FORMER Hull KR coach Willie Peters has told the Sydney Morning Herald that he is determined to hit the ground running in 2028 when his PNG Chiefs side joins the NRL and he intends to make his new team a contender for the NRL title from its first season in the competition.
“You shouldn’t be aiming for anything less than chasing a trophy,” said Peters.
“On the field, when you’re in the NRL or any professional environment, it’s about winning footy games.
“I don’t want to sit here and say we’ll win the competition in the first year, but are we going to strive to do that? Absolutely. Are we going to strive to be a top-four club? Absolutely. We need to create a roster and a team of winners; that’s what elite, professional sport is about.”
The Chiefs, who launched their inaugural club shirt last week in the national capital Port Moresby, have already made several key signings in preparation for their inaugural season.
Jarome Luai, Zac Lomax, Joey Manu, Connor Watson, Brian To’o, Alex Johnston and St Helens captain Matty Lees have already signed contracts with the club, which is helped by the tax-free status that the Australian government has agreed for the earnings of Chiefs players.
And the club is expected to be active in the transfer market when several leading players become free agents next Sunday (November 1).
“November 1st is going to be a busy time, and we want to make sure we nail the best of what’s out there,” said Peters.
“More importantly, we want to see who wants to come over.
“We want to build a squad and a roster that we believe can hit the ground running and be a top-four club, because that’s what we need to aim for. When you go into a pre-season in the NRL, you shouldn’t be aiming for anything less than chasing a trophy.”
Peters was in Port Moresby last week and had dinner with the PNG Prime Minister James Marape, while also being presented to the crowd at half-time of PNG’s opening match in the World Cup against Lebanon.
The one cloud on the horizon for the Chiefs is the legal action being pursued by the New Zealand Rugby Union, which claims that the Australian Rugby League Commission has infringed its rights to the Chiefs name, because it patented the name for the Waikato Chiefs, who currently play in the Super Rugby competition, which includes Australian and New Zealand teams.
The NZRU lost their bid to have an interim injunction placed on the Chiefs name last week, which was a major setback for the NZRU, given it was public knowledge the jersey launch would be taking place last Wednesday.
A full court hearing of the NZRU’s case is still expected to take place at a later date, but the NRL club has argued it would be “next to impossible to rebrand”.
