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Tonga vs Samoa showdown given Suncorp Stadium for Pacific cracker
Scotty Bailey & Joel Gould, AAP • July 30th, 2025 8:25 am
Photo: AAP
Tonga are set to play Samoa in a Pacific Cup blockbuster at Suncorp Stadium, in what could be the most attended rugby league Test in Australia in more than a decade.
The NRL are expected to soon confirm the schedule for this year's Pacific Championships, with the tournament to coincide with Australia's Ashes tour of England.
AAP understands New Zealand will host both of their matches, including the series opener against Samoa in mid October.
Tonga and Samoa will then be given the best possible chance of drawing a crowd, with the game slated for October 28 at the 52,500-seat Suncorp Stadium.
The final is then expected be played in Sydney on November 9.
Parramatta's CommBank Stadium is considered the most likely venue, after also hosting the decider last year.
All games are at this stage set to be played at 4pm on Sundays.
Brisbane's Samoa-Tonga match could be one of the most hotly anticipated games of the season.
These sides haven't met in Australia since 2018, and Samoa has joined Tonga as a genuine international powerhouse since then.
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The biggest crowd at a Test in Australia in the past decade was the 40,033 who attended the 2017 World Cup final.
This year's Suncorp Stadium clash would be every chance of bettering that figure, with Brisbane considered the fastest growing Pasifika city in the world.
Proven rugby league powerhouse Tonga and 2022 World Cup finalists Samoa have put the international game on the map with their drawing power and performances.
Both will be red-hot contenders to win the 2026 World Cup, to be hosted in Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Samoa could yet be boosted by the inclusion of Dolphins fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Brisbane prop Payne Haas and Gold Coast captain Tino Fa'asuamaleaui.
They already have players including Penrith winger Brian To'o, Bulldogs centre and captain Stephen Crichton and Wests Tigers playmaker Jarome Luai.
Tonga, coached by Dolphins mentor Kristian Woolf, reached the final of the Pacific Cup against Australia last year.
Their side boasted Dolphins star half Isaiya Katoa, North Queensland wrecking-ball Jason Taumalolo, and a suite of other NRL stars including Daniel Tupou, Eli Katoa and Felise Kaufusi.
The Tongans will be without Manly second-rower Haumole Olaukau'atu, but have rising Warriors such as 19-year-old forward Leka Halasima to call upon.
Halasima played for Tonga A last year and is regarded as one of the brightest second-row prospects in the NRL.
Samoa coach Ben Gardiner had supported the prospect of trying to pack a major arena last year, when asked whether Accor Stadium should be an option.
"We would like to play it in Samoa and take a game back to the people there," Samoa coach Ben Gardiner told AAP last November.
"But if it wasn't there I would like to give it the best possible chance to give it the biggest possible crowd.
"In a perfect world, 50,000 would definitely be do-able I think.
"It's something that would stick in people's memories, with the kind of crowd that would turn out and the noise and atmosphere it would create."
