Editing Rugby league (section)

=== Oceania and South Pacific ===
[[File:Manu Vatuvei (26 October 2008).jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|[[Australia national rugby league team|Australia]] vs [[New Zealand national rugby league team|New Zealand]] at the [[2008 Rugby League World Cup]]]]

The [[Asia-Pacific Rugby League Confederation]]'s purpose is to spread the sport of rugby league throughout their region along with other governing bodies such as the [[Australian Rugby League Commission|ARL]] and [[New Zealand Rugby League|NZRL]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asiapacificrl.com/|title=Home - Asia Pacific Rugby League Confederation|website=Asia Pacific Rugby League Confederation|access-date=14 June 2016|archive-date=30 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430190256/http://www.asiapacificrl.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Since rugby league was introduced to [[Australia]] in 1908, it has become the largest television sport and 3rd most attended sport in Australia.<ref>[http://www.topendsports.com/world/lists/popular-sport/countries/australia.htm Most Popular Sports in Australia]. Topendsports.com. Retrieved 20 August 2013.</ref> Neighbouring [[Rugby league in Papua New Guinea|Papua New Guinea]] is one of two countries to have rugby league as its [[national sport]] (with [[Rugby league in the Cook Islands|Cook Islands]]).<ref name="PNG vow to upset World Cup odds"/><ref name="PNG seal 2010 Four Nations place"/> Australia's elite club competition also features a team from [[Auckland]], New Zealand's biggest city. Rugby league is the dominant winter sport in the eastern Australian states of [[New South Wales]] and [[Queensland]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=David|last=Rowe|date=15 August 2016|journal=Journal of Sport and Social Issues|volume=21|issue=2|pages=221–226|doi=10.1177/019372397021002008|title=Rugby League in Australia: The Super League Saga|s2cid=145452627}}</ref> The game is also among the predominant sports of [[Rugby league in Tonga|Tonga]]<ref name="Matt Fletcher, Nancy Keller 2001 73">{{cite book|last=Matt Fletcher, Nancy Keller|title=Tonga|year=2001|publisher=[[Lonely Planet]]|location=Australia|isbn=978-1-74059-061-7|page=73|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EABPLrDovFAC}}</ref> and is played in other Pacific nations such as [[Samoa]] and [[Fiji]]. Researchers have found that rugby league has been able to help with improving [[Sustainable development|development]] in the islands.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Stewart-Withers|first1=Rochelle|last2=Everill|first2=Adam S.|date=2015|title=Transforming Hegemonic Masculinities in Papua New Guinea: Rugby League as a Vehicle for the Prevention of Gender-based Violence and HIV/AIDS|url=https://doi.org/10.18848/2152-7857/CGP/v04i04/53987|journal=The International Journal of Sport and Society|language=en|volume=4|issue=4|pages=57–69|doi=10.18848/2152-7857/cgp/v04i04/53987|issn=2152-7857}}</ref> In Australia, and indeed the rest of the region, the annual [[State of Origin series]] ranks among the most popular sporting events.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ford|first=Greg|title=State of Origin bigger test for James Tamou|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/opinion/6761017/State-of-Origin-bigger-test-for-James-Tamou|access-date=16 June 2012|newspaper=Fairfax NZ News|date=18 April 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Apathy in old Dart like an arrow through our heart|url=http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/metro/national/sport/apathy-in-old-dart-like-an-arrow-through-our-heart/1349226.aspx?storypage=0|access-date=17 June 2012|newspaper=Stock & Land|date=1 November 2008}}{{Dead link|date=March 2020|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>