First played 1980 | National team Cook Islands | |
Rugby league is a popular team sport played in the Cook Islands.
Contents
History
Officially the club rugby league competition commenced 1980. The first international match was played against Niue at the 1986 Pacific Cup which was hosted in Rarotonga and also included teams from Samoa, Tonga, NZ Maori and Tokelau. In the mid 1990s rugby league in the Cook Islands received significant funding through the SuperLeague organisation. Traditionally, much of the rugby league played by Cook Islanders has been in Australia and New Zealand where there are strong Cook Island populations. In recent times, this has changed considerably.
In more recent times, Cook Islands rugby league has received a major boost through the involvement of former professional rugby league players Kevin Iro and Matt Rua - both native Cook Islanders - in the form of selector and defensive coach for the national side. Both players represented New Zealand internationally and played many NRL games.
Staff
Current players of Cook Island descent
Troy Dargan
Josh Papalii
Nathaniel Peteru
Zeb Taia
Sione Katoa
Marata Niukore
Tepai Moeroa
Paul Ulberg
Tinirau Arona
Anthony Gelling
Brad Takairangi
Chance Peni
Frank Pritchard
Tere Glassie
Keith Lulia
Joseph Tapine
Isaac John
Sam Mataora
Tinirau Arona
Tupou Sopoaga
Kenny Edwards
Drury Low
Zane Tetevano
Dominique Peyroux
Tupou Sopoaga
Notable players
Competition
The domestic Cook Islands rugby league competition for 2010 begins on 5 February with the following teams competing:
Teams
Winners
Other representative sides
In 2005 the Cook Islands Rugby League Avaiki XIII Tri Series was played between three Cook Island sides (Australian Cook Island Style, NZ Cooks and a Resident XIII). The winners of the series were the Australian Cook Islands Style team. This was used to select the national side that drew a three match series with the New Zealand Māori
Results
NZ Cooks v Resident XIII, 25 November 2005
Australian Cook Island Style 26 NZ Cooks 14
Australian Cook Island Style 24 Residents XIII 18, 18 November 2005 changed