Papua New Guinean rugby league officials have launched a campaign to have a team in Australia's National Rugby League competition by 2014.

The PNG Rugby Football League (PNGRFL) will start lobbying NRL officials in Sydney next month while attending the International Rugby League Board meeting.

PNG chairman Albert Veratau said they are talking with the Penrith Panthers to develop a serious proposal for the NRL.

Along with the NRL aspirations, PNGRFL will adopt NSW's junior rugby league development program.

"It's time for PNG in the NRL," he said.

"We want to make the numbers right and will be speaking to the NRL about the PNG club by 2014," he said.

Former Newcastle Knights winger (1989/90) and PNG chairman of selectors Arnold Kerwanty said a PNG club should first enter the Queensland Cup to prepare for the NRL challenge.

"We will need players who have the week-in week-out NRL game experience, or Queensland Cup experience, so they can become the backbone of a future competitive NRL club," he said.

Kerwanty added PNG rugby league was hurt by Australia's immigration laws.

"Laws need to be relaxed so PNG players don't require huge contracts to play for Aussie footy clubs," he said.

"If there are more players in NRL feeder clubs or just playing amateur footy at Australia's higher standard it will lift our game too, but immigration laws are preventing this," he said.

NRL spokesman John Brady said PNG's push was encouraging news but there was no immediate plan to expand.

"It's a case of watch this space.

"If they aim high, work hard and make a compelling case then it doesn't mean it's out of the question.

"The passion exists, everybody is aware how fanatical PNG is for rugby league and they are on our doorstep, so of course we want to support that,' he said.

Rugby league is considered PNG's national game with a strong following of the NRL and local SP Cup.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, during his State visit to PNG last month, gave $250,000 to develop sport, in particular rugby league.

Marcus Bei, Adrian Lam, the current national coach, are PNG's most famous players while Paul Aiton and Keith Peters, playing for Penrith club, are other notable PNG footy heroes.

PNG team for NRL competition

By HENRY MORABANG PAPUA New Guinea will push for a PNG franchise in the tough Australia National Rugby League (NRL) competition in 2014. This is among the agenda the PNG Rugby Football League (PNGRFL) is taking to the International Rugby League Board (IRLB) meeting in Sydney, Australia, next month. The chairman of PNGRFL Board Albert Veratau told The National in an exclusive interview last night that the PNGRFL Board meeting over the weekend had given the thumbs up for a possible Papua New Guinea team to contest the NRL premiership by 2014. Mr Veratau said he will attend the IRLB meeting with his deputy Nick Kuman while chairman of PNG Schoolboys League Ifisoe Segeyaro will also travel to meet the Penrith Panthers Club management over the possible adoption of their Penrith District Junior Rugby League Development Programme for PNG. The development programme was adopted throughout New South Wales as the official state junior development programme. Mr Veratau said the PNGRFL also intends to seek the Australian Rugby League support to lobby the Australian government to relax immigration restrictions for PNG players contracted to play in Australia. Apart from that, PNGRFL will ask the IRLB to sanction a South Pacific rugby league competition to commence in 2010. This competition would include all rugby league playing Pacific nations and run as one-off Tests or an ongoing competition for several weeks. Mr Veratau said all these initiatives are intended to grow the game of rugby league in PNG and enhance our competitiveness as a Test playing nation. He said Mr Segeyaro’s visit to the Penrith Club is part of the review by the national league to focus on the development of the game at the junior level, which involves 10-15 years and 16-19 years age groups. The PNGRFL Board meeting was pleased to note that schoolboys league in various centres had reported successful seasons last year. This season will see three additional leagues – Tabubil, Kundiawa and Mt Hagen – joining the league. Mr Veratau said the key objective of the review is two-fold; firstly, there had been a gradual decline in the number of affiliated leagues and players throughout the country; and, secondly, the competitiveness in rugby league at the international level had come under the microscope again despite our gallant performance against the Australian Prime Minister’s 13 last year. He said much had been said for the PNGRFL to develop a long-term strategy for rugby league development with specific focus on junior and schoolboys’ leagues. Mr Veratau said the board, through this exercise, will develop a sustainable junior development programme that aims to achieve a number of key objectives. These are: *Develop future representative players; *Encourage young Papua New Guineans to participate in a premier sport; *Establish a pathway for the youth of PNG to actively participate in meaningful social activities; and, *Create self-discipline and good citizenship among the youth of the country

i think thats a big...no..massive step to take..

arnold kenwanty is right a PNG team should go into the queensland cup first..but even then 2014 is to soon..give them 10 years atleast in QRL then think about adding them to the NRL

I fear for the SP cup if this happens. It was tried in the 80's and 90's with a png team in the QLD cup... didn't work.

