PNG Discussion, when will they be ready?

[greenBV4]

It's been great seeing more "dedicated" threads pop up for each potential expansion area and one that has always been borught up is PNG

Its RL mad with thousands (millions?) of supporters, with a team already in the RL. Its the only country to have RL as the national sport and the PNG players who make it in the NRL are all guns

BUT
From what I know and have heard their issues aren't on field but off, its a 3rd world country and the biggest argument seems to be that the actually country isnt ready for it, both in terms of safety and economy.

Another issue I see is that they would struggle to attract Australian/NZ players to base themselves in PNG, and I dont think a NRL club should be limited to just the players of the area/country they are in, they are not the national team (I would also steer away from calling the team PNG and would go with Port Moresby, and would love NZ to go back to calling themselves Auckland for this reason - but I do understand that there may be tribal rivalries that would turn away supporters in PNG?)

Safety wise they managed to hold world cup games their (although a season is much harder to organise), do the hunters play games in PNG?

Also there's probably not much incentive TV wise for this team, as the local broadcaster would likely offer close to nothing and Nine/Fox get nothing except travel/transport cost for equiptment + maybe a full and load stadium as a bonus (thats if the average citizen can afford to regularly attend games?)

Would love to see some people's deeper understanding of the country and game in PNG and disicussions around new developments. My knowledge of the state of the game and potential expansion there is limited to my brief readings of things on LU so am hoping to learn something / maybe be persuaded to put them higher in my list of expansion targets.

 

[Perth Red]

There are huge hurdles and in reality they are far far too risky for a weak organisation like the NRL to even contemplate. It would be amazing for rugby league if it could happen but it never will. We can but dream though.

In theory you could base them in Darwin and play home games at the National Port Moresby stadium to get other nation players willing to play for them.
In theory you could get the big mining companies and Australian Govt to foot the bill of running the club
In theory with so many players in PNG it shouldn't be hard to build a primarily home grown first team within a few years
In theory youd want them to be called PNG to have connection to the whole country
In theory they could be doing a lot of Govt sponsored health and social programs in PNG
In theory it would lead to PNg becoming a tier one international team eventually

All in theory lol

 

[T-Boon]

I don't want to hijack another thread but I would make some rule changes that make the game better for smaller guys (bringing back fatigue for example). That would mean a lot more PNG & Aboriginal players which would be brilliant as they are entertainers.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

The PNG Hunters are based in Port Moresby and play all of their home games out of the National Football Stadium. They attract massive crowds to their Queensland Cup games in Port Moresby.

In 1996 and 1997 there was a team in the Queensland Cup called Port Moresby Vipers. They too played all of their home matches in Port Moresby.



TV wise, a team from PNG would offer more than a Perth or Adelaide team. The ratings in Adelaide and Perth are so low the FTA broadcaster would put them on a multichannel.

When the Hunters entered the Queensland Cup their fans travelled with them to watch their matches in Australia. They must have money to be able to do that. When they played Wynnum at Kougari Oval there was standing room only. Hunters fans outnumbered Wynnum fans by a massive number.

 

[greenBV4]

The PNG Hunters are based in Port Moresby and play all of their home games out of the National Football Stadium. They attract massive crowds to their Queensland Cup games in Port Moresby.

In 1996 and 1997 there was a team in the Queensland Cup called Port Moresby Vipers. They too played all of their home matches in Port Moresby.

View attachment 41881

TV wise, a team from PNG would offer more than a Perth or Adelaide team. The ratings in Adelaide and Perth are so low the FTA broadcaster would put them on a multichannel.

When the Hunters entered the Queensland Cup their fans travelled with them to watch their matches in Australia. They must have money to be able to do that. When they played Wynnum at Kougari Oval there was standing room only. Hunters fans outnumbered Wynnum fans by a massive number.

It is worth noting though that qcup games would be considerably cheaper than nrl games, and would the fans in aus of travelled from png or were they already in qld, if they travelled then yeah that is impressive and there must be more people there with a larger income than we've been lead to believe

As for TV, png like the warriors would offer next to nothing to the TV deals and most the value would come from the local broadcaster, im not sure what the PNG broadcasting industry is like but if imagine probably not that profitable?

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

It is worth noting though that qcup games would be considerably cheaper than nrl games, and would the fans in aus of travelled from png or were they already in qld, if they travelled then yeah that is impressive and there must be more people there with a larger income than we've been lead to believe

As for TV, png like the warriors would offer next to nothing to the TV deals and most the value would come from the local broadcaster, im not sure what the PNG broadcasting industry is like but if imagine probably not that profitable?

