2026 Asia Pasifika Cup Recap: A Massive Step Forward for Fours Touch Football
The 2026 Asia Pasifika Cup was a huge moment for Fours Touch.
Across the event, we saw 43 teams, over 330 players, 132 matches played, and a massive 2,117 points scored. That came from 1,613 total tries, including 1,133 one-point tries and 480 bonus-zone tries.
From the juniors right through to the Open divisions, the standard of footy was strong, and the atmosphere across the competition showed exactly where the sport is heading.
Cook Islands finished as the number one nation overall, followed by Māori, Indigenous and Japan, while Cameron Feary finished as the standout player of the tournament after a dominant campaign across both Men’s and Mixed divisions.
Under 12s
The Under 12s division belonged to Māori Jones, who went through the competition undefeated and capped it off with a dominant grand final performance against the other Māori side.
Their consistency across the round games carried straight into finals, and in the grand final they showed exactly why they deserved to be crowned champions, winning 8–3.
Champions: Māori Jones
Grand Final: Māori Jones defeated Māori Jessen, 8–3
Best & Fairest: Noah Jones, Māori
MVP: Hudson Mckeadie, Māori
Under 12s Starting Four
Chase Thompson, Māori
Ofa Rohweder, Māori
Eboni Mahoney, Cook Islands
Tahnee Madaschi, Māori
Top Point Scorers
Chase Thompson, Māori — 22 points
Tahnee Madaschi, Māori — 11 points
Under 14s
The Under 14s division had to be one of the most exciting divisions of the whole competition. It was also our largest division, with 10 teams competing across the event.
After the round games, the division split into Premier and Div 1 finals.
In the Premier semi-finals, PNG made a massive statement against Niue, winning 12–2 and showing they were going to be very hard to stop. On the other side, Japan and Indigenous delivered an absolute classic, with Japan sealing a 15–12 win in one of the best junior games of the tournament.
The Premier Grand Final saw PNG take on a very strong Japan side, but PNG proved just how good they really were, taking out the title with a 13–6 win.
In Div 1, Australia and Māori both progressed after successful semi-final wins over Samoa and Tonga. Australia deserve a special mention as the only all-female Under 14 side in a mixed division, and they almost came away with the Div 1 title, narrowly going down 9–6 against Māori.
Premier Champions: PNG
Premier Grand Final: PNG defeated Japan, 13–6
Div 1 Champions: Māori
Div 1 Grand Final: Māori defeated Australia, 9–6
Best & Fairest: Lara Carey, Australia
MVP: Lara Carey, Australia
Under 14s Starting Four
Tannah Herewini, Japan
Carter Tam, PNG
Kenzie Strahan, Australia
Lara Carey, Australia
Top Point Scorers
Tariq Gooda-Marou, Indigenous — 25 points
Kenzie Strahan, Australia — 13 points
Under 18s
Just like the Under 14s, the Under 18s division was strong from start to finish and was probably the closest division in terms of finals results.
Cook Islands came into finals after an impressive undefeated run through the round games. Their semi-final against Indigenous was a proper battle, with Cook Islands just pushing through 10–9.
In the other semi-final, Māori Brown and Tonga went head-to-head in another tight one. Tonga found a way to get the win 9–8, booking their place in the grand final.
The grand final stayed close right until the end, but Cook Islands were able to hold on and claim the Asia Pasifika Cup title with an 8–6 win over Tonga.
Champions: Cook Islands
Grand Final: Cook Islands defeated Tonga, 8–6
Best & Fairest: Marley Findlay
MVP: Marley Findlay
Under 18s Starting Four
Ethan Ong, Cook Islands
Marley Findlay, Māori
Savannah Clulow, Cook Islands
Ebony Clarke, Tonga
Top Point Scorers
Dylan Johnson, Indigenous — 24 points
Ebony Clarke, Tonga — 12 points
Women’s Open
Japan came into the Women’s Open division as favourites, with many of their players coming off back-to-back wins at SEQ Cup and State of Origin.
But they were never without competition.
Māori had plenty of experience, speed and quality across the field, while Philippines brought youth, energy and a style that showed they are not far away from being right up there with the top teams.
The finals saw Japan take on Philippines, while Māori faced New Zealand.
