NRL expansion to spark bidding war, TAB tipping debut to forget for PNG
The NRL will be hard pressed to juggle the desire for expansion teams to be competitive with the demands from legacy teams regarding poaching, while the TAB has revealed a record prediction for PNG’s price to win a premiership.
Brent Read and
Dean Ritchie
2 min read
December 13, 2024 - 12:00PM
News Sport Network
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NRL: Peter V’landys has heaped praise on Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, following the announcement of a PNG team joining the NRL in 2028.
So there you go.
Papua New Guinea has won the race to be the NRL’s newest team, although the Western Bears may yet enter the premiership as the 18th team.
Negotiations are ongoing with the West Australian government over expansion and at some point, a breakthrough seems a fait accompli.
The NRL wants it to happen. The WA government wants it to happen. The Bears and their fans are desperate for it to happen. Surely with that many people pulling in the same direction, some middle ground can be found.
Then the real battle will begin for the NRL. They made it clear this week that there would be no exceptions to the November 1 rule for the new PNG side and no doubt the same rule will apply to the Bears when they get the green light.
It means the two fledgling clubs will have 12 months apiece to build squads capable of giving them a shot at being competitive from day one.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos December 12, 2024: Chair of the Australian Rugby League Commission Peter V'landys speaks to the media after Papua New Guinea, James Marape and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese held a joint Press conference in Sydney on bilateral security arrangements and PNG's entry into the NRL. . Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard
That’s 60 players in total that need to be signed. Most of them are likely to come from the NRL premiership and its existing 17 clubs.
They are certainly watching events closely. The clubs are already wary about the tax incentives that will be given to the PNG franchise and the impact it has on the integrity of the salary cap.
The Bears won’t get the same latitude, but they’ll still have plenty of money to throw around and an appetite to spend it. A bidding war for some of rugby league’s biggest names may be only 12 months away.
The NRL will need to handle it with kid gloves. Otherwise, they may have WWIII on their hands. Stay tuned for the madness.
PNG HAS HUGE SUPPORT EVERYWHERE BUT BETTING MARKET
The TAB has framed a mythical betting market with Papua New Guinea paying $151 to win the premiership in 2028, their first season in the NRL.
Unable to release a legitimate market three-and-a-half-years before the ‘28 season starts, TAB bookies pushed PNG to rank outsiders in fictitious odds despite claiming the franchise could become “everyone’s second team.”
“It will be so exciting for fans and punters. They will probably end up being everyone’s ‘second’ team as underdogs,” said TAB’s Rohan Welsh.
“It’s a fair case of crystal balling for TAB’s traders this far out but you would probably have to price them at $151 to win in their debut season.
NRL: Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape is adamant the new PNG club that is set to join the NRL in 2028, will be a force to be reckoned with.
“That would be the longest opening price any team has gone up in the NRL era with TAB, and depending on who they can sign, that might even be conservative odds.
“As a comparison, TAB was first to open a market on the Dolphins once they were announced as the competition’s 17th team and they were set at $26 with just about everyone off-contract linked to them and many that weren’t.
“They started their debut season at $34.”
Welsh questioned how PNG would handle the elite NRL competition.
“The roster and coaching staff are the obvious questions on how PNG handles the step-up, especially if they’re competing for talent with another new entity,” he said.
“That combined with the travel schedule. Although, opposition teams may find it difficult to win in front of a packed-out, parochial Port Moresby stadium, which is why it will be so intriguing from a punter’s perspective.
“The PNG Hunters inclusion in the Queensland Cup could be a good indicator to how they go.
“They showed how important winning in PNG will be by claiming the trophy in their fourth year of existence.”