One of the Papuan women I spoke with at Kougari Oval mentioned she travelled all the way from PNG.

PNG probably won't offer much to the TV deal, but Adelaide and Perth will add zero dollars to it. Ch9 and Foxtel will not pay anything for teams in Adelaide and Perth because neither city will provide a financial return. Melbourne Storm only average 35k on Melbourne FTA and their value is limited to their popularity in Queensland. Storm rate as well in Brisbane as the Cowboys and Titans. It's highly unlikely that Adelaide or Perth will develop a strong fanbase in Queensland, like the Storm have done through their links to the Queensland Cup and and Smith, Slater, Cronk, Inglis and Folau. Without strong ratings in Queensland, the Storm would be a liability to the broadcasters.

Perth is 2 hours behind the eastern states. That makes them useless to Ch9 as none of their home games can be played on a Thursday or Friday night. 6pm Sunday, Eastern Standard Time, offers nothing to Ch9.

Adelaide is 30 minutes behind.

 

[ash the bash]

Maybe one day way into the future..

A combined Cairns/PNG bid, players and admin/HQ based in new rectangular stadium at Barlow park. 10 games in Cairns with 2 at Port Moresby. I think the Cowboys would be against this for obvious reasons. Not sure what sort of name they can come up with for a joint Carins/PNG bid since "North" would be taken by the Cowboys.

The "Coral Sea Vipers" ?

 

[Cactus]

While China is doing "debt trap diplomacy" in the Pacific the NRL should be planning in conjunction with the Fed Gov to provide "sport invite diplomacy" via tier 2 conference.

Canberra would be all ears considering the sovereign risk involved and want to assist....financial & otherwise.

 

[greenBV4]

Maybe one day way into the future..

A combined Cairns/PNG bid, players and admin/HQ based in new rectangular stadium at Barlow park. 10 games in Cairns with 2 at Port Moresby. I think the Cowboys would be against this for obvious reasons. Not sure what sort of name they can come up with for a joint Carins/PNG bid since "North" would be taken by the Cowboys.

The "Coral Sea Vipers" ?

I know the joint Cairns bid was a thing but if it were going to go that route I'd prefer Darwin over Cairns

Doesnt eat into the cowboys support and provides 2 things the AFL will likely never have, a team in Darwin and PNG

 

[The Great Dane]

PNG won't be ready to independently support a team for decades, and even if you could find a way to fund them and make the team reasonably sustainable before then it'd make no commercial sense to add them over teams in more lucrative markets in Aus and NZ.

It's sad because everybody would like to see it happen, but it's a pipe dream, and if we try to force it to happen before it's really feasible it'll almost certainly end in disaster.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

It is worth noting though that qcup games would be considerably cheaper than nrl games, and would the fans in aus of travelled from png or were they already in qld, if they travelled then yeah that is impressive and there must be more people there with a larger income than we've been lead to believe

As for TV, png like the warriors would offer next to nothing to the TV deals and most the value would come from the local broadcaster, im not sure what the PNG broadcasting industry is like but if imagine probably not that profitable?

I agree on PNG but NZ add more than their NRL grant through the NRL deal with Sky Sports NZ. It is a fair bet to say it would be nowhere near the estimated $20m per year deal without the Warriors in the comp.

 

[greenBV4]

I agree on PNG but NZ add more than their NRL grant through the NRL deal with Sky Sports NZ. It is a fair bet to say it would be nowhere near the estimated $20m per year deal without the Warriors in the comp.

yeah definately, what I meant was it adds nothing the the Nine/Fox tv deal - Sky definately brings in money from NZ, but I wouldn't think there was a tv network in PNG with money to splash

 

[Perth Red]

Whilst I get the financial realities of running a business, it is also quite sad that the only deciding factor about expansion of the game at the top level is based around what TV will pay for it. We know that top tier exposure drives interest and participation in the game. The ARLC has a mandate to not just raise revenue through the NRL competition but to also grow the game. I think they have lost sight of this.

 

[flippikat]

I voted "never", but I feel I need to qualify that. I honestly can't see PNG having the financial clout for a stand-alone NRL team. I'd live to be proved wrong someday - the place has a passionate love for the game, but right now there's so many markets that could bring more dollars to the table.

A way in could be in partnership with a Northern Territory bid (based in Darwin, some home games in PNG), but again that's probably behind Brisbane 2 & 3, Perth, Adelaide, NZ 2, maybe NZ 3 and Melbourne 2 as well.

Without reducing Sydney's NRL representation, you're getting to a competition with number of clubs in the low-mid 20s before that gets to the front of the expansion queue.

