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.SP Brewery Pacific Cup due to sponsorship, was a
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 ...
competition held in
Port Moresby
(; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...
, Papua New Guinea. The competing teams were the , , , , .
Tonga, Fiji and PNG had their places in the draw confirmed initially, with the Cook Islands defeating Samoa in a Pacific Cup qualifier in Cairns on 17 October 2009 to decide which team took the final place in the tournament.
The four Pacific Cup matches were played at
Lloyd Robson Oval
PNG Football Stadium (known as ''Lloyd Robson Oval'' until 2015) is a sporting ground in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. It hosted three games for the 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup. It has been the home ground for the Papua New Guinea nat ...
on 24–25 October and 31 October. The Pacific Cup final was played on 1 November 2009 between Papua New Guinea and the Cook Islands. By winning the 2009 Pacific Cup, Papua New Guinea won the right to compete in the
2010 Four Nations
The 2010 Rugby League Four Nations tournament was played in Australia and New Zealand in October and November 2010. The tournament was the second time the Four Nations had been held, following on from the 2009 edition held in England and France.
...
tournament.
Brian Canavan was appointed as tournament director by the
Rugby League International Federation
The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. Previously known as the ''Rugby League Imperial Board'', the '' International Rugby League Board'' and latterly the ''Rugby League Internat ...
(RLIF).
Matches
Qualifying
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Semifinals
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Third place Playoff
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Final
Telecast Details
The Pacific Cup was shown in the UK, Australia, and throughout the Pacific.
*In Australia all matches were broadcast by NRL.com while the
Nine Network
The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...
showed a one-hour highlight package each weekend.
*In Britain matches were broadcast on BSkyB.
* FM100 radio broadcast to Papua New Guinea and the Pacific.
*In Papua New Guinea
EM TV
EMTV is a commercial television station in Papua New Guinea. Until the launch of the National Television Service in September 2008, it was the country's only free to air television service.Fiji TV
Fiji Television Limited is one of Fiji's main television network. It was founded on 15 June 1994 as the first permanent commercial television broadcasting network in the country, although television had previously been introduced temporarily ...
broadcast the games in Fiji on its free to air service Fiji One and on its Sky Pacific platform to the rest of the Pacific Region.
Squads
Mate Ma'a Tonga
Tonga played a Pacific Cup warm up match against
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. New Zealand defeated Tonga 40-24 in what was a strong performance by the Tongans as they prepared for their Pacific Cup opener against Papua New Guinea.
*Coach: Rohan Smith
Parramatta Eels
The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League.
The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...
)
*
Alex Glenn
Alex Glenn (born 31 July 1988) is a former professional rugby league footballer who captained and played as a and for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL. He has played for both the and at international level.
Background
Glenn was born in Auckl ...
was originally named but withdrew after a groin injury required surgery.
Toa Samoa
Coach:
Willie Poching
Willie Poching is a New Zealand professional rugby league football coach and former player. He is the former head-coach of Wakefield Trinity in the Super League. When he was appointed head coach of Wakefield, he became the first Samoan head co ...
(
Leeds Rhinos
The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...
)
Papua New Guinea Kumuls
Coach:
Adrian Lam
Adrian Lam (born 25 August 1970) is a Papua New Guinean professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Super League Club Leigh Leopards (was Leigh Centurions), and a former rugby league footballer.
He played for the Sydney Rooste ...
(
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...