Papua New Guinea NRL side...

[Hull Kingston Bronco]

This is an interesting article on the geopolitics that might make a once outlandish idea genuinely feasible...

https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/why-rugby-league-can-bring-peace-to-the-pacific-20230426-p5d3ht

China's expansive Belt & Road initiative, buying influence and barely-hidden military reach through civilian infrastructure projects, needs to be countered by Australia if it is to have confidence in its sea route security. The soft power of an NRL team would be a very cheap way of countering this in PNGs case.  

[Harry Stottle]

21 minutes ago, Hull Kingston Bronco said:

This is an interesting article on the geopolitics that might make a once outlandish idea genuinely feasible...

https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/why-rugby-league-can-bring-peace-to-the-pacific-20230426-p5d3ht

China's expansive Belt & Road initiative, buying influence and barely-hidden military reach through civilian infrastructure projects, needs to be countered by Australia if it is to have confidence in its sea route security. The soft power of an NRL team would be a very cheap way of countering this in PNGs case.  

You dissapoint me Bronco, I thought you would have at least mentioned IMG if only once, as the organisation to sort this out.

[Hull Kingston Bronco]

32 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

You dissapoint me Bronco, I thought you would have at least mentioned IMG if only once, as the organisation to sort this out.

That's your complex not mine 

[goldcoaster]

A PNG team can work and would be a good addition to the NRL. But it has to PNG only - not a generic ‘Pacific’ team. Otherwise it fall into the trap of trying to be all things to all people (and end up being not much)

PNG has twice as many people as New Zealand. It doesn’t need to share a club with other Pacific nations

[EggFace]

Perth next and then NZ and then 20th spot can go to ...I'm not sure.

[Sports Prophet]

12 minutes ago, goldcoaster said:

A PNG team can work and would be a good addition to the NRL. But it has to PNG only - not a generic ‘Pacific’ team. Otherwise it fall into the trap of trying to be all things to all people (and end up being not much)

PNG has twice as many people as New Zealand. It doesn’t need to share a club with other Pacific nations

They will need to be competitive with almost exclusive locals, because you won’t be getting many (if any) non PNG players signing up.

Do you think PNG can have a competitive home grown NRL side with a squad deep enough to go a full season?

I’m not so sure. Then there’s the matter of finding them a capable head coach who will move there.

Best thing for them, the Aus government and the NRL is to create another second tier league for PNG Hunters, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji Silktails, Warriors reserves and NZII. Maybe look to a third NZ side for a 24 round season. Then you have NSWRL, QRL and PRL all feeding into NRL.

Edited April 27, 2023 by Sports Prophet

[Copa]

1 minute ago, Sports Prophet said:

They will need to be competitive with almost exclusive locals, because you won’t be getting many (if any) non PNG players signing up.

Why wouldn’t many non png players sign up? Any NRL club will have RL players desperate to join. Now some with multiple offers may choose to be based in Australia if the money was close but there’ll still be a stream of super ambitious RL players looking for an opportunity to play in any NRL team that will have them.

I suspect they’ll just be in a more extreme version of Canberra’s situation in that it’s hard to attract some players to the NRL’s only inland team and it might be harder again to attract some players to PNG.

[The Future is League]

1 hour ago, EggFace said:

Perth next and then NZ and then 20th spot can go to ...I'm not sure.

Try Queensland as the next NRL club in about 5 years time

[Hull Kingston Bronco]

3 hours ago, EggFace said:

Perth next and then NZ and then 20th spot can go to ...I'm not sure.

I agree, but $40m/season Government subsidy might be hard to ignore, and would be a drop in the ocean from a Govt. foreign policy perspective. They spend more than that a day on submarines, for the same strategic purpose. Stranger things have happened. 

[Sports Prophet]

13 hours ago, Copa said:

Why wouldn’t many non png players sign up?

I stand by what I said. I will leave you to consider why I think no players (ok next to none, certainly no stars) or top grade coaches are moving to Port Moresby to play NRL.

It’s a non starter mate. The more strategic and cheaper opportunity for all stakeholders would be to create a second tier PRL division alongside NSWRL and QRL. Then you will watch the sport flourish and take full ownership of the region over RU.