 

[Perth Red]

I voted "never", but I feel I need to qualify that. I honestly can't see PNG having the financial clout for a stand-alone NRL team. I'd live to be proved wrong someday - the place has a passionate love for the game, but right now there's so many markets that could bring more dollars to the table.

A way in could be in partnership with a Northern Territory bid (based in Darwin, some home games in PNG), but again that's probably behind Brisbane 2 & 3, Perth, Adelaide, NZ 2, maybe NZ 3 and Melbourne 2 as well.

Without reducing Sydney's NRL representation, you're getting to a competition with number of clubs in the low-mid 20s before that gets to the front of the expansion queue.

the way I see it is like afl and the gws/suns. They didnt say oh we can’t expand as those two areas can’t financially support themselves. They built their revenue to the point they can afford to chuck $50mill a year at them forever more. why have they done this? Because they have a very long term vision to be the national footy code. Nrl doesn’t have a vision thatI can see, they just flop around at the whim of the latest commission members. Like Gould said last year, the nrl has no idea what and where it wants to be in 20 years.

If nrl had a long term vision to have an international comp that was the driver for RL across Australia and the pacific then investing in perth, Adelaide, png, nz2 etc becomes the logical goal. No vision, no strategy, no goals, forever to be blighted by poor administrators sadly,

 

[The Great Dane]

the way I see it is like afl and the gws/suns. They didnt say oh we can’t expand as those two areas can’t financially support themselves. They built their revenue to the point they can afford to chuck $50mill a year at them forever more. why have they done this? Because they have a very long term vision to be the national footy code. Nrl doesn’t have a vision thatI can see, they just flop around at the whim of the latest commission members. Like Gould said last year, the nrl has no idea what and where it wants to be in 20 years.

If nrl had a long term vision to have an international comp that was the driver for RL across Australia and the pacific then investing in perth, Adelaide, png, nz2 etc becomes the logical goal. No vision, no strategy, no goals, forever to be blighted by poor administrators sadly,

Yeah but even if the NRL did have that vision realistically PNG still isn't going to be a part of it if there isn't reasonable hope that the club could become sustainable sometime in the foreseeable future.

 

[The Great Dane]

A way in could be in partnership with a Northern Territory bid (based in Darwin, some home games in PNG), but again that's probably behind Brisbane 2 & 3, Perth, Adelaide, NZ 2, maybe NZ 3 and Melbourne 2 as well.

If anything that would make the club more expensive than just basing it in PNG, but on top of that what audience is that team going to appeal to?

I mean the people in Darwin (or Cairns) don't have any particular affinity to PNG, or vice versa, nor is it likely that the potential fans in either market is particularly interested in supporting a team that, from their point of view, would only represent them in token.

All you'd end up with is a club that has over extended it's self by trying to appeal to everybody, thus appealing to nobody, and is also "based" in two markets that can't support a club instead of one, i.e. an incredibly expensive shit show.

Any idea of a club being formed with the intention of it representing two disparate markets is just a bad idea.

 

[magpie_man]

I can't see it happening.
They simply would not be able to attract any top-line playing or coaching talent so they would have to develop absolutely everything themselves.
They would constantly be contending with a yearly exodus of players and staff who would jump at any offer to move to Australia or NZ for a better future outside of a 3rd World country.
Eventually the NRL clubs would start cutting out the middleman and cherry pick the best young talent before they even come close to grade.
The result would be a club perpetually at the foot of the ladder with little hope of ascending and, no matter how passionate the PNG faithful are, I can't see that sort of caper being sustainable.
Probably a better prospect is to continue strengthening the Digicel Cup and bring it up to near NSW/Qld Cup level, giving PNG-developed players, staff, coaches and referees more opportunities to be noticed and signed by NRL clubs.

 

[Perth Red]

If anything that would make the club more expensive than just basing it in PNG, but on top of that what audience is that team going to appeal to?

I mean the people in Darwin (or Cairns) don't have any particular affinity to PNG, or vice versa, nor is it likely that the potential fans in either market is particularly interested in supporting a team that, from their point of view, would only represent them in token.

All you'd end up with is a club that has over extended it's self by trying to appeal to everybody, thus appealing to nobody, and is also "based" in two markets that can't support a club instead of one, i.e. an incredibly expensive shit show.

Any idea of a club being formed with the intention of it representing two disparate markets is just a bad idea.

the main benefit would be in attracting australian and nz players, especially in first few years If based in Oz and playing in png. I’m sue some marketing guru could come up with a name relevant to the north, TSI and png. Ten games in png and two in Darwin, three if parra continue to shift home game there. They could even connect with the far northern WA RL scene.

 

[betcats]

PNG adds nothing to the TV deal. Its never going to happen.