I'll never trust the PNG and Aus Gov to do the right thing by our game.
Nor do I think it's possible for the tribal violence that's rampant in PNG's culture to not find its way into the fanbase of an NRL club that's based in Port Moresby.
I don't give a f**k if that's "racist". It is what it is and no amount of denying it will make it disappear.
What have the PNG Hunters done for RL in PNG?
When they entered the Queensland Cup it was believed they would provide a pathway for players from the PNGRFL competition to progress to the NRL. Just one player has progressed to the NRL over the last decade. After their premiership they've failed to make the finals.
Poor infrastructure, poverty and tribalism make it hard for talent from the regions to find a club go play for and near impossible to get noticed by talent scouts. Each area is held by tribes who go to war with one another for the smallest of reasons. Sometimes their disputes end in bloodshed. It's one of the reasons there aren't many roads connecting the different settlements to one another.
An NRL team based in Port Moresby isn't going to fix all of these problems. The amount of money it will cost to connect the villages and cities via road and provide them with amenities, such as running water and electricity, will be in the billions.
Malnourishment doesn't help the kids from poverty stricken regional villages develop the physical attributes required to compete with 6'0" players in the NRL. It'll take decades, multiple generations and billions of dollars in aid to correct all of these problems.
