Don’t want this NRL team’: Leisel Jones exposes $600m PNG truth.
Aussie swimming legend Leisel Jones has dropped a bomb on the NRL after it appeared Papua New Guinea had firmed as the game’s 18th team.
Andrew McMurtry
June 4, 2024
The NRL’s 18th team in Papua New Guinea appears to be little more than a formality at this point but Aussie swimming legend Leisel Jones has questioned whether there’s an appetite for the move for our northern neighbours.
The NRL has been trumpeting a Papua New Guinea team since August 2023 after Prime Minster Anthony Albanese called for the nation to
join the league as its 18th team, pledging to put money into making the move viable for the competition.
Last week, 2GB’s Ben Fordham revealed it’s
expected to be $600m over 10 years with almost half of the $600 million to go towards pathways and programs in the Pacific region.
Albanese has long spoken about how “soft diplomacy” could help
slow China’s growing influence in the Pacific region.
Fordham said “the deal is done”, despite security and logistical concerns still to play out.
But speaking on The Rush Hour with Leisel Jones, Liam & Dobbo on Monday night, Jones said there may be an even bigger issue for the PNG bid.
“I just returned from Port Moresby yesterday, I had a three-day trip to PNG, and I’ve been hearing a lot about the NRL team that they’re setting up,” Jones said.
“From what I heard on the ground and speaking to a lot of people in PNG, I don’t think they want an NRL team there.
“I was of the opinion that it would be a great way for us to build a relationship with PNG and that it was going to be a great result. I don’t think that’s the case.
“I’ve been hearing a lot that ‘it’s lip service’, that it was a lot of the Australian government just very quickly, just off the cuff deciding that they want to have this team for safety reasons for Australia, but really didn’t think it through.
“There’s are a lot of stats in PNG that — 80 per cent unemployment rates, that’s the big issue. Children are going through to school and ending at year six, that is their education level.
“An NRL team might be an embarrassment on the country because they don’t have any feeder pathways. There is no NRL going through schools, there’s no sport education because they’re finishing at year six.
“So the Australian government is funding $600 million, putting into PNG, yes it buys us safety, sure. But the people of PNG, I don’t think they want this NRL team because I don’t think they’re going to be proud of the result.”
Co-host Ben Dobbin said he’d heard similar from friends with business in the region.
He added players were suggesting not taking their families “because they fear to relocate their families from Australia, it’s a safety concern, so then players will be leaving their families and just playing and taking the cash”.
“I don’t necessarily believe this is over the line as much as people believe.”
Playing into Papua New Guinea’s hands is that it’s the only nation in the world in which rugby league is the national sport.
Wild scenes generally grip Port Moresby each season when Prime Minister’s XIII teams play in the country.
Even this week, Broncos star Adam Reynolds, Delouise Hoeter and Ryan James visited the country, leaving children in tears.
Speaking on Fox League’s NRL Tonight, Matt Russell said: “Passion no problem — logistics and unanimous support, that could be a problem.”
Mark Carroll said the vision was “absolutely brilliant”. But he conceded the issues was “the security side of it”.
On SEN last week, Corey Parker added the recruitment would be an issue after ARL Commission Chairman Peter V’landys revealed the players would live in PNG, rather than in North Queensland, as had previously been an option.
“You’d have to live in somewhat of a compound so I thought the players would’ve been based out of Cairns and they’d spend a time in PNG, both playing and training at different stages, but that might not be the case going forward,” Parker said.
“It’s going to be extremely difficult (to recruit players).
“There’d have to be some type of compensation from a monetary value to get players to go and live in PNG.”
Current NRL clubs have also reportedly called for a $170m funding increase, including a $3.5m lump sum to back the bid, as well as an additional $2m for the five seasons after PNG come into the competition.
V’landys told News Corp: “It is certainly premature. It hasn’t gone to cabinet to start with and our board hasn’t signed off on it, so there’s no agreement.
“There were discussions held during Magic Round, but each party was due to come back, again, so there’s nothing concrete at this stage.
“I was surprised as to how this speculation started, because it certainly didn’t come from the NRL, put it that way.”
