The 2024 Pacific Championships get underway with a Friday night blockbuster in Brisbane between Australia and Tonga, followed by a critical showdown between Fiji and Papua New Guinea in the second-tier competition.
Australia vs Tonga
Friday 18 October, 7:10pm, Suncorp Stadium
Australia has a couple of scores to settle in its Pacific Championship opener against Tonga XIII at Suncorp Stadium.
It’s the Kangaroos’ first match since their record-shattering 30-0 loss to the Kiwis in last year’s Hamilton-hosted Pacific Championships final.
That jarring result was only their third defeat in 26 Tests – and their first since a historic 16-12 loss to Tonga at Eden Park in Auckland in 2019. This is the nations’ maiden encounter on Australian soil.
There are eight survivors from the 2023 final named in Mal Meninga’s 17. Origin stars Mitch Moses and Tom Dearden will debut in the halves, while Dylan Edwards takes up the football spot after featuring on the wing for Australia last year.
The Kangaroos’ other debutants are wingers Xavier Coates and Zac Lomax, bench utility Matt Burton, and interchange forwards Mitch Barnett and Hudson Young.
Tom Trbojevic and Angus Crichton return to the fold, while Pat Carrigan and Lindsay Collins start up front with incumbents Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Payne Haas injured.
The middle third is where Tonga will look to assert themselves, led by Addin Fonua-Blake, Felise Kaufusi and Jason Taumalolo, with Taniela Paseka and Keaon Koloamatangi coming off the bench. Meanwhile, Hamole Olakau’atu, Eliesa Katoa and Sitili Tupouniua provide elite threat on the edges.
There’s a mix of experience (wingers Daniel Tupou and Sione Katoa) and youthful brilliance (fullback Lehi Hopoate and Paul Alamoti) in the backline, but Tonga looks a touch light in the key playmaking positions.
Plenty rests on young Dolphins half Isaiya Katoa’s shoulders with Tui Lolohea returning from Super League to partner him. Siliva Havili and Soni Luke share the dummy-half duties.
Tonga will field five survivors from the 2019 triumph. After a disappointing World Cup quarter-final exit to Samoa in 2022, Kristian Woolf’s Tongan side lost their Test series in England last year 3-0 – scoring just 26 points across the three games.
But a sea of red is sure to envelope the Suncorp Stadium grandstands as Tonga aim to inflict the Kangaroos’ first defeat on home soil since 2015. Australia won the 2017 World Cup at the ground in their last match there but lost four of five Tests against the Kiwis in Brisbane from 2008-15.
The major difference between the sides shapes as being the quality of their spines, with Harry Grant and Edwards, in particular, providing an undeniable advantage for Australia. Moses was sensational in NSW’s Origin triumph but hasn’t played since early-July.
The Kangaroos should take the result, but Tonga are arguably getting too much leeway as $5.75, 17.5-point outsiders as they prepare for an ambush.
Tip: Back Tonga to Cover the Line (+17.5) @ $1.90
SGM: AUSTRALIA BY 11-20 / UNDER 48.5 TOTAL POINTS / TOM TRBOJEVIC ANYTIME TRYSCORER / ELIESA KATOA ANYTIME TRYSCORER @ $68.41
Fiji vs Papua New Guinea
Saturday 19 October, 6:10pm, HFC Bank Stadium
With a promotion match on offer to the team who finishes with the best record in the Pacific Championships Bowl competition, the stakes have been raised ahead of the opening encounter between Fiji and Papua New Guinea in Suva.
The teams met twice during the 2023 competition, which was staged exclusively in Port Moresby. Both sides beat Cook Islands, while Fiji romped to a 43-16 round-robin win over Papua New Guinea – with Kurt Donoghoe and Maika Sivo bagging doubles.
But the Kumuls turned the tables in the final, running away with a 32-12 result as winger Robert Derby crossed for two tries.
There’s no shortage of survivors from those encounters, though both teams are missing their incumbent fullbacks, Jahream Bula and Alex Johnston. Sunia Turuva (Fiji) and Nene MacDonald (PNG) will wear the No.1 jerseys.
The 35-year-old Kevin Naiqama, still carving up in Super League, will partner Dongohoe in Fiji’s halves, while Kyle Laybutt and Lachlan Lam offer the Kumuls playmaking stability.
Sivo, Michael Jennings and Waqa Blake provide the home side with more high-profile strike out wide, while Tui Kamikamica and Viliame Kikau headline the Fiji pack. PNG’s backline is certainly short on big names but Rhyse Martin and Jack De Belin give the engine-room a solid base.
Six of the Kumuls’ line-up featured in the PNG PM’s XIII’s spirited 42-20 loss to their Australian counterparts last Sunday, including early tryscorers Judah Rimbu and Robert Mathias.
But the opportunity to play in Suva is a rare one for Fiji – and a significant advantage. With a vastly higher proportion of NRL regulars in their line-up, including six players with grand final experience in the starting side, the Bati look to be the value option as a $1.55 favourite.
Tip: Back Fiji to Cover the Line (-4.5) @ $1.90
SGM: FIJI BY 11-20 / OVER 47.5 TOTAL POINTS / MAIKA SIVO TO SCORE 2 OR MORE TRIES / VILIAME KIKAU ANYTIME TRYSCORER / ROBERT DERBY ANYTIME TRYSCORER