Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government and the Australian Rugby League Commission have agreed in-principle to a $600m deal which will see Papua New Guinea (PNG) enter the National Rugby League (NRL) by 2028.
The Labor leader backs a 10-year funding plan for PNG to become the NRL’s 19th team.
Rugby League across PNG is loved by many and is even considered as religion, with it being the number 1 sport in the country, according to ABC News Journalist Kamin Gock.
The bid for PNG to become an NRL franchise started when Albanese and PNG’s Prime Minister James Marape had discussions to form a $600m deal, which would see the Australian tax payer forking out the money to establish the team, The Daily Telegraph said in an exclusive article.
The bid would see PNG initially set up in Cairns and eventually move to a permanent base in Port Moresby.
PNG Prime Minister James Marape believes having an NRL team will unite the nation just like how Nelson Mandela united his South African nation behind rugby union, he said to Gock.
An NRL team in PNG would be more than just a team; it would be a national unity strategy. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese agrees that “a PNG team in the NRL would resonate deeply in the bilateral relationship,” he said to the ABC.
A relationship like this would present a strong relationship between PNG and Australia in the Pacific, where other countries such as China, France, the US, and India are competing for Pacific influence.
The Australian government plans to invest $60 million a year into funding the national team, strengthening the region, and influence of China.
The PNG bid presents a plan that would open a village-style resort in Port Moresby, where there would be shops and supermarkets. Buses would take the players kids to school, and there would be a major general hospital nearby.
James Graham, a former English rugby league player from Liverpool, England, packed his bags in 2012 to take the big leap from England to Australia. Graham moved from St Helens Rugby Football Club to the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs.
He insists players must consider the social and economic differences in Australia and PNG before chasing their rugby league career.
“Big difference between moving from Liverpool to Sydney compared to moving to PNG!” Graham said.
The 423-game player said he would be open to a move to PNG if it meant it would kickstart his rugby league career in the NRL.
“I always talk about sliding doors moments; if I didn’t move from England to Australia, where would my life be?"
He says that if the safety and lifestyle are there in a developing third-world nation, “you got to take the jump, if that means starting your career”.
Graham agrees with PNG Hunters coach Paul Aiton that an expansion to PNG will only grow and expand the game.
Currently Aiton coaches in the Queensland Cup reserve grade competition and right now is focused on making positive changes, so one day his players will be ready for NRL first grade.
"I'm trying to make some changes in a positive way and get the boys to that next level to make their lives and their family's lives better," he said to That Pacific Sport Show.
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