On the afternoon of Friday, 21 February, 2025, Prime Minister Hon. James Marape held key discussions with Chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission Peter V’landys in Sydney, Australia.
This is part of a brief visit by Prime Minister Marape to Australia that is focused on reflecting upon PNG-Australia relations that go back to PNG Independence in 1975 and the preceding colonial era, as the nation celebrates its 50th Independence Anniversary this year. The visit is also focused on deepening this unique relationship through the National Rugby League (NRL) Deal earmarked for PNG to join the elite competition in 2028.
“In my meeting with NRL Chairman Peter V’landys on Friday, I expressed gratitude on behalf of my government and the people of Papua New Guinea to him, thanking him for his visionary leadership in embracing an NRL team from PNG, which completes a three-nation presence in the NRL comprising of teams from Australia, New Zealand and of course now PNG.
“Whilst I forever appreciate Australian Prime Minister Hon. Anthony Albanese and his Government for supporting PNG’s NRL Bid and eventually making the official announcement last December in Sydney for PNG to join the NRL as the 18th team from 2028, I would also like to give my commendation to NRL Chairman Peter V’landys for the great leadership he has shown in accepting and allowing for a PNG team to join the NRL, an elite rugby league competition, which is a significant achievement for our country,” Prime Minister Marape stated.
Prime Minister Marape added that earlier in the week on Wednesday (19 February, 2025), PNG signed documents to formalise its NRL team to participate in the professional competition from March 2028, after the official announcement was made mid-December 2024.
“This week we officiated documents with the Australian Rugby League Commission and the NRL, signaling for our PNG team to enter the NRL competition, thus overcoming the PNG NRL Bid process and actually focusing now on the deal to prepare our PNG-based team leading up to 2028.
“So, our PNG NRL Bid Team executives met with Mr V’landys on Friday for the first time since the official announcement was made on December 12 last year, marking notable progress in our journey towards 2028,” he said.
The Prime Minister said his Government and the PNG NRL Bid Team including Chairman Wapu Sonk, CEO Andrew Hill and also Sports Minister Hon. Kinoka Feo, are giving their very best to ensure everything is ready for PNG’s NRL Team to play in their first game come March 2028, and progress smoothly from then onwards.
“Following the formalities on our PNG NRL Team over recent weeks and months, we are now looking at the team structure and all the related factors as we build up in the next few years. We want to ensure that we put in a strong and competitive team in 2028, and we endeavor to have all the commercial and physical aspects of our team to be organised and have a firm foundational basis. We don’t want to just make up the numbers; we want to be a competitive team on-field and we also want to be a competitivebusiness unit outfit,” stated Prime Minister Marape.
Prime Minister Marape also emphasised that PNG is excited about entering the NRL competition, and as part of the preparatory work, focus is being placed upon ensuring that the capital city Port Moresby is safe for both local and international visitors to move in and out, thus enabling an encouraging environment for sports tourism through the NRL.
Also, as part of plans for a PNG-based team competing in the NRL, Marape highlighted that his Government is working to enable ease of access and connectivity between Port Moresby and other centres of the country like Lae, Madang, Mt Hagen, Wewak, Vanimo, Popondetta, Alotau and the New Guinea Islands Region, as supporters from across the country are expected to move to the capital city to watch live NRL matches.
“Through our entry into the NRL, we want to not only form a support base in our country PNG but also have fans in Australia. From PNG perspective, this is a strategy for uniting our nation together in a ‘one team, one nation, one country, one people, one dream’ conversation. We want our people to work together into a prosperous nation.
“Having our PNG NRL Team participate in the elite competition from 2028 will promote unity and prosperity amongst us as we have people-to-people relations within ourselves and also with visitors from the international community.
“Therefore, this meeting with Mr V’landys is very important and it sets up our work on truly establishing our foundation in preparing our NRL Team,” Prime Minister Marape said.