Rugby League greats thank major sponsor

On Monday morning at the Rarotongan Beach Resort and Spa, two former greats of the sport of Rugby League Football, Kevin Iro and David Fairleigh were on hand to present Tata Crocombe with a Pacific Cup medal and Mini-Games medal in recognition of his tremendous support and sponsorship of the Cook Islands team and the game generally.
Fairleigh who is based in Sydney Australia, coached the Cook Islands team in the Pacific Cup to wins over Samoa and Fiji and a tough encounter with the tougher more experienced PNG Kumuls.
Fairleigh, a former Australian and State of Origin Rep who played at prop, is enthusiastic about the future of Cook Islands Rugby League and together with Iro, will seek to bring on board some major sponsors to fund a three year development programme.
Fairleigh said he plans to return to Rarotonga next year before the start of the League season to assist local coaches to raise the standards of the game here. Fairleigh said with the team’s win over Samoa and Fiji at the Pacific Cup, other nations could no longer afford to take the Cook Island’s team too lightly.
Up against the Kumuls, the Cooks fielded a young team. 11 in the team were 19 year olds. All except for three were from NRL Clubs in Australia. That’s the standard required now if the Cooks are to continue to compete at international level said Fairleigh.
Iro said the wins over Samoa and especially Fiji who made the World Cup quarter finals, were completely unexpected and earned the Cooks a new respect. Fairleigh said the Cook Islands was now ranked 6th on the World rankings. Prior to the Pacific Cup they were ranked 12th.
Fairleigh wants to keep the Cooks playing on the international stage. So when he returns next year, he wants to spend a couple of days with local coaches to implement standards, training techniques and skills to improve local player’s basic fundamentals of the game. While we cannot at this stage emulate the NRL with its sophisticated programmes, he sees his mission as a combination of science and fun.
Iro said he would be attending the International Board meeting on 2 December and he will be seeking funds to develop the lower tiers of the local game. He wants to create pathways and steps to compliment the elite tier. It was important to expand the player base and there were many young local boys who had talent and with the right development and guidance, they could have a bright future.
Fairleigh said in Australia the various administrative bodies involved in the game were in the process of forming the NRL Commission to rationalize the international scene. The plan was to pick up international fixtures. In the future, with the right development, there should be benefits for the Cook Islands with more opportunities to play internationals. He said at present the NRL competition is almost half made up of Pacific players and their presence is growing.
Both Iro and Fairleigh supported the proposal from the Economic Development Task Force for a Sports Institute to be established.
Crocombe said he was so pleased Fairleigh was helping out and he hoped it would be the start of a long journey together. Fairleigh said it was so refreshing to come back to grassroots level. He said the Cook Islands team played with tremendous passion and cultural pride. He was overwhelmed when the team presented him with an autographed Cook Islands flag. Crocombe said every Cook Islander who succeeded brought everyone up. Fairleigh acknowledged the great support he received from Nathan Ford in Australia.
Fairleigh has been on holiday in Rarotonga with his wife Shona and their son and daughter. They also took time to visit Aitutaki. They return to Australia early Tuesday morning.
Fairleigh was part of the Paramatta Eels coaching staff during the last NRL Grand Final and has been with the Newcastle Knights coaching staff also. On returning to Australia he takes up a new job as Football Operations Manager for the next NRL franchise, the “Central Coast Bears” which will be based in Gosford which is half way between Newcastle and Sydney. It will be his job to put the new team’s whole system in place by the start date 2013.
Iro said he met Fairleigh in 2001 when they both played at the St Helens Club in England. Fairleigh was in his last year and played prop. Crocombe said he had the distinction of playing in the first game of League in 1978 when Titikaveka played Arorangi. In those days he was an 80kg forward.

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