Rugby League: How PNG footballers are boosting Australian bush footy
While the NRL is looking to transform PNG with a new rugby league franchise, it’s clear that the benefits of footy diplomacy go both ways.
Tweed Heads
Don't miss out on the headlines from Tweed Heads. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Over the past couple of years, PNG has been at the heart of any talk about NRL expansion.
While negotiations with some prospective consortia have recently hit rocky ground, it’s pretty much a given that when the Australian Rugby League Commission does eventually announce expansion teams, one of them will be from PNG.
Part of the reported $600m Australian government backed-bid is focused on not only improving rugby league pathways but also delivering a wide range social benefits to the country. However a closer look at the rugby league relationship between Australia and PNG shows that the benefits go both ways.
Indeed, in NSW’s Northern Rivers, guest workers from PNG play an integral part in keeping local clubs afloat.
“From where we were two years ago to where we are now, if we didn’t go and source the PNG boys we wouldn’t have a club,” said Travis Falls, the president of the Casino Cougars, who play in the Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League competition, better known locally as the NRRRL.
Perhaps more than any other club, Casino has benefited from the rise of rugby league-playing PNG citizens moving to the area.
“We’ve noticed a big increase in the last couple of years, particularly in Casino because the meat works are on board,” Falls said.
In what is a great example of local co-operation, the club has struck up an agreement with the Casino Food Co-op that sees the company work with the Cougars when bringing over workers.
“They’ll give us the heads up and say they’re bringing another 30 PNG nationals out, so we try and find the footballers through our connections in PNG,” said Falls.
“They then have to sign up through a labour hire company and the meat works do their visas and medicals, so it’s a bit of a partnership. We’d be lost without the meat works, that’s for sure.”
The relationship has been pretty fruitful for the Cougars, who’ve seen their numbers bolstered in recent years.
“This year we probably had about 20 who were registered but there’s four who are solid first graders. Better than solid, they are the heart of our team,” said Falls.
While Casino has a deal with the meat works, the Cougars aren’t the only local footy club to benefit from the influx of foreign workers to the region.
Several PNG players have also joined Lismore club Marist Brothers. Instead of being scouted for their footballing ability, some of these players arrived at the club by chance after initially staying in the pub run by former Rams legend – and Gold Coast Seagulls/Chargers forward – Tony Durheim.
“At the start of the year there were eight or nine living at the Northern Rivers Hotel and working at the meat works, so a lot of them came to football for a bit of an outlet. I think about four or five of them stayed on the year,” said Marist Brothers president Al Petty.
“They just put it out to them that, ‘You’re living in town here, so if you want to play football then why not play for the town.’ It was more a case of where they were living and Tony being the owner of the pub. We picked up a few that way.”
While senior participation numbers have rebounded in the Northern Rivers over the last couple of seasons to fairly healthy levels, sporting clubs in the region have endured a difficult few years on the back of a string of disasters that have put several local clubs “on life support”.
In light of these challenges, the increase in rugby league-playing PNG internationals has been a blessing for local clubs.
“We had the fires, Covid and the floods, so it gave us those extra numbers so we didn’t just have the bare minimum of players,” said Petty.
“We had 19 or 20 in reserve grade, which we hadn’t had for a few years. Just having those extra numbers made a big difference to us. Reserve grade ended up fourth this year and first grade fifth, so having those extra five or six or 10 players and a bit of quality there has made a big difference to us.”
In terms of that quality, some seriously talented footballers have been among those to play in the NRRRL.
They include 28-year-old Gairo Kapana, a PNG rugby sevens international and former PNG Hunters player in the Q Cup, who lined up on the wing this season for Casino.
Elsewhere, 23-year-old international forward Sherwin Tanabi, who played one game for the Kumuls in 2022 and also featured for the Hunters, played for Todd Carney’s Byron Bay Red Devils.
Another young player to impress this season was Casino’s Peter Dagi. A powerful forward with plenty of ball skills, he was one of the Cougars’ best in 2024.
“I think he’s got a big future in footy, whether it’s just here in country footy or he goes one step higher,” said Falls, who himself spent time in Parramatta’s lower grades during his career. “He’s definitely got the ability, that’s for sure.”
While to date most of the PNG nationals who have played in the NRRRL are those primarily moving to Australia for work and playing football on the side, Falls believes there will be a shift in the years to come.
“I think in the next few years there’s going to be a lot more who’ll come out here, especially younger PNG boys who are trying to make it to state league or something like that,” he said.
“They’re the sort of guys who I think will start coming out here: the ones who really want to make a life for themselves and go higher with their footy.”
And while the likes of Kapana, Dagi, Tanabi and others have been fantastic for their clubs and the competition on the field, their impact has been felt far beyond the white line.
By simply playing the game they’ve helped keep local clubs – which act as key community institutions – alive during tough times.
And although the benefits aren’t wrapped in multimillion-dollar social programs like the Australian government-backed NRL bid, the arrival of the PNG recruits has certain boosted the economy and sporting life in the Northern Rivers.
“They work long hours so if we can give them a bit of an outlet and a social outing then that’s great. They’re helping us and we’re also helping them integrate into the community,” said Petty.
“It’s been fantastic having the boys here and we’re very hopeful that they’ll all come back.”
Originally published as Rugby League: How PNG footballers are boosting Australian bush footy
Body found in boat harbour
The body of a man has been pulled from a popular waterway on the Queensland-New South Wales border. Here’s what we know.
‘Mistaken identity’: Man bashes cop waiting for Domino’s pizza
A North Coast man with a history of confrontations with police has been locked up after a brutal unprovoked attack on an officer who was waiting for a Domino’s pizza.