Need Papua into the comp

[_snafu_]

PNG in the NRL? Don't be ridiculous.

 

[otori]

I grew up in PNG and I can safely say that the idea of an NRL team over there should not happen for most of the above reasons.

That being said, there's a surprising amount of ignorance in this thread. The reason the government is so keen on the idea is that it would represent the people coming together as a country. I doubt many Australians could grasp this concept with how spoilt we are in terms of quality sporting competitions. I have seen arguments rage over which state is better in Origin from people who have never seen Australia. Not saying you shouldn't have an opinion but every man and his dog can go on Wikipedia and dig up some country stats that reveal dick all.

 

[Snuffles]

They will one day have a team in the NRL, or whatever form the comp. takes then.

It will not be for a long time however, they are not ready.
It is a shame, cause the govt. is happy to tip money in, but there are too many other concerns at the moment and other areas to come in first.

 

[Iafeta]

I grew up in PNG and I can safely say that the idea of an NRL team over there should not happen for most of the above reasons.

That being said, there's a surprising amount of ignorance in this thread. The reason the government is so keen on the idea is that it would represent the people coming together as a country. I doubt many Australians could grasp this concept with how spoilt we are in terms of quality sporting competitions. I have seen arguments rage over which state is better in Origin from people who have never seen Australia. Not saying you shouldn't have an opinion but every man and his dog can go on Wikipedia and dig up some country stats that reveal dick all.

I have seen the same in New Zealand.

The stats are telling on the evidence that an NRL franchise would not be an economically sound strategic move. We have seen enough go under here in Australia on far more feasible grounds.

What should happen is more academies and better pathways for good PNG talent to get into the NRL. I would imagine having 10-12 players going around on a weekly basis would be good for the game in Papua New Guinea.

 

[Willow]

I swear every 2nd month some moron brings this up, PNG aint gonna f#$king happen.

It's always worthy of a discussion beave.

Just ignore the next thread you see.

IMO, it's not possible now, but who knows what can develop in future decades.

Saying it will never happen is narrow minded.

 

[clarency]

Perth red took the words right out of my mouth. Darwin, while predominantly AFL, can potentially be snatched away to league just as Canberra was. Interest in NT can be boosted simply by the newly introduced all stars match involving the NRL aboriginals.

A team in Darwin can scout/have feeder clubs/trial players in PNG to give them an easier way into the NRL, and in the future can potentially gain sponsorship through the PNG government to play some of their games over there.

It's a shame NRL don't have the balls to make moves like this.

 

[ali]

I don't get the logic of people writing off PNG just because it's a third world country. I'd suggest the majority of you have never even been to a third world country.

Professional sport works in the third world, just look at football throughout the world. There is 6.5 million people in PNG, that is a massive a market, despite the fact they are mostly very poor.

If you look at the actual size of the economy, it's not much smaller that say the Sutherland Shire, and probably a bigger economy than Townsville or Darwin.

If Townsville can have an NRL team, then I've got no doubt that financially PNG can support one. Sure there will be issues in terms of players wanting to live there, but the colour and new international dimension they would bring to the comp would certainly outweigh any negatives.

 

[Alex28]

I have been to a third world country, and I would suggest that no club would be viable in PNG. Ever. You would have to have tickets at a fraction of what tickets go for in Australia and New Zealand. You physically could not generate enough income to make the team viable.

Stop wasting your time people.

 

[RugbyHighlights]

I have papuan friends, they are great.

pity its a third world country

Plenty of third world countries have great teams in other sports. Look at some of the soccer teams in the poorer African and South American nations for example.

To say a PNG team would fail because it's a third world country is pretty much no more than an opinion.

 

[Willow]

Good debate.

If a Third World Country can compete at the Olympics, then why not in the NRL?

The underlying issue is infrastructure in Port Moresby. The NRL are not going to build a home stadium, that's not their business.

The ball is the court of the PNG government.

 

[Fui!!!]

Why not have the NRL in just Australia.

Then set up the PRL and have Auckland, Wellington, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Cook Islands, PNG etc.

Then at the end of the year have the World Club Championship between the premiers of the NRL, ESL, PRL and the American comp.

I know, a pipe dream. But wouldn't it be awesome

 

[The Electric Horseman]

Lets see what crowd they can pull during the 4N

 

[parano1a]

Cities that should get an NRL team before PNG:
- Perth
- Adelaide
- Darwin
- Gosford
- Wagga
- Albury
- Ipswich
- Toowoomba
- Sunshine Coast
- Rockhampton
- Geelong
- Cranbourne
- Hobart
- Launceston
- Wellington
- Christchurch
- Dunedin
- Tokyo
- Osaka
- Singapore
- Hong Kong

 

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

Cities that should get an NRL team before PNG:
- Perth
- Adelaide
- Darwin
- Gosford
- Wagga
- Albury
- Ipswich
- Toowoomba
- Sunshine Coast
- Rockhampton
- Geelong
- Cranbourne
- Hobart
- Launceston
- Wellington
- Christchurch
- Dunedin
- Tokyo
- Osaka
- Singapore
- Hong Kong

You forgot Atlantis

 

[nqcowboy87]

I don't get the logic of people writing off PNG just because it's a third world country. I'd suggest the majority of you have never even been to a third world country.

