Pacific Cup
The Pacific Cup was a rugby league football competition for national teams from the Pacific region.
History
The Pacific Cup was started in 1975 by Keith Gittoes of the New South Wales Rugby League.rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
tournament held between Pacific teams. The tournament was hosted by Papua New Guinea and eventually won by the New Zealand Māori side, who defeated the hosts 38-13 in the final.
Background
The 1975 Pacific Cup was initiated by the
New South Wales Rugby League
The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...
. The tournament involved two Australian state sides as well as Papua New Guinea, who did not yet have Test match status, and the New Zealand Māori.
The
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
were invited to participate, but had to drop out after Darwin was devastated by
Cyclone Tracy
Cyclone Tracy was a tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, from 24 to 26 December 1974. The small, developing easterly storm had been observed passing clear of the city initially, but then turned t ...
Fred Ah Kuoi
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Early years
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Rick Muru
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Playing career
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,
Dane Sorensen
Dane Hans Ivan Peter Sorensen (born 4 October 1955) is a New Zealand former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. Sorensen represented New Zealand and his usual position was .
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and captain Richard Bolton. The Māori side played a warm up game before the competition began, defeating Group 19 12-11 in
Tweed Heads
Tweed Heads is a town in New South Wales. It is located on the Tweed River in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia, in Tweed Shire, next to the border with Queensland and adjacent to its "twin town" of Coolangatta, which is a suburb of the ...