ERONI TUINACEVA suva Talks are currently underway for a Fiji Residents team to play in the New South Wales Cup next year. Fiji National Rugby League marketing officer Tomasi Turagava

ERONI TUINACEVA

suva

Talks are currently underway for a Fiji Residents team to play in the New South Wales Cup next year.

Fiji National Rugby League marketing officer Tomasi Turagava confirmed this news yesterday, saying the possibility of this happening was very high.

“As we speak, discussions are being held in Sydney for a Fiji Residents squad to feature in the New South Wales Cup,”Turagava said.

“The enormous benefits that are in store for FNRL and Fiji would be unprecedented if this materialises.

“Fiji’s performance in the last two world cups, reaching the semifinals twice and ranking as fourth in the world, is the main contributing factors that have persuaded the NRL.

“We are very confident that we’ll be able to make this happen and what is being included in the package is that the Fiji Residents would play 26 games, hosting 13 of these games at the ANZ Stadium, which the Fiji Sports Council says is severely underutilised.

“By hosting those 13 games, we will be broadcast through Foxtel and gain exposure to millions of Australians. We will also lift the standard of rugby league immensely by having a team feature in this prestigious tournament and market Fiji as a sporting destination.

“We stand to gain so much from this as the NSW Cup is the second premier rugby league competition in Australia. So the return for us is massive and one we welcome.”

Turagava revealed another venture FNRL was undertaking that would soon give Fiji Bati fans nationwide access to team merchandise.

“We are also in talks with an interested major retailer that we can’t reveal at the moment and we’re working on opening a Fiji Bati merchandise store soon in their property. The idea is that they will have a Fiji Bati merchandise outlet in their various stores across the country and that will make the distribution of and access to Bati merchandise more convenient.”

Meanwhile, FNRL operations manager Joe Savou revealed there would be no relegation rounds for the Vodafone Cup.

“Going into round three this weekend, the teams will play two more rounds before we commence with the quarterfinals. After the finals, the two bottom teams will automatically drop to the Premier grade.

“In the Premier grade, there will be two rounds before we start with the quarterfinals and after the finals, those top two teams will automatically join the Top 8 competition.”

eroni.tuinaceva@fijisun.com.fj