Professional sport works in the third world, just look at football throughout the world. There is 6.5 million people in PNG, that is a massive a market, despite the fact they are mostly very poor.

If you look at the actual size of the economy, it's not much smaller that say the Sutherland Shire, and probably a bigger economy than Townsville or Darwin.

If Townsville can have an NRL team, then I've got no doubt that financially PNG can support one. Sure there will be issues in terms of players wanting to live there, but the colour and new international dimension they would bring to the comp would certainly outweigh any negatives.

heres something ill buy you a ticket to moresby and you can go for a walk around and look first hand at the country and then you can make an assessment about setting up a professional elite team

 

[Cockadoodledoo]

Plenty of third world countries have great teams in other sports. Look at some of the soccer teams in the poorer African and South American nations for example.

To say a PNG team would fail because it's a third world country is pretty much no more than an opinion.

Those third world soccer teams play in domestic competitions within their own countries.. We do not have teams from these third world teams playing in the EPL, Serie A, La Liga etc.. Hence the comparison you are using is apples and oranges.

 

[Cockadoodledoo]

Good debate.

If a Third World Country can compete at the Olympics, then why not in the NRL?

The underlying issue is infrastructure in Port Moresby. The NRL are not going to build a home stadium, that's not their business.

The ball is the court of the PNG government.

Do third world countries host the Olympics? Again this is a poor comparison.. It is ok to send competitors from a third world country to compete in the Olympics. Let's also consider that happens every 4 years, not week in week out in a season. It is much harder to convince professional sports people from Australia in some instances to live and play for a team in a third world country and to convince players to go there every other week to compete in a third world country.

 

[Nightward]

Given how passionate PNG is about its League, I would love to see them have an NRL (though by then it might need to be called the ORL, and I can just see the ORLy t-shirts now >.< [Oceanic Rugby League, or possibly something else?]).

This, however, is an emotional response. How viable it would be is beyond my realm of expertise.

What I can say is that I would really like to see a team in Darwin. I am given to understand that the NT's stadia are of quite good quality, so that should not be an issue. As it stands no code has a major presence there, and it could well be that the first code willing to take them seriously and step up would become unshakeable. We Aussies are a parochial lot, after all. And whilst the North Queensland Cowboys faced some oppositions on the "it's too hard to travel that far, plus it's hot" grounds, it has been shown over time that it is really not an issue.

 

[Quidgybo]

There is 6.5 million people in PNG, that is a massive a market, despite the fact they are mostly very poor.

And that's the problem right there. A market could have a 100m people but if virtually none of them can afford to buy anything more than the next meal and the roof over their head (and plenty can't afford even that) then the market isn't worth anything. In a professional league that costs upwards of $15m per year to get a team on the field, the money to pay for that ultimately comes from the people who follow the competition. What makes a team worth sponsoring or television rights worth buying is that the people who follow that team or follow that competition have enough money to buy the products that sponsors and advertisers are selling. If the people can't afford those products then the sponsorship and television rights aren't worth anything and no money flows through to pay for the team. More directly, if the people can't afford tickets to watch games live or afford merchandise, then again no money flows through to pay for the team.

It's one thing to run a soccer comp in the third world where every team is dealing with the same market disadvantages. The economy of the competition scales appropriately. But a single team from a third world country in a competition entirely built on the economics of two first world countries just doesn't make sense. The only way it can possible work is as a charity exercise where the entire operation is subsidised substantially or entirely from outside the country and/or via government. But to suggest that the game and the PNG government could ever justify subsidising an NRL operation in Port Moresby to the tune of $15m per season (and growing) and start up costs upwards of $100m is just ridiculous. Where the PNG government is concerned I'd suggest it'd be almost immoral given how desperately the people of PNG need improvements in basic services.

Largesse in the order of $15m per season and a $100m stadium with a virtually free gate is simply not something the game can afford to subsidise for a team that brings little financial return to a competition already being run on borderline economics. On the other hand, subsidising a PNG based team in a second tier comp would be a significantly smaller undertaking and is perhaps something the game could to do on its own or with moderate government support - especially after the next television deal. Instead of $15m the amount would be closer to $1m per year and stadium costs could range from nothing to something like what is being done in Mackay ($4m). $10m out of a 6 year $1b+ television contract is at least in the realms of feasible. And if it provides a pathway for a significant source of players into the NRL and ultimately a flow on benefit to the competitiveness of PNG in international football then it just might be worth the $1m per year for the game to subsidise.

Would it be worth much more than that for a much bigger operation in a third world market? No way.

Leigh.

 

[Alex28]

Good debate.

If a Third World Country can compete at the Olympics, then why not in the NRL?

The underlying issue is infrastructure in Port Moresby. The NRL are not going to build a home stadium, that's not their business.

The ball is the court of the PNG government.

The ball has never been taken out of it's plastic wrapper and inflated. It will never happen, the NRL will never consider it.

New Zealand were admitted because they have a strong international team. PNG aren't even close to being a competitive international team.

How about the NRL sponsors some of their players to come and play (or at least get some experience) in Australia. If they develop some players that go on to the NRL then great. But to dump a team in the NRL and expect them to be competitive with the likelihood of not having enough cash or income, nor the experience to do so is going to do more harm than good.