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Druzik:

I fear for the SP cup if this happens. It was tried in the 80's and 90's with a png team in the QLD cup... didn't work.

If my memory is correct, then the reason the Port Moresby Vipers were discarded from the Queensland Cup is because the cost of flying them to and from Australia was too vast for the PNGRFL and the QRL.

I don't see it happening. I doubt many Australian players would want to play in the team, they would be entirely PNG players. Let's face it i don't think many of the highly-payed RL players of Today would ditch they're NSW, QLD and Victorian lifestyles to go and live in poverty bound PNG and play RL. Now I'm not saying it's all that bad but i think there would have to be a lifestyle upgrade before any Aussies will go and play there. Now with NZ this is not the case, Aukland is a pretty big city and the lifestyle is good. Now the NZ warriors have about 50/50 AUS/NZ players, I don't see many if any aussies going to PNG. As a matter of fact i think alot of the great players that come through the PNG team will go south as soon as they are made an offer by Aussie club.

Maybe in 10 years, maybe, but not 2014. I wouldn't be completly against a PNG team in the QLD cup, although as Druzik said the SP cup could suffer considerably, let's hope not, let's hope that if PNG do get a QLD cup or NRL team that people will still turn up to SP cup games.

England 3 Lions:

Druzik:

I fear for the SP cup if this happens. It was tried in the 80's and 90's with a png team in the QLD cup... didn't work.

If my memory is correct, then the reason the Port Moresby Vipers were discarded from the Queensland Cup is because the cost of flying them to and from Australia was too vast for the PNGRFL and the QRL.

Yep pretty much. Also by 2014, the salary cap will be closer to $5-6 million I'd say, I just cannot see a PNGRL team making that kind of money and with other costs. Its an $18million bussiness to run a NRL team as it is.

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i dont think i want this to happen to be honest. i would much rather see investment in the PNG league as a whole rather than on one team, which could ruin all the rest in the sp cup/ i think the aussie gvnt need to relax there immagration laws for pngers aswell and help develope the game that way by allowing players in australia. the nrl has to sort out the aussie teams( perth, adelade etc) in my opinion before allowing a team from another county!

I agree with all the views expressed to date on this topic and consider a PNG team in the NRL would not be successful commercially or on the field. I would prefer to see any proposed investments go into developing home grown PNG RL which could include more tours to Australia, NZ, France and GB by club, representative and national teams. I would go along to a game of Brisbane or QLD residents playing PNG and I would like to see the Cowboys (or other NRL side) v PNG in a trial match.

I believe any entry into the NRL by PNG would cause the grassroots of the game to suffer. Why not instead have the top PNG side, the top NZ residents side, top QLD Cup side and top Jim Beam Cup side play off every year to decide an Oceania or Pacific Champion and play the match before the Toyota Cup game on Grand Final day. That way PNG sides would improve at a local level as they would be desperate to play on NRL Grand Final day and the cost would not be prohibitive. Or alternatively have those same comps have an annual knockout comp involving the top 2 sides from the previous year each year.

Having done consulting work in PNG I am aware that QANTAS charge about the same for a Brisbane to Port Moresby flight as they do for Brisbane to London. That is a massive cost when you are taking 25 to 30 players and staff with you every second week and completely unsustainable unless QANTAS offer massive discounts.

That makes it very hard to include a team from p.n.g ( airfares ), and i am sure the n.r.l have looked at this already. One thing that could be considered is a team playing in the queensland cup but stationed over here in queensland, in this i mean if they had a team say playing out of toowoomba or rockky or some other town which could give them support and also boast their playing quota's.

