‘They’re the future’: Pacific Youth Cup good sign for future

A few rocky performances from the Auckland Niue Rugby League Under 18 girls side wasn’t enough to knock back their confidence, as they finished third overall at the Pacific Youth Cup.

Niue entered their first-ever age-group girls team at the Pacific Youth Cup, reeling in girls from Northland to Southland in New Zealand, as well as from Brisbane, Australia.

ANRL co-chair Phillip Tasmania joined PMN Niue to reflect on the campaign, saying the success of the girls inspired other players to step forward.

“After the tournament, a number of fanau playing in Sydney and Brisbane who play representative footy, they’ve reached out. Any opportunity, we would like our girls over there.

“I asked for unity, I asked for our people to unite. I had families, coaches reaching out. It’s about us working together.

“These girls are proof in the pudding, they came in and got to meet new friends for life. They’re the future.”

Despite two huge losses against Samoa and New Zealand Maori, picked up a historic win against Cook Islands as well as beating a strong Tongan side in their last match to secure third.

Tasmania says the win was a reminder of a huge loss the Niue women’s side faced a few years ago against Tonga.

“Some of us from the komiti addressed the girls before the game, and we told them the heartache, how it burned when we got a hiding at Mt Smart Stadium.

“That hurt, I remember the crowd laughing at us, people questioning ‘why was Niue even there’. The biggest problem we had, we had no juniors coming through, we had no database.”

He adds that this year, Niue will commit to an under-6, 8 and 10-year-old girl sides after a huge expression of interest from the community.

Looking back at the experience for the girls in the tournament, Tasmania says the girls will benefit hugely from their first time at the PYC.

“It’s definitely an experience our fuata (young people) will take away for life. We want our people to be great, if we unite we can actually challenge the big nations.

“If you look into these girls' profiles they all play league, some are representative players, gelling them in a short time it’s not easy, but if we keep turning them up, we might have a shot.”