18th club, whose next?

[Pneuma]

My 50c worth. The money outlaid by the Feds for the PNG entry will do more good for not only the people of PNG 10million, but help in the security of the PIs/Australia and last but not least the NRL to increase the next TV deal value(are you "listening" Perff Red?).
By contrast we have the same Feds spending a large sum for a 23K stadium in Hobart that will assist the AFL and that's all.
If they choose not to ATT PNG ,I'm quite happy with Perth or NZ2.
The Feds as part of their overseas program already assist PNG financially ,but by doing so in addtiion for their national sport is a huge plus.
PNG has close emotional ties with Australia, particularly boosted by the help the PNG people did for our Aussie soldiers in WW2.Anyone who knows the story of the fuzzy fuzzy angels there will understand.

I agree with all of this. If this goes ahead it has the potential to take the game into new territory as a sport and contributor to Australia’s commitment to the South Pacific. I like it.

 

[The Great Dane]

What happens when the inevitable happens and that government funding is redirected? None of the answers to that question are good.

Labour are trying to use the NRL as a tool to appease corrupt oligarchs, and that's not the NRL's job, it isn't in their interest, and it will end in tears sooner or later with the NRL being the ones left to pick up the pieces.

The NRL are idiots if they allow themselves to be used that way, but I guess PVL et al. don't really care, as they'll get all the accolades in the short term while future generations are left to pick up the pieces.

 

[westerntiger]

we need club 18 ASAP I don't care if its from Bolivia this ladder is a fair dinkum abomination with the byes all over the place

 

[Bukowski]

They'd want to be getting huge money from the govt for this. Not just to fund the club but for the game in general, huge money.

 

[Gobsmacked]

we need club 18 ASAP I don't care if its from Bolivia this ladder is a fair dinkum abomination with the byes all over the placeView attachment 75129

Especially the part you cut out that shows how bad the tigers are going

 

[Wb1234]

What happens when the inevitable happens and that government funding is redirected? None of the answers to that question are good.

Labour are trying to use the NRL as a tool to appease corrupt oligarchs, and that's not the NRL's job, it isn't in their interest, and it will end in tears sooner or later with the NRL being the ones left to pick up the pieces.

The NRL are idiots if they allow themselves to be used that way, but I guess PVL et al. don't really care, as they'll get all the accolades in the short term while future generations are left to pick up the pieces.

lucky the leaders of rugby league in Australia had a longer term vision and included basket cases like Canberra and North Queensland into our competition. Clubs which after time became financially stable

I just hope they rebuild the national stadium as 15k isn’t near big enough for their potential fanbase

they could build a stadium holding 100k and it would be sold out each week

how good would that be for our competiton

 

[Wb1234]

Only six home games in png isn’t enough

read and Webster both argue it shouldn’t be in cairns but in either Sydney or Brisbane

 

[Perth Red]

I’m still pondering how on earth they will build a team. Would you want to live in port Moresby, or cairns and have to fly long distances for your games EVERY week? Where’s the appeal in that?
Maybe they’ll have to have salary cap dispensations?

 

[Gobsmacked]

I’m still pondering how on earth they will build a team. Would you want to live in port Moresby, or cairns and have to fly long distances for your games EVERY week? Where’s the appeal in that?
Maybe they’ll have to have salary cap dispensations?

At least they don't have to live in Perth

 

[Wb1234]

At least they don't have to live in Perth

 

[Pneuma]

Only six home games in png isn’t enough

read and Webster both argue it shouldn’t be in cairns but in either Sydney or Brisbane

None of them made any sense. What a pack of drop kicks.

 

[Canard]

Port Moresby the murder capital of the world where only 13% of people have access to electricity.

What a perfect expansion location.

 

[Gobsmacked]

I'm hoping for NZ but excited if png get the go ahead.
It would be like the first steps on the moon. The implications and infrastructure to pull it off will lift png as a country from the outset !
But...
We never went back to the moon

 

[Perth Red]

At least they don't have to live in Perth

So you dont know either. You could have just said so instead of looking like a troll.

 

[MugaB]

Port Moresby the murder capital of the world where only 13% of people have access to electricity.

What a perfect expansion location.

Geez.... really defensive its like Pasifika shat on your doorstep after knocking of the jewelry, and raping the dog

 

[Ride the Lion to Zion]

PNG is a stepping stone. China will annex Oz, turn it into a gigantic Hong Kong. A new day dawns. NRL must be ready to seize the moment.

Hands up, how many on here will be sucking up to the CCP if they do to AFL what Vichy did to Rugby a Treize?

 

[Perth Red]

Lol. Rl is going to turn back the commie tide.
sounds like a roy and HG advert.

 

[Ride the Lion to Zion]

It would be like the first steps on the moon. The implications and infrastructure to pull it off will lift png as a country from the outset !
But...
We never went back to the moon

Weren't there six manned Apollo lunar landings between 1969-72?

The RFL landed in Toronto. Returned safely. No plans to go back.

 

[The Great Dane]

lucky the leaders of rugby league in Australia had a longer term vision and included basket cases like Canberra and North Queensland into our competition. Clubs which after time became financially stable

I just hope they rebuild the national stadium as 15k isn’t near big enough for their potential fanbase

they could build a stadium holding 100k and it would be sold out each week

how good would that be for our competiton

Canberra and Townsville didn't need to be 100% underwritten by the government, they both have populations that can actually afford to buy NRL products, there's broadcast value to them, they don't have to contend with any of the serious social issues that PNG has, and they didn't run the risk of causing a serious international incident if they were to struggle or fold.

A PNG side will end up struggling and almost certainly folding when the government funding is redirected, and it's only a matter of time before that happens. Given PNG's corruption issues I wouldn't be surprised if significant amounts of that government funding disappears as soon as it reaches PNG anyway...

BTW, unless you're planning on selling tickets for AU$1-2 and running matchdays at a massive loss, your 100k stadium would end up over ¾ empty on average with only the upper-class of PNG society capable of regularly attending.
Meanwhile most of the population lives in abject poverty, 50% of Papuan kids suffer stunted growth from malnutrition, most of the population doesn't have access to clean water and electricity, the average Papuan doesn't have access to most of the basic amenities you take for granted, etc, etc...

 

[The Great Dane]

None of them made any sense. What a pack of drop kicks.

They were just falling into the trap of trying to fundamentally change the concept to make it work instead of just accepting that it won't work.

All of their criticisms of a standalone PNG side are fair, but for whatever reasons they're unwilling to accept that it's a pipedream, so they're trying to warp the concept into e.g. a Brisbane side that plays games in PNG, which would be commercially viable but doesn't achieve the initial goal of a PNG side and defeats the purpose of including PNG in the first place.