Fiji National Rugby League Coach Brandon Costin will name his extended squad next week for the match against the Tonga Residents.

Costin says he is impressed with the skills shown at the Vodafone Cup tournament so far which will form the basis of his selection.

Costin adds the standard of rugby league in Fiji has risen significantly with growing interest from students around the country.

“Things are moving really well with the Vodafone Cup. I think the competition has gone from strength to strength over the last few months. We’ve really worked hard on opening the game and improving the referee. I think the players are actually playing a lot better standard of rugby league at the moment so it’s going to be really exciting once we get our top 25 players into the squad and start to develop them in moving forward to play those test matches.”

Fiji will play three matches against Tonga Residents next month.