,289 Referee: Liam Kennedy (Australia) Senior Review Official: Todd Smith (Australia) Touch judges: Jon Stone (Australia)
* 3 November 2024 12:55 PNGST (UTC+10:00)
| Papua New Guinea | 0–36 | New Zealand |
| Tries: 0 Goals: 0 | 1st: 0–16 2nd: 0–20 Report | Tries: 7 Tufuga 1', 23' Teakaraanga-Katoa 26' Wiki 44', 50', 68' Quinlan 56' Goals: 4 King 4/7 24', 27', 45', 57' |
* PNG Football Stadium, Port Moresby Referee: Daniel Schwass (Australia) Senior Review Official: Chris Butler (Australia) Touch judges: Chris Sutton (Australia)

#### Women's final

* 10 November 2024 13:50 AEDT (UTC+11:00)
| Australia | 24–4 | New Zealand |
| Tries: 5 Robinson 8' Kelly 15' Penitani 31' Upton 42' Aiken 46' Goals: 2 Aiken 2/5 44', 47' | 1st: 12–0 2nd: 12–4 Report | Tries: 1 Tufuga 68' Goals: 0 |
* Western Sydney Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 17,503 Referee: Belinda Sharpe (Australia) Senior Review Official: Peter Gough (Australia) Touch judges: Phil Henderson (Australia), Jon Stone (Australia) Player of the Match: Tarryn Aiken (Australia)

## Women's Pacific Bowl

The 2024 Women's Pacific Bowl will act as the Asia-Pacific qualification tournament for the 2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup with all Pacific Cup teams having already qualified. First place team will qualify directly for the tournament, whereas the second place will qualify for the Inter-confederation playoffs which they will have to win to qualify for the World Cup.
The fixtures were arranged on 30 August based on the IRL Women's World Rankings.

### Brackets

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| 14 | Tonga | 16 | | | |
| 24 | Samoa | 30 | | | |
| 24 | Samoa | 30 | Samoa | Samoa | 16 |
| | | | Fiji | Fiji | 12 |
| 6 | Cook Islands | 6 | Fiji | Fiji | 12 |
| 26 | Fiji | 18 | | | |

### Fixtures
#### Semi-finals

* 19 October 2024 18:00 FJT (UTC+12:00)
| Tonga | 16–30 | Samoa |
| Tries: 3 Hanisi 21' Takapautolo 34' Tauhalaliku 41' Goals: 2 Paki 2/3 23', 42' | 1st: 10–20 2nd: 6–10 Report | Tries: 5 Masaga 1', 31' Lofipo 9' Patea 28', 54' Tui 65' Goals: 3 Piliae-Rasabale 3/6 7 pen', 11', 56' |
* National Stadium, Suva Attendance: 3,271 Referee: Todd Smith (Australia) Senior Review Official: Chris Butler (Australia) Touch judges: Chris Sutton (Australia)
* 26 October 2024 18:00 FJT (UTC+12:00)
| Fiji | 18–6 | Cook Islands |
| Tries: 4 Naikore 21', 39', 60' Holmes 17' Goals: 1 Naikore 18' Naitokatoka 0/1 Lutu 0/1 | 1st: 10–6 2nd: 8–0 Report | Tries: 1 Matua 9' Goals: 1 Poko 1/1 10' |
* National Stadium, Suva Attendance: 3,216 Referee: Peter Gough (Australia) Senior Review Official: Wyatt Raymond (Australia) Touch judges: Drew Oultram (Australia)

#### Final

* 2 November 2024 17:35 NZDT (UTC+13:00)
| Samoa | 16–12 | Fiji |
| Tries: 3 Patea 18' Nu'uausala 56', 67' Goals: 2 Piliae-Rasabale 2/3 57', 69' | 1st: 4–12 2nd: 12–0 | Tries: 2 Laing 30' Sekitoga 35' Goals: 2 Naikore 2/2 32', 35' |
* Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland Attendance: TBA Referee: Belinda Sharpe (Australia) Senior Review Official: Liam Kennedy (Australia) Touch judges: Drew Oultram (Australia)
The winner of the Women's Pacific Bowl Final played the third-placed team from the Women's Pacific Cup to determine promotion and relegation for the next edition of the tournament.

#### Women's promotion/relegation playoff

* 10 November 2024 11:35 AEDT (UTC+11:00)
| Papua New Guinea | 12–34 | Samoa |
| Tries: 2 Albert 47', 61' Goals: 2 Veivers 2/2 48', 62' | 1st: 0–16 2nd: 12–18 Report | Tries: 6 Taulelei-Siala 5' Fogavini 18', 44' Faifua 32' Tui 40' Patea 64' Goals: 5 Piliae-Rasabale 4/5 19', 33', 45', 65' |
* Western Sydney Stadium, Sydney Attendance: TBA Referee: Karra-Lee Nolan (Australia) Video Referee: Wyatt Raymond (Australia)

## Wheelchair games

Announced on 30 September, Australia and New Zealand contested a two match test series on 1 and 4 November to coincide with the Pacific Championships. Both matches were played in Auckland.
* 1 November 2024 10:30 AM (NZDT) UTC+13:00
| New Zealand | 4–98 | Australia |
| Tries: 1 Jamie Tapp Goals: 0 | 1st: 0–42 2nd: 4–56 Report | Tries: 17 Bayley McKenna 5 Daniel Anstey 5 Cory Cannane 3 Zac Schumacher 2 Peter Arbuckle Brad Grove Goals: 15 Bayley McKenna 12 Dian Karim 3 |
* Eventfinda Stadium, Auckland Player of the Match: Bayley McKenna (Australia)
* 4 November 2024
| New Zealand | 8–110 | Australia |
| Tries: 2 Ryan Charles Jamie Tapp Goals: 0 | 1st: 0–66 2nd: 8–44 Report | Tries: 21 Daniel Anstey 5 Bayley McKenna 4 Brad Grove 4 Cory Cannane 2 Zac Schumacher 2 Toby Popple 2 Diab Karim 2 Goals: 13 Zac Schumacher 7 Bayley McKenna 4 Daniel Anstey Toby Popple |
* Eventfinda Stadium, Auckland Player of the Match: Zac Schumacher (Australia)

## Physical disability game

On 2 November 2024, New Zealand and Australia PDRL teams played at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland as a curtain-raiser to the women's Pacific Bowl final and men's Pacific Cup match.
* 2 November 2024 3:25 PM (NZDT) UTC+13:00
| New Zealand | 20–18 | Australia |
| | Report | |
* Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland

## Other matches

A residents match between Fiji and Samoa was played as a curtain raiser to the week two men's and women's Pacific Bowl games.
* 26 October 2024 15:30 FJT (UTC+12:00)
| Fiji Residents | 22–10 | Samoa Residents |
* National Stadium, Suva

## Broadcasting
### Networks

| Region | Broadcaster |
| Australia | Nine Network and Fox League |
| New Zealand | Sky Sport |
| United Kingdom | Sky Sports Mix |

### Viewing figures

Approximately 6.2 million watch the men's tournament across all games showing a 40% increase from 2023; with the final attracting around 1 million television viewers, a 79% increase from 2023. The Pacific Bowl saw an average tournament increase of 35%. The women's tournament saw 1.4 million viewers across all matches with 353k watching the final. The Women's Bowl saw an 18% increase in television viewers.