International rugby league is just around the corner, with all Pacific teams involved in one way or another.
Tonga will travel to England for a three-Test series in the crown jewel of this year's rugby league calendar, while two sets of tri-series will be played in the Southern Hemisphere.
The first features Australia, New Zealand and Samoa, while the other is to feature Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Cook Islands.
On the women's side, all of those teams will be involved in matches.
Noting that the English men's squad for their series against Tonga is yet to be named, here is who has been picked across the teams from each team.
Canberra Raiders
The Raiders have only three men's representatives, all lining up in the New Zealand side. Their NRLW side that narrowly missed out on the finals has eight players across five nations however.
Men's
Australia: Nil
New Zealand: Danny Levi, Joseph Tapine, Matthew Timoko
Samoa: Nil
Papua New Guinea: Nil
Fiji: Nil
Cook Islands: Nil
Tonga: Nil
Women's
Australia: Simaima Taufa
New Zealand: Apii Nicholls, Ashleigh Quinlan, Cheyelle Robins-Reti
Samoa: Petesa Lio, Janelle Williams
Papua New Guinea: Ua Ravu
Fiji: Nil
Cook Islands: Kerethitina Matua
Tonga: Nil
I’m really surprised at the Warriors’ figures.
I suppose I had the impression that Auckland was the natural home of Pacifica players, and that most started there before moving to other NRL clubs. It seems that is not the case.