Both semi-finals were fairly definitive. Māori defeated New Zealand 12–2, while Japan beat Philippines 10–4, which was a bit of a surprise given how close their round game had been earlier in the competition.
That set up the grand final many people expected: Japan versus Māori.
Japan were the favourites, but Māori stood up when it mattered most. Their attack was sharp, but their defence was even better, and they secured the upset and the Women’s Open title with a 6–4 win.
Champions: Māori
Grand Final: Māori defeated Japan, 6–4
Best & Fairest: Rebecca Simson
MVP: Jada Rae Phillips, Māori
Jada Rae Phillips’ MVP award also marked a huge individual achievement, making it back-to-back-to-back tournament MVPs.
Women’s Open Starting Four
Amanda Issa, Japan
Kaylee Gorroick, Philippines
Jada Rae Phillips, Māori
Sophie Cameron, Māori
Top Point Scorers
Sophie Cameron, Māori — 18 points
Amanda Issa, Japan — 16 points
Men’s Open
The Men’s Open division quickly became a battle between two dominant teams: Cook Islands and Māori.
Both sides set the benchmark early with huge round-game performances, including a 24–7 win by Cook Islands and a 21–0 win by Māori in their respective games. From early on, it felt like these two teams were heading towards a massive finals clash.
After the round games, the Men’s division split into Premier and Div 1 finals.
In the Premier semi-finals, Niue took on Māori in what looked like it could be a cracking game. Niue had the skill and experience to challenge, but Māori were too strong on the day, producing a dominant 22–10 win.
In the other Premier semi-final, Cook Islands faced Australia, who have continued to grow from competition to competition after previously playing as Gold Coast Orcas at SEQ Cup. Cook Islands won 13–6, but Australia’s performance was still a strong showing against one of the most dominant sides in the competition.
In Div 1, the two PNG sides faced Oceania and Fiji respectively. One of the highlights was PNG Bray’s 10–9 win over Fiji, in a game that could have gone either way.
The Div 1 Grand Final became an all-PNG matchup, with PNG Cooper taking the win 10–7 over PNG Bray.
The Premier Grand Final was everything you could expect and more. Māori and Cook Islands were both stacked with talent, and it was the kind of game you could watch back a few times. In the end, the combination of Cam and Reed Feary proved too hard to match, with Māori winning 14–9.
Premier Champions: Māori
Premier Grand Final: Māori defeated Cook Islands, 14–9
Div 1 Champions: PNG Cooper
Div 1 Grand Final: PNG Cooper defeated PNG Bray, 10–7
Best & Fairest: Paul Dewstow
MVP: Cameron Feary and Hayden Wong
Men’s Open Starting Four
Cameron Feary, Māori
Hayden Wong, Cook Islands
Tre’ Amede, PNG
Eddie Gore, Niue
Top Point Scorers
Cameron Feary, Māori — 42 points
Riley Matenga-Hongara — 28 points
Mixed Open
Going into the Mixed Open finals, Cook Islands were the dominant team, but there were plenty of dangerous teams around them.
Japan Horne, Australia, Fiji and PNG all looked capable of causing problems, and there was a real feeling that a few games could go either way.
After the round games, the division split into Premier and Div 1 finals. The Premier finals included Cook Islands, Fiji, Japan Horne and Australia, while Div 1 included PNG, Japan Newland, New Zealand and Oceania.
Cook Islands showed their dominance in their Premier semi-final, defeating Fiji 16–3. The other semi-finals were much tighter. Japan Horne beat Australia 8–7 in their Premier semi-final, while PNG edged Japan Newland 15–14 in a high-scoring Div 1 semi-final.
Both grand finals were strong, high-scoring games.
In the Div 1 Grand Final, PNG narrowly defeated New Zealand 14–12.
In the Premier Grand Final, Cook Islands took on Japan Horne in a back-and-forth game that could genuinely have gone either way. Japan were heavy underdogs and almost pulled off what could have been the upset of the tournament, but Cook Islands found a way to close it out, winning 18–14.
