Niue set to receive historic visit from NRL club in efforts to grow the game

A Pacific rugby league great part of the One New Zealand Warriors will be heading to Niue this week, to encourage further engagement with the sport.

Tony Iro will lead a team to Niue as part of their pathways and development programme, working with locals delivering coaching courses.

Iro says heading to Niue reflects a need to grow the sport of rugby league that stretches past the club.

“This is a start in terms of how we can connect not just the One New Zealand Warriors but rugby league with Niue.

“That’s the biggest thing, giving young people in Niue that connection to the club, the game and what that connection does is create opportunities.

“That’s what we’re (the club) are about ultimately.”

The visit is a result of the partnership between the One New Zealand Warriors and the Pacific Aotearoa Collective which was signed a year ago.

The PAC, which includes Auckland Niue Rugby League, brings together bodies from Niue, Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga and New Zealand Maori Rugby League to deliver more opportunities for Pasifika and Maori Rugby League.

Auckland Niue Rugby League chair Phillip Tasmania says the visit will finally put Niue in the sights of NRL clubs.

“This is the first time officially that an NRL club has gone to Niue. They’ve already made the visit to Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, they never come to Niue.

“You know how we feel about that, and we’re not an afterthought anymore. We want to be up the front with everyone else!”