NRL want Australia tours of Great Britain to return and Oceania Cup brought in
The NRL is coming up with plans to bring back the Australia Kangaroo tours of Great Britain as well as a new Oceania Cup and Four Nations.
ARL commission chairman Peter Beattie and NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg have announced plans for the future of the international game.
The NRL will continue to be in contact with the RLPA, NZRL and RFL before the calendar is finalised. They want a three-Test Kangaroo tour next year as well as a couple of new tournaments for other nations to compete with tier-one sides.
Beattie revealed that the proposed calendar would include a new Oceania Cup tournament in 2019, featuring Samoa, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga to be played in June and October.
Also, there would be a Four Nations tournament to be held in the southern hemisphere in 2020 involving Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and Samoa plus another in the northern hemisphere in the same year including England, Fiji, France and Papua New Guinea.
Greenberg said: “We want to establish a structure around a four-year period and potentially roll that forward, and swap things like Kangaroos tours and Lions tours so with one we might go there and then they might come here.”
Australia coach Mal Meninga is very happy with the proposed schedule.
Greenberg added: “Mal has been a significant contributor to this schedule and we’ve had lots of dialogue.
“We can’t play enough of it when you talk to Mal Meninga, so we’ve tried to find the balance of playing more international footy but also balancing commercial interests and workloads of players.”
Beattie said expanding rugby league in the Pacific islands was a big focus of the proposed calendar and the Oceania Cup would ensure that international teams played for a trophy.
He said: “What we are trying to get is that spirit of State of Origin and have a whole new spirit for this game in that region.
“We also have to expand the game in Europe. England is in a good spot but we need to do more about expanding the game in France.”