 Just a thought but you would have to think about jobs for them and other criteria, such as accomadation and etc. I really think rugby league should be looking for a way to include them in a comp. It would be massive for them to play in the queensland cup. In another 20 years they would then be considered for a team in the n.r.l once the game has expanded more. Who knows by then it might be the queensland cup is a major game within its own right.

Plus it would also have to mean the upgrading of the facilities in PNG on a massive scale, the stadiums there are not up to the NRL standards.

Any PNG team based in oz would not work, the idea is to have PNG players and fans see their team, it means the home games need to be played in PNG... which again means the cost comes into it. But its the grass roots I am most worried about. I don't want to see that get killed the way the QLD Cup was.

Anyway there is a path for PNG players into the QLD Cup comp and NRL and theat througfh the northern prode now. They signed 3 players from the PNG SP cup last year. Announced it when I was in Wales to see them so they were all on a real high!

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2014 is a bit too ambitious. It would only be viable as a development project funded largely by the Australian Government (let's estimate $25M AUD per annum here), in partnership with the NRL and commercial interests. Done properly, it could be a very good vehicle for broader socio-economic reform in PNG (which in the end, is much more important than Rugby League). I am thinking here of a PNG side sponsored by anti AIDS, pro Health, anti drinking and drugs messages. RL is one of the few unifying forces in PNG - it should be used for some of the causes mentioned above.

At the very least Australia and the UK should have special immigration pathways available for PNG players to play in the NRL and Super League and other domestic competitions - this would strengthen the Kumuls, which could also be sponsored in the manner discussed above.

2014, I don't think so, but I’d love to be wrong!

 

Good call captain, i was looking on a site today about rugby league and all the work they do in the community and for welfere groups, and this would be a very good way of helping p.n.g develop further. It takes time to do these things and with league willing to help out in this respect i think will further the cause. At least we are moving in the right direction.

I have no dought that league will have a huge pay-day coming with the next media deal. The n.r.l has done a very good job of distubuting funds it has got. With more funds comes more development and further gains in spreading the game. We dont get bad publicity for not helping out, has anyone ever noticed this?

What i am trying to say is rugby league has never been put down by the working class or upper class for that matter. Never a bad word has been said that league does not care. I loved reading about that new scheme they started 6 months ago, it is now the largest of its kind in australia. Not sure of the name, but i did read about it today.

Been thinking about this... maybe one solution, to see if any teams or the PNGRFL are ready is to have a pre season knockout comp involving the QLD Cup, NSW Cup and SP cup teams. I had a chat with captain on email where I mentioned the country teams, but i think this would be a long expensive process. BUT

NSW Cup - 12 teams, QLD Cup - 11 teams, SP Cup 9 teams. That is 32 teams, So two rounds a QF, SF and Final, over 10-12 weeks your all sweet! The drawing I would do as the CC. Each round the remaining teams are drawn randomly. have a two or three weeks between rounds so teams can get finaces and flights all done. With no NRL around hopefully some good crowds would get pulled in and some of the old clubs see some money come in. Imagine seeing Wynnum manly play Newtown. Would be great! Of the Mendi mooroks home to the Sharks?

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Druzik:

Been thinking about this... maybe one solution, to see if any teams or the PNGRFL are ready is to have a pre season knockout comp involving the QLD Cup, NSW Cup and SP cup teams. I had a chat with captain on email where I mentioned the country teams, but i think this would be a long expensive process. BUT

NSW Cup - 12 teams, QLD Cup - 11 teams, SP Cup 9 teams. That is 32 teams, So two rounds a QF, SF and Final, over 10-12 weeks your all sweet! The drawing I would do as the CC. Each round the remaining teams are drawn randomly. have a two or three weeks between rounds so teams can get finaces and flights all done. With no NRL around hopefully some good crowds would get pulled in and some of the old clubs see some money come in. Imagine seeing Wynnum manly play Newtown. Would be great! Of the Mendi mooroks home to the Sharks?

Love the idea druzik, would be a grwat little tournamnt, maybe you could get a bit more wide spread and get the Reds aswell as the victorian, WA, SA and NT state champions.