A series of mid-season internationals involving teams from a host of different countries have been played in Australia, rather than in those home nations, and according to a survey by Rugby League Planet, most fans are okay with that.
In late June, Papua New Guinea played Fiji and Samoa took on the Cook Islands. Those matches featured in a doubleheader in Campbelltown.
Those games were preceded a few days earlier by a fixture between Lebanon and Malta at the Belmore Sports Ground in Sydney.
In early June, South Africa faced off against Brazil in Noosa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. The Australian-based internationals started in March of this year when Chile played the Philippines in suburban Sydney.
In many cases, expatriate players living in Queensland and New South Wales made up the rosters, particularly for the smaller countries, although some players did fly in from their respective countries of origin, while the South Pacific Island nation squads were largely made up of NRL and Australian second tier competition players.
The question we posed was do you think playing these games in Australia is a smart thing to do? These were the responses:
Yes 61.5%
No, play them at home 25%
Undecided 13.5%
