By Matthew Knott, Adrian Proszenko and Michael Chammas
Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys has signalled a further expansion announcement could be imminent after officially unveiling a $600 million deal for a Papua New Guinea team to enter the NRL from 2028.
V’landys said another franchise could be unveiled within weeks, with a Perth-based team the strong favourite to secure the spot – although the success of the bid will rely heavily on the investment of the West Australian government.
In the case of PNG, it was the federal government’s backing that proved crucial – Australian taxpayers will provide $600 million over the next 10 years to help establish the team, with $120 million coming from existing Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade funding.
The PNG deal comes with an escape clause that allows the Australian government to immediately terminate the agreement if PNG strikes a security or policing pact with China or other rival nations over the next decade.
While there is no explicit clause granting Australia veto rights over security deals between PNG and other countries, government sources said the NRL agreement was “contingent” on PNG continuing to support the principle that security and policing arrangements are handled by Pacific nations including Australia.
The sources, who were not authorised to speak publicly, said the agreement allowed the Australian government to withdraw financial support for PNG’s NRL team without supplying a reason until 2035. Further, the NRL would be required to terminate the PNG team’s franchise if the Australian government removed its support under the terms of the agreement.
PNG Prime Minister James Marape with Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese and ARLC chair Peter V’Landys at the announcement of a new PNG NRL team on Thursday.Credit: Kate Geraghty
“This is about diplomacy, this is about making Australia safer, this is about securing our status as the security partner of choice in the Pacific,” a senior government source said.
After Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and PNG Prime Minister James Marape announced the formation of the Port Moresby-based team at a joint press conference in Sydney on Thursday, V’landys immediately turned his gaze to the west.
The NRL’s ultimate goal is to expand to 20 teams and negotiations with the WA government to introduce a Perth team have progressed to the point that an official announcement could be made within “two to three weeks.”
A Perth team could potentially enter the competition in 2027, a year earlier than PNG.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and PNG counterpart James Marape discussed PNG’s NRL bid while walking the Kokoda Track in April.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
“It’s in the hands of the West Australian government,” V’landys said. “We’ve made them aware of what our requirements are … So if that all translates into a deal, I think that will be done very shortly.”
Pressed on whether that could be ratified for Christmas, V’landys said: “Hopefully it’s under the tree, but I’m not sure.”
V’landys predicted the new PNG team would be able to stand on its own feet financially within a decade, which is when the federal funding for the venture ends.
He said PNG would help contribute towards the NRL’s ultimate goal of doubling its current revenue – which currently stands at $600 million – within that timeframe.
Fans pack the national stadium in Port Moresby to watch the PNG Kumuls.Credit: Getty Images
For the game to break the billion-dollar barrier, it will need the PNG team to be self-sufficient by the time the agreement with the Australian government expires, a goal V’landys believes is achievable.
“Absolutely,” he said. “If you watched the game there the other week between the Australian schoolboys and their PNG schoolboys, the PNG schoolboys nearly won.
“That’s another factor. Now there’s 10 million people for pathways. So all of a sudden you’re going to have the biggest pathway system ever.
“So Papua New Guinea will be a strong team in the first five or six years. I’m very confident of their success, as I was with the Dolphins.”
At Thursday’s announcement, Albanese said: “Rugby league is PNG’s national sport and PNG deserves a national team. The new team will belong to the people of PNG and it will call Port Moresby home. It will have millions of people barracking for it from day one.”
The new PNG team – chairman Wapu Sonk said the name would be decided by the people of the Pacific nation – will be able to offer players and staff tax-free status as an incentive to relocate.
One option is for the club to be called the PNG Hunters, the name given to the team that has been playing in the Queensland Cup competition since 2014.
PNG chief executive Andrew Hill believed the club would be an attractive destination for the marquee signings required to make it immediately competitive.
The PNG government has committed to building compound-style accommodation for players and offering tax-free salary benefits to attract star players.
“I have no doubt that players always want to play in good teams in good environments and have a great experience,” Hill said.
Melbourne Storm star Ryan Papenhuyzen said he was certain PNG would be able to tempt players to Port Moresby.
“I’ve been to PNG a couple of years ago for a Queensland Cup game,” said Papenhuyzen, who was speaking after committing his future to the Storm until the end of 2026, with a mutual option for 2027.
“I think their passion is one of the great things, it’s their national sport. We were over there for a few days and stayed in a compound. It’s different for sure but Port Moresby is quite a pumping city in itself and there are quite a few successful people over there so if they are happy to live over there, then NRL players should be exactly the same.
“I’m sure they will put things in place to make safety a priority. But in terms of passion and wanting to play for something bigger than yourself, then that will definitely be the place to go.”
Papenhuyzen added that his teammate Xavier Coates, who has PNG heritage, could make a good figurehead for the new club – but only after the Storm win some premierships with him.
“I wouldn’t want to verse him over there, that’s for sure,” Papenhuyzen said when asked if Coates would be perfect for PNG. “It’s a pretty daunting place to go and Xavier’s really proud of his heritage, so I’m sure if he got the chance to go, he’d go.”
with Roy Ward
John Kewa with his children Milena (yellow top), Martina (white top) and John-Ryan.Credit: Sylivia Liber
‘Part of our identity’: PNG’s NRL team finds its first Australian supporters
According to John Kewa, two things unify Papua New Guinea: religion and rugby league. So when the 55-year-old father of four football fanatics found out about PNG’s new NRL team on Thursday, he picked his kids up early from school. “I don’t want to be sacrilegious,” said Kewa, “but it’s our No.2 religion.”
Three of Kewa’s children play for their local Wollongong team, the Berkeley Eagles, and have big ambitions to play professionally. They’re also avid supporters of the St George Illawarra Dragons – or at least they were until today.
“As soon as I heard about it, I was like, ‘Bye-bye Dragons, hello Birds of Paradise,’” said Kewa’s eight-year-old son John-Ryan, who, along with his siblings, thinks the team should be named after PNG’s spectacular native bird. His sisters, Martina, 11, and Milena, 9, want to be “NRLW superstars” and have their sights set on representing the new team’s women’s side.
Milena and Martina Kewa want to play for the PNG side’s women’s team when they grow up.Credit: Sylivia Liber
“It’s really a big deal,” Kewa, the acting president of the Papua New Guinea Cultural Association NSW, said. “I think [rugby league] is a uniting factor for the many tribes and regions.
“The friendship between Australia and PNG is getting to the next level. I think the bar has been raised by rugby league … I think everything is going to be improved. People will be thrilled.”
There is a clear geopolitical aspect to the establishment of the new team, but that was of little importance to Kewa, who said it would give PNG expats in Australia the chance to express their national pride.
“People can say, ‘Oh, it’s another way to push out China’s influence’. I don’t feel that way at all,” he said. “I think something has already been there, and we are recognising the spiritual, social, political, economic connection.
“It’s very, very important that we understand our roots. Looking at the Kumuls [PNG’s national team] jersey gives us a lot of pride and connection. I cannot afford to take the kids home to connect to their roots all the time, but when the Kumuls are playing the game in Sydney it’s like we are in Australia, but we are home.”
Unlike his children, Kewa wouldn’t speculate on the name of the team, which will be chosen by the PNG public. But he will be joining them in the stands when the team makes its NRL debut in 2028.
“I don’t know what the name will be. I don’t know what the uniform will be,” he said. “But we will adopt that as part of our own identity. Doesn’t matter what part of the world we live in.”
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