Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V’landys has claimed players “and their wives” will be on a “permanent holiday” when the Papua New Guinea expansion side makes its scheduledNRLentrance in 2028, and promised “resort-style” accommodation attractive to the talent required to be competitive in the club’s first season.
The rugby league tsar has assured PNG prime minister James Marape the team will make the top eight in its first year in 2028, a deadline which V’landys said was “absolutely” going to be met.
“We’ve looked at some sites today for the accommodation, we’ve looked at the centre of excellence, and we’re very impressed with what’s available,” he said on Tuesday at the announcement of the new club’s board.
“We’re going to make this a resort-style area for our players and their wives, so they’re going to be on a permanent holiday when they’re over, except when they play and train.
“Otherwise, they’re going to take the natural beauty of Papua New Guinea in and enjoy it because it’s a beautiful country, and they will enjoy it in a resort style.”
The board of the new franchise is made up of former Canterbury chairman Ray Dibb, former Kumul Marcus Bai and Wapu Sonk, the managing director of Kumul Petroleum who was chairman of the bid, which received the green light in December.
Digicel executive Lorna McPherson, Mayur Resources chair Richard Pegum, chair of the QRL’s PNG Hunters and food and beverage industry veteran Stan Joyce and Ian Tarutia, president of the PNG Chamber of Commerce & Industry, fill the other positions.
“Most of them are residents of Papua New Guinea, they know the business sector here, they know the ecosystems here, we’re very confident in their ability to deliver and I think they’ll be very competitive in the very first year,” V’landys said.
The franchise is being partly funded by a $600m, 10-year commitment from the Australian government to rugby league in PNG and the Pacific. The PNG government is also making financial contributions in the form of infrastructure investment and tax concessions.
V’landys said there was a clause in the deal allowing it to be terminated “if there’s a termination of the security agreement” between the two countries.
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Pacific Island affairs minister, Pat Conroy, said Australia was “incredibly reassured” by statements from PNG about its security intentions and a new defence treaty is being negotiated that would expand on the existing bilateral security agreement. “The security future of both countries is entwined together very closely,” he said.
Marape said the countries had shared interests. “We’re not far apart, we’re close by, at the moment we’re working on a bilateral security treaty with Australia that will take precedence over any other security relationships,” he said.
The new franchise is able to sign players for a 2028 start from the end of next season, and is expected to target high-profile players such as Melbourne Storm and Queensland Origin winger Xavier Coates, who was born in Port Moresby.