Papua New Guinea is set to make history by entering the NRL competition in a $600 million expansion coup for rugby league.
This masthead can reveal the federal government has reached an in-principle agreement with the ARL Commission as prime minister Anthony Albanese backs a 10-year funding plan for PNG to become the NRL’s 19th team.
As first revealed by this masthead last October, ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys was in talks with Albanese to launch a PNG team as part of the federal government’s ‘soft-diplomacy’ strategy in the Pacific.
Now the dream has been realised, with the NRL and the federal government shaking hands on the biggest expansion deal in the code’s 116-year history.
In a landmark moment for rugby league, Papua New Guinea will be added to the big league in 2028, 12 months after the Western Bears are slated to join the Telstra Premiership as the 18th team.
Well-placed sources say the ARL Commission and its chairman, V’landys, are satisfied with the federal government’s terms to sufficiently fund a Pacific NRL team for a decade until 2037. Reluctant to take the gloss off the NRL finals series, a formal announcement is expected after the grand final.
The 19th team expansion celebration is set to coincide with the Australian PM XIII’s clash with PNG in Port Moresby on a gala weekend for the Pacific nation.
In May, V’landys feared the PNG venture could collapse over a funding dispute, but Australia’s National Security Committee of Cabinet has ratified a $600m proposal — clearing the path for Papua New Guinea to join the big league.
Under the historic Pacific agreement, the existing 17 NRL clubs will be given a $60 million sweetener — about $3.5m per franchise — as part of a PNG licence fee that will be shared among the current teams.
In an exclusive interview with this masthead recently, Albanese stressed the federal government’s funding would go beyond just a PNG football team.
“This is a game changer for our relationship with Papua New Guinea,” Albanese said.
“The aim would be for any government funding to be aimed at economic development in schools. It’s not just for the NRL team and to pay Alex Johnston (Souths winger) to play for PNG.
“We’re definitely behind the NRL bid and, importantly, Prime Minister (James) Marape in PNG is very much behind an NRL team.
“To have a PNG NRL team, we would need to get the pathway and infrastructure right.
“It’s an important part of economic development and getting young people engaged in PNG.
“This is not just about sport in itself, it’s building people-to-people relations and economic development for PNG, that’s the way the government sees it.
“I was in PNG in January and you see kids and adults all wearing State of Origin jumpers and jumpers of NRL clubs.
“The support there is fanatical.”
The NRL has gone overseas before by adding the New Zealand Warriors in 1995, but PNG’s admission is rugby league’s most significant offshore project in more than 30 years.
V’landys is currently visiting the 17 NRL clubs to explain his expansion masterplan and have buy-in from the existing franchises as the code marches towards a 20-team league by the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
The addition of PNG and Perth Bears gives the NRL additional content ahead of fresh broadcasting negotiations for the code’s next TV rights deal from 2027.
The ARL Commission is already receiving some funds from the federal government, who began pumping money into the NRL’s coffers in August to prepare for the historic launch of PNG in 2028.
The clubs will also be major benefactors of rugby league’s ambitious Pacific growth project.
Of the $600m proposal, the federal government has agreed to an upfront licence fee of $60 million, the proceeds of which will be paid directly to the 17 clubs to assuage fears they could suffer financially from fresh expansion.
Once the $60m is distributed to the clubs, that will leave $540m of government funding to be allocated to setting up – and sustaining – PNG as the NRL’s 19th team.
During high-powered negotiations, the NRL has been told $29m per year will be given to the football arm of the PNG franchise for a period of 10 years - a total of $290m.
The remaining $250 million will be allocated to social welfare and education programs in PNG.
The federal government has made it clear to the NRL that the PNG investment is for a 10-year term only, by which time the 19th team would be totally self-sufficient.
There were suggestions the PNG team could have a full-time base in Cairns but V’landys made it clear in May that Port Moresby will be the headquarters of the 19th team operation.
“The team will definitely be based full-time in Papua New Guinea,” he said.
“If you want it to work, you don’t base it in Australia.
“How are the people of PNG going to engage with their team when it’s based in Cairns?
“You have to have the team full-time in PNG and we’re also not going to affect the ecosystem in North Queensland where the Cowboys have been so successful and that’s their heartland.
“The whole purpose of this exercise (expanding the league) is to provide support for the whole of PNG beyond just rugby league, there will be social and educational benefits as well for their country.”
Albanese believes a 19th NRL franchise can have educational benefits for PNG, bolstered by the use of ‘soft diplomacy’ via a government-financed sporting team to keep China at bay in the Pacific.
The $600m investment is not solely for a new NRL team, but part of a wider social, economic and educational blueprint to strengthen a nation of 10 million where rugby league is the No.1 sport.
The next step will be devising plans for a rugby league ‘mini-city’ compound to be built in Port Moresby, which will house Australian NRL stars and their families.
The NRL will also hold talks with the PNG government to discuss the possibility of tax incentives to encourage Australian-based players to relocate to Port Moresby as foundation players for the 19th team.
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