Premier Champions: Cook Islands
Premier Grand Final: Cook Islands defeated Japan Horne, 18–14
Div 1 Champions: PNG
Div 1 Grand Final: PNG defeated New Zealand, 14–12
Best & Fairest: Cameron Feary and Riley Matenga-Hongara
MVP: Cameron Feary and David Dada
Mixed Open Starting Four
Cameron Feary, Cook Islands
Reed Feary, Cook Islands
Jada Rae Phillips, Australia
Jordyn Ryan, Japan
Top Point Scorers
Male: Riley Matenga-Hongara, PNG — 36 points
Female: Jordyn Ryan, Japan Horne — 9 points
Overall Event Numbers
The 2026 Asia Pasifika Cup was a major success across every measurable area.
Across the full competition, there were:
43 teams
Over 330 players
132 matches played
2,117 total points scored
1,613 total tries
1,133 one-point tries
480 bonus-zone tries
The most productive jersey number of the tournament was number 6, with players wearing that number scoring 135 tries, making up 8.37% of all tries scored.
Field 1 had the most points scored across the event, with 579 points.
The best defensive team of the competition was Māori Jones, who conceded an average of just 2.7 points per game.
The best attacking team was Māori Men’s Open, finishing with 116 total points scored.
The top try scorer overall was Cameron Feary, who scored 49 tries and finished with 67 total points.
Overall Best & Fairest Winners
Male: Cameron Feary, Māori and Cook Islands
Female: Bec Simson, Japan, and Chloe Vera, Philippines
Overall MVPs
Male: Cameron Feary, Māori and Cook Islands
Female: Jada Rae Phillips, Māori
Overall Starting Four
Cameron Feary, Māori
Hayden Wong, Cook Islands
Amanda Issa, Japan
Kaylee Gorroick, Philippines
Power Rankings
The player power rankings gave a clear look at the top overall performers across the competition, based on overall rating.
At the top was Jordan Adermann-Kr..., who finished with a perfect 99 overall rating, including 99 attack, 99 defence and 99 discipline.
Behind him, Cameron Feary finished second with a 91 overall rating, while Tre’ Amede rounded out the top three with a 90 overall rating.
The top 15 power rankings were:
- Cameron Feary — 91
- Tre’ Amede — 90
- Amanda Issa — 89
- Tannah Herewini — 89
- Hayden Wong — 89
- Kaylee Gorroick — 87
- Chase Thompson — 87
- Seigo Tanaka — 87
- Ethan Ong — 87
- Brandon Wong — 87
- Eddie Gore — 86
- Cong Bui — 86
- Jada Rae Phillips — 86
- Ofa Rohweder — 86
- Carter Tam — 86
The power rankings highlighted just how much talent was spread across the competition, with players from the junior divisions, Men’s, Women’s and Mixed all featuring among the top performers.
Overall Nation Ladder
The overall nation ladder was calculated using a points system that rewarded success across the competition.
Nations earned points through:
Round game wins: 2,500 points per win
Finishing 1st in division: 2,500 bonus points
Semi-final wins: 3,500 points
Grand final wins: 4,000 points
At the end, each nation’s total points were added up and divided by how many teams that nation had entered. This created a fair average-based leaderboard across the entire event.
The final overall nation rankings were:
- Cook Islands — 15,250 points
- Māori — 14,429 points
- Indigenous — 10,000 points
- Japan — 8,600 points
- Philippines — 7,500 points
- Niue — 7,500 points
- Tonga — 6,750 points
- PNG — 6,000 points
- Australia — 5,250 points
- New Zealand — 3,750 points
- Fiji — 2,500 points
- Oceania — 833 points
- Samoa — 0 points
Cook Islands finished as the number one nation overall, followed by Māori, Indigenous and Japan.
Final Word
The 2026 Asia Pasifika Cup showed exactly what Fours Touch can become.
The juniors brought energy, skill and the next generation of talent. The Open divisions delivered high-level footy, close finals, big performances and genuine rivalry. Across the whole event, the quality continues to rise, and the standard of play keeps moving forward.
From Māori Jones dominating the Under 12s, to PNG making a statement in the Under 14s, Cook Islands holding strong in the Under 18s, Māori upsetting Japan in Women’s Open, Māori and Cook Islands delivering a huge Men’s Premier Grand Final, and Cook Islands winning a Mixed Open thriller, every division had its own story.
The 2026 Asia Pasifika Cup was more than just another event. It was another clear step forward for the sport, the players, the nations involved and the future of Fours Touch Football.
- Jordy.
