| National team | Cook Islands |
|---|---|
| First played | 1980 |
Rugby league is a popular[1] team sport played in the Cook Islands.
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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, Tokelau, . In the mid 1990s Rugby League in the Cook Islands received significant funding through the SuperLeague organisation however money from this source is no longer available. Also a fall in the population has made it difficult to muster rugby league playing numbers in the Cook Islands themselves. Much of the rugby league played by Cook Islanders has been in Australia and New Zealand where there are strong Cook Island populations.
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)[2] in the form of selector and defensive coach for the national side. Both players represented New Zealand internationally and played many NRL games.
The domestic Cook Islands rugby league competition for 2010 begins on February 5 with the following teams competing:
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
NZ Cooks v Resident XIII, November 25, 2005
Australian Cook Island Style 26 NZ Cooks 14
Australian Cook Island Style 24 Residents XIII 18, November 18, 2005 changed
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