Tonga's Sika Manu celebrated the stunning win over the Kiwis at last year's Rugby League World Cup.

​ New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) chief executive Greg Peters has confirmed that Tonga will play Australia at Mt Smart Stadium on October 20, a week after the Kiwis host the Kangaroos at the same venue.

After weeks of negotiations, the NZRL has agreed to the test being played on New Zealand soil, even though there's a risk it may affect ticket sales for the Kiwis' game.

"This is a fantastic result for all fans of rugby league and the continued growth of the international game," NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said in a statement.

"Many people have worked tirelessly right around the globe to ensure this match takes place.

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"I'd particularly like to thank the NZRL for their efforts to ensure this match eventuated on New Zealand soil, along with the RLPA and the players."

It is believed the Australian players have agreed to take a pay cut for the test. They are usually paid $20,000 for each test match, which they'll get for playing the Kiwis, but will earn $5000 for the test against Tonga.

As part of the deal for the test to be played at Auckland, it has been agreed that the Kiwis will host Tonga during the middle of next season, when the NRL takes a break for the second State of Origin game.

The arrangement for the Kiwis to play England in Denver each year has collapsed with this year's test being a financial disaster.

NRL's general manager elite competition, Jason King said the reason why the test isn't being played in Australia is because they wanted to build on the success the Tongan team had at last year's World Cup, although it's believed it was financially prohibitive to play the test at Suncorp Stadium or Allianz Stadium.

"The World Cup was a phenomenal success," King said.

"The emergence of the Pacific Nations and some of those blockbusters we saw over here in New Zealand, really positioned the game well to stage another match here.

"There is a lot of rugby league content being played in Australia and this is an opportunity to bring more matches of this nature over to New Zealand.

"So both the NRL and New Zealand Rugby League saw this as a wonderful opportunity and it's going to build on the test match on October 13 and will lead into the test match between the Kiwis and Tonga in New Zealand next June."

The back to back Kangaroos tests mean the team will likely be based in Auckland for a couple of weeks.

Despite being the hotbed for rugby league in New Zealand, outside of the World Cup there hasn't been a rugby league test played in the city since 2012, when the Kiwis lost to the Kangaroos at Eden Park.

Peters says the Kangaroos v Tonga test will help meet the demand for top level rugby league.

"This is an exciting development for us," he said.

"To be able to showcase as much international rugby league content as possible in the New Zealand market and also in front of our fans and our Kiwi fans, to play a blockbuster test match against Tonga that people have been waiting for since the World Cup."

A location hasn't been decided on for next year's test between the Kiwis and Tonga, but it is likely to be in either Auckland or Hamilton.

There was some reluctance initially from the NZRL about the Kangaroos v Tonga test being played in New Zealand as there was concerns it would detract from the Kiwis' test against the Kangaroos.

"It's really important that we gave prominence to the Australia v New Zealand match that we haven't had in our market for a long time," Peters said.

"But equally important for us was being able to announce the Kiwis against Mate Ma'a Tonga in June next year and that part of the puzzle has only been possible in the last little while.

"Now that gives us a good story to tell and a fantastic feast of rugby league in the New Zealand market."