‘Deal is done’: Australian taxpayers to fork out $600m for PNG to join NRL

A lucrative deal for the NRL to expand into a foreign country has reportedly been ticked off with the venture to be backed by Australian taxpayers.

NRL's PNG deal is reportedly done

Australian taxpayers are set to spend $600m as the NRL gets set to expand into international waters.

Plans for an 18th team into the competition have long been in place with Papua New Guinea now reportedly confirmed as the winners of a new license.

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On Wednesday morning, 2GB’s Ben Fordham confirmed the deal was done and the venture would be funded by the taxpayers.

“The deal is done,” Fordham said.

“Australian taxpayers are about to spend $600m on a rugby league team in Papua New Guinea.

“We’ve got some exclusive information about when all of this is going to be announced. It’s $60m a year over 10 years.”

ARLC chairman Peter V’landys reportedly held discussions with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in early May regarding the PNG venture.

The NRL and the Federal Government have reportedly agreed on a funding package with almost half of the $600 million to go towards pathways and programs in the Pacific region.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and PNG Prime Minister James Marape are both NRL fans. Picture: PMO

They will be the first of potentially two new sides added to the competition, with the aim to see PNG begin their NRL tenure in 2028, potentially with Wayne Bennett at the helm.

The master coach is reportedly set to sign a three-year deal with the Rabbitohs, meaning he’d be a free agent for the 2028 season.

“Naturally, we would love to have Wayne Bennett involved with an 18th team,” V’landys said.

“He is a genius and if he is available for the next expansion bid, absolutely we want him … Wayne shares our vision on expansion and he wants to be part of that vision absolutely.”

The NRL expansion is going international. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

PVL got the deal done. Picture David Clark

Fordham’s announcement that the deal was locked in went down like a lead balloon on social media with users furious the government was outlaying so much for the NRL venture.

ABC journalist Siobhan Heanue wrote: “Australia plans to spend $600 million on setting up an NRL team in PNG - that’s about the same it spends on aid to the country each year. That’s pinning a lot of geopolitical hope on footy diplomacy.”

One user wrote: “I love Rugby League but I want my taxes used on something f***ing useful … education, roads, mental health. @AlboMP you’re starting to piss me off.”

A second added: “Why the f**k are we paying so much just to barely survive. Food. RENT. Petrol. Everything, and now 600 million of OUR tax dollars goes to this bullsh*t? Where was the f***ing vote?”

A third wrote: “We’re trying to pay the power bill and he’s robbing us for sports?”

Fordham stated an official announcement on the move to make PNG the NRL’s 18th team could come in September during PNG’s 49th independence celebrations.