Samoa’s 78-4 win over France drew 13,000 fans to Western Sydney Stadium on a Friday afternoon, despite a 5:45pm kickoff, weekday traffic and a match that quickly became one-sided. The result was emphatic; the turnout was the bigger signal. Pasifika communities are giving this Rugby League World Cup a level of energy and attention that international rugby league has often struggled to attract.
The change is visible in the stands, on television and in the teams themselves. Samoa and Tonga have become genuine contenders, while fans with family ties to the competing nations are turning matches into expressions of community and identity. The tournament’s organizers and traditional powers have a clearer picture of the sport’s international audience than they did a few years ago.
Fans are changing the scale of the tournament
The Samoa-France crowd gathered in a busy part of Sydney outside school holidays, with roads backing up around the stadium. Many in the stands were members of Western Sydney’s large Samoan community. After the final whistle, they sang “Ua fa'afetai,” a traditional song of thanks and gratitude.
Even the match’s finish had a memorable twist. A penalty goal attempt from Stephen Crichton struck the post and bounced back into play. Benaiah Ioelu then scored after the siren, sealing Samoa’s largest-ever victory.
In another measure of public interest, Fiji and the Cook Islands drew just over 10,000 spectators in Newcastle. The match also attracted 1.7 million Australian television viewers, outdrawing several flagship current affairs shows, news bulletins and reality programs. Together, those crowds and viewing figures suggest that the tournament’s appeal reaches well beyond its traditional rugby league audience.
The clearest test will come when Samoa and Tonga meet in Sydney on November 1. The match sold out in the tournament’s third week, prompting former players and pundits to call for a move to the larger Stadium Australia. Western Sydney Stadium holds 30,000, and the debate over capacity reflects just how much demand the fixture has generated.
That demand has a demographic foundation. The number of Australians identifying with Pasifika communities rose from 165,000 in 2011 to 415,033 in 2021, according to the source article’s figures. Australian Bureau of Statistics data also points to growing communities in outer suburban areas of Sydney and Brisbane — places where rugby league already has a strong following.
Choosing a team can mean choosing family
For many players, the tournament’s significance runs deeper than the country listed at birth. A 2017 rule change by the International Rugby League allowed players with cultural ties to multiple nations to represent the country they chose. Jason Taumalolo’s decision to represent Tonga became the most prominent example, helping make the choice visible across the sport.
The current Tongan squad shows how far that shift reaches. None of the players listed in Tonga’s starting line-up against Lebanon was born in Tonga, but each had close family ties to the island nation. Tonga won that match 36-0, keeping its campaign on track.
Sierra Keung, a senior lecturer in sports leadership and management at Auckland University of Technology, sees the fans’ commitment as an expression of belonging. “The pride for our cultures, for our people, it's more than just a jersey for our Pasifika communities,” she told ABC Sport.
Keung describes the growth of these teams as the result of decisions made over time, including players choosing to represent their heritage. “This is years in the making, and it's come down to people making bold decisions, like Jason Taumalolo to be the first to say, 'I'm going to go home and represent my people,'” she said.
Salesi Foketi, who chose Tonga over New Zealand, said his decision felt natural from childhood: “Right from when I was a boy, it was always Tonga.” Winger Jojo Fifita, making his Tonga debut, spoke of the personal meaning behind it: “Being able to represent my dad's side was something I'd always wanted to do when I was older and I finally got that opportunity.”
Heritage also shapes Lebanon’s campaign
The same connection between family and national representation extends beyond the South Pacific. Lebanon’s squad is made up of Australian-born players, including winger Jason Saab, who represents the Cedars through his Lebanese stepfather, Pierre. Saab told ABC Sport that his stepfather’s community shaped his sense of self: “That's the culture that raised me ultimately, that whole community of people. That's kind of where I found my identity to be.”
Lebanon coach Michael Cheika, who is also Lebanese Australian, said the country’s small rugby league community was a source of motivation for the squad. He also spoke about the difficulties facing relatives and supporters in Lebanon amid strikes from Israel and a wider regional conflict: “With everything that's going on over there … you've got to understand that they may not have enough petrol to get to the games, let alone field markings, fields that are available.”
These stories show how national teams can connect players and supporters to places they may not have lived in, but know through family and culture. For diaspora communities, a match can carry a meaning that a conventional international fixture may not capture.
A broader challenge to Australia’s dominance
Samoa and Tonga have made the competitive implications hard to ignore. Australia has won 12 men’s World Cup titles, including six of the last seven, with New Zealand occasionally breaking its hold. Now, Samoa and Tonga look capable of challenging that established order. Fiji and the Cook Islands also have sizable Australian diaspora communities and growing player talent.
Keung said the strength of the player pool is visible across the sport. “The talent is just through the roof right now, both men's and women's,” she said. She expects that depth to shape future tournaments as well as this one.
The World Cup’s appeal rests on more than competitive results. Crowds are showing up for teams that reflect their communities, and players are choosing to represent family histories that the rules once made harder to honor. The November 1 Samoa-Tonga fixture will put that shift on a single field; the larger story is that these teams have made international rugby league matter to a much wider audience.
