A weekly sports show celebrating the very best of Pacific Island sport. [image:256172:full]

In 2020 the Kaiviti Silktails and Papua New Guinea Hunters rugby league team's seasons were scrapped because of Covid-19. In 2021, they left their families at home and relocated to Australia to keep their sporting dreams alive.

Rugby is described as one of the toughest sports on the field, but it's nothing compared to how they used to play it back in Tonga.  Kasivaki is an ancient Tongan sport very similar to rugby, but it was played in the ocean, under the water and with a rock. Tongan artist and practitioner, Milika Pusiaki, talks to us about the history of the sport, and where in the world it's being played today.

A weekly sports show that celebrates the very best of Pacific Island sport. [image:256172:full]

The push for a Pacific Island Super Rugby team has been decades in the making and finally, in February, it will come to fruition with not one but two new teams, Moana Pasifika and the Fijian Drua. So with less than five months to go until kick-off, how ready are they?

Rugby league is back at De La Salle College for the first time in 22 years.  Despite the absence of a rugby league team since 1999, the south Auckland school has been a melting-pot for talent, which boasts the likes Jason Taumalolo, Jeff Lima, and Leeson Ah Mau to name a few. Former student and New Zealand international, Motu Tony, has helped re-establish the programme. The General Manager of Football and High-Performance at New Zealand Rugby League tells us what playing for De La Salle meant...

A weekly sport show that celebrates the very best of Pacific Island sport on and off the field.

Papua New Guinea's cricketers on preparing to play in the biggest tournament in their history, in the middle of a pandemic.

For the first time in history, New Zealand's Rugby Smart programme is being delivered in Pacific languages, to encourage more Māori and Pasifika coaches to the field.  Central region delivery lead of Auckland Rugby, Tidah Leaupepe, is on a mission to remove any barriers that might be holding back Pasifika people from taking up opportunities both on and off the field. 

A weekly sport show that celebrates the very best of Pacific Island sport on and off the field.

Whether it's standing up to bullies, opening a clinic in the middle of a pandemic, or overseeing Fiji's first ever Olympic medal, Cathy Wong is a born leader. A physiotherapist by profession, she joined the Fiji Olympic Committee in 1985, a year after graduating from medical school, and was approached by Fiji Rugby two years later, and has never stopped fighting for opportunities for women both on and off the field.

The Paralympics get underway later this month, and for Ben Tuimaseve it's his time for the big dance.  The 32-year-old tells us how taking up shot-put has helped him to embrace his disability, and how some help from New Zealand's Dame Valerie Adams has given him a boost for his debut at the 2020 Tokyo Games.  

Celebrating the superstars and unsung heroes of Pacific Island sport. [image:256172:full]

Whether it's the Tokyo Olympics, grand slam tennis or the Rugby League World Cup, the Covid-19 pandemic continues to cause major disruption to sporting competitions around the world. Papua New Guinea footballer Alwin Komolong is currently playing for Lae City in PNG's National Soccer League, while Tongan skier Kasete Naufahu Skeen is based in Sweden. The Pacific sporting duo discuss their decision to get vaccinated and why they believe others in the Pacific should too.

Former Cook Islands international and Women's Development Officer of the Cook Islands Football Association, Tupou Patia-Brogan, explains how football changed her life and how she intends to use it to inspire the future football players of the Pacific.

Shining a light on the very best of Pacific Island sport. [image:256172:full]  

Vanuatu rower Rio Rii reveals how the pandemic forced him to train solo and how his career in the sport could have turned out very different.

Rising netball star Amorangi Te Pa'a Malesala, who is of Samoan and Maori descent, talks school, shooting and surreal teammates.

Last weekend's Rugby World Cup qualifier against Tonga will live long in the memory of the Sopoaga family, with three brothers and a cousin all making their test debut, with older brother Lima Sopoaga cheering them on from the sideline.

A weekly show that celebrates all things Pacific Island sport.

The Tongan taekwondo star is set to make her Olympic debut, but it's not the competition or the threat of Covid-19 that's giving her sweaty palms. 

New Zealand's Pasifika Rugby community have officially welcomed Saveatama Eroni Clarke this month, in an intimate Ava Usu ceremony at Auckland University's Fale Pasifika.

A weekly sport show that celebrates the very best of Pacific Island sport on and off the field.

We profile our Pacific Olympians heading to the 2021 Tokyo Games, starting with two Cook Island swimmers and this year's flag bearers, Wesley Roberts and Kirsten Fisher-Marsters.

Manu Samoa played Tonga in the first of two tests at the weekend, to see who will qualify for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. While fans were excited to see two Pacific teams go head to head at Mt Smart Stadium, there was someone else getting props on the night too.