United in the stands: PNG NRL team to transform region

One Haus.

That’s the mantra of a unifying strategy for the PNG RFL, PNG Hunters and PNG Bid Team to develop the game together from top to bottom in a country where rugby league is the national sport.

Now all of Papua New Guinea is set to be united by the announcement that the nation will have its own NRL team from 2028.

It is arguably the single biggest development in the history of the NRL and one that will have an impact across the game and throughout the Pacific, including Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and New Zealand.

For those who remember the introduction of a New Zealand team, the Warriors, 30-years ago, a Papua New Guinea team in the NRL will be beyond next level.

The significance of such an historic moment cannot be overstated.

Papua New Guinea - Australia's closest neighbour, which was granted independence just 50 years ago - is a nation of extraordinary diversity, with 840 different languages, but rugby league is the one language that the entire 12 million population understands.

As the Pacific’s No.1 sport, rugby league is now positioned to be a unifying language for the whole region.

It’s why the Australian and Papua New Guinea governments are investing so heavily in the game – not just with the establishment of an NRL team but in grassroots football and community programs throughout PNG and the broader Pacific.

For the game, this will mean more Pasifika talent from Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga coming into the NRL and NRLW as development programs increase and players are given the opportunity to become household names outside their own nations.

Anyone who has been to Papua New Guinea would know the talent already exists – you only have to drive around to see that there is barely a patch of dirt where rugby league isn’t being played from dawn to dusk.

If there were lights, games would be played 24 hours per day.

In Port Moresby, the demand is so high that some junior games have to be limited to as little as seven minutes each way to enable all teams an opportunity to play.

Efforts to identify and develop the best talent are already paying dividends with the Junior Kumuls drawing 22-22 with the Australian Schoolboys in October after a narrow 20-16 loss in 2023.

Those results have coincided with the appointments of former Parramatta Eels coaching director Joey Grima as Head of Player Pathways and ex-NRL referees boss Tony Archer as GM of Pathways and Performance.

​The PNG Hunters, who won the Queensland Cup in 2017, reached this year's preliminary final, while the Kumuls again won the Pacific Cup, and there is now a pathway for players from the domestic competition to the highest levels of the game.

There are more than a dozen Papua New Guineans in the Super League and the introduction of a PNG NRL team will ensure the likes of Judah Rimbu, Rodrick Tai and Edwin Ipape can fulfil their dreams without having to leave home. 

However, Thursday's announcement by Prime Ministers, Anthony Albanese of Australia and Papua New Guinea's James Marape, along with ARLC Chair Peter V'landys and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo, is about much more than an NRL team.

Rugby league in PNG and the Pacific isn't just a sport, it’s a social force for good and 50% of funding secured will go towards grassroots football and programs to improve lives and build stronger communities.

These initiatives aim to improve school retention, foster national cohesion, and provide opportunities for young people. 

Papua New Guinea has its own special and indigenous links to rugby league, including the first State of Origin matches being played at Torokina as Australian troops waited to return home at the end of World War II.

The Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League has been active since 1949, and the national team, the Kumuls, have been competing at international level since 1975. The women's team, the PNG Orchids, first played in 2017.