James Tedesco is one of a number of NRL stars to represent Italy at international level. Source: AAP
RUGBY league secured a significant victory on the world stage on Thursday, with the game officially recognised as a legitimate sport in Italy.
While Italy competed in the most recent World Cup, with Aidan Guerra in their team, the sport has not been recognised as a stand-alone sport in that country since the 1960s, when the all-powerful Italian Rugby Union banned any player sound to have participated in the 13-a-side code.
Until Thursday, league was merely a breakaway version of union in Italy — a rebel code not officially recognised by the powers that be.
Finally, sensibly, that has all changed.
The international game will get another major boost in a fortnight — but this time, a little closer to home — when southeast Queensland hosts a "representative round" at Suncorp Stadium and Cbus Super Stadium on May 1-2.
On the Friday night, Brisbane will host the Test match between Australia and New Zealand, as well as the women's international between the Jillaroos and the Kiwi Ferns.
Then, on the Saturday, the Gold Coast will host a Test double-header, with games between Tonga and Samoa, and PNG and Fiji, as well as the Junior Kangaroos and Junior Kiwis.
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The Pacific Tests between Tonga and Samoa are a great sign of rugby league's development. Source: Getty Images
The Pacific Tests are another terrific step forward for the development of the game in those countries.
As we saw with Samoa's performance in the Four Nations last year and during the 2013 World Cup, the best way for these developing nations to improve their performances is by having greater exposure to quality matches against quality opposition.
The number of players from the Pacific nations playing in the NRL will undoubtedly lift standards, but the long-term development being done by rugby league in these countries is where the real gains will be made.
The inclusion of the PNG Hunters into Queensland's Intrust Super Cup was a massive step forward, just as Fiji's inclusion in the NSW Cup from next year will accelerate development there.
Hopefully, if the right financial backers can be found, Samoa and Tonga can follow suit with a team in one of the state leagues in the next few years.
But the representative round could also pay big dividends for the gam in Australia as well.
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The scheduling of the representative round should be the first step in creating an expanded representative window, that could include State of Origin.
Stand-alone Origin games have been suggested for a long time as a way to minimise the impact on the NRL clubs that lose players to the interstate series, the workload on players, and the dilution of the NRL competition because of the number of players being stood down because of representative duties.
But for a true representative window to work, Origin cannot do it alone.
Test matches like this Pacific series, Tests involving England and New Zealand, and perhaps even an international Nines tournament could be looked at as a way to beef up a potential representative schedule for television audiences and venues across the region.
Given more opportunity, the development of the international game will continue to grow, and that is great news for rugby league.
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