[Copa]

1 hour ago, Sports Prophet said:

I stand by what I said. I will leave you to consider why I think no players (ok next to none, certainly no stars) or top grade coaches are moving to Port Moresby to play NRL.

It’s a non starter mate. The more strategic and cheaper opportunity for all stakeholders would be to create a second tier PRL division alongside NSWRL and QRL. Then you will watch the sport flourish and take full ownership of the region over RU.

You underestimate how ambitious NRL players and those wanting to crack the NRL are…

I know quite a few people who have worked there for years and am across the issues. Look PNG may not be for you, but many people enjoy the challenge and opportunity.

[Madrileño]

16 hours ago, Copa said:

Why wouldn’t many non png players sign up? Any NRL club will have RL players desperate to join. Now some with multiple offers may choose to be based in Australia if the money was close but there’ll still be a stream of super ambitious RL players looking for an opportunity to play in any NRL team that will have them.

I think he means because it involves relocating to a badly deprived area, lacking in basic amenities, with a lot of violent crime, and a largely illiterate population,  many of whom live in squalor.

At the end of the day though, we have seen plenty of Antipodean players move to Castleford, so none of the above seems to be that much of a deterrent.  

 

[Anita Bath]

17 hours ago, Copa said:

Why wouldn’t many non png players sign up? Any NRL club will have RL players desperate to join. Now some with multiple offers may choose to be based in Australia if the money was close but there’ll still be a stream of super ambitious RL players looking for an opportunity to play in any NRL team that will have them.

I suspect they’ll just be in a more extreme version of Canberra’s situation in that it’s hard to attract some players to the NRL’s only inland team and it might be harder again to attract some players to PNG.

Would you be willing to move your family to port moresby?  Lets be serious, this is no comparison to Canberra.

[Hull Kingston Bronco]

2 hours ago, Copa said:

You underestimate how ambitious NRL players and those wanting to crack the NRL are…

I know quite a few people who have worked there for years and am across the issues. Look PNG may not be for you, but many people enjoy the challenge and opportunity.

Precisely. Plenty of “western” professionals work in PNG and other less hospitable places, and get paid a premium for doing so. We placed some there in a former business I was involved in.

You could get 30 rugby league players to do it, if the club had a subsidy and salary cap allowance enabling the extra costs. Plus I imagine any plan would be a twin-base one anyway, very likely living in Far North Queensland and going to PNG as “away” trips. 

I’ve not said this is anything other than a long shot, just that the geopolitics make it an interesting possibility at the moment 

[Copa]

1 hour ago, Anita Bath said:

Would you be willing to move your family to port moresby?  Lets be serious, this is no comparison to Canberra.

If I was single I’d go in a heartbeat to play NRL in PNG.

(in the real world I’m too old, too athletically unskilled and would never get an offer)

Edited April 28, 2023 by Copa

[Sports Prophet]

3 hours ago, Hull Kingston Bronco said:

Precisely. Plenty of “western” professionals work in PNG and other less hospitable places, and get paid a premium for doing so. We placed some there in a former business I was involved in.

You could get 30 rugby league players to do it, if the club had a subsidy and salary cap allowance enabling the extra costs. Plus I imagine any plan would be a twin-base one anyway, very likely living in Far North Queensland and going to PNG as “away” trips. 

I hear this part a lot, but when the bid is primarily backed by Aus government funding, you need to ask the question, what benefit does the Aus government get out of underwriting a club based in N Queensland? 

Next to none is the answer.

[Damien]

8 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

I stand by what I said. I will leave you to consider why I think no players (ok next to none, certainly no stars) or top grade coaches are moving to Port Moresby to play NRL.

It’s a non starter mate. The more strategic and cheaper opportunity for all stakeholders would be to create a second tier PRL division alongside NSWRL and QRL. Then you will watch the sport flourish and take full ownership of the region over RU.

Surely you'd get some if they can get paid more there than elsewhere and I'm sure you'd get the pick of players who would otherwise come to SL. A 3 hour flight time to Brisbane would be appealing to some I'm sure. Yeah I'm sure they wont get the Tedesco's of this world but neither will half the NRL clubs at the moment anyway. Supplement that with PNG players, whose development has to be the goal anyway, and it is more than possible to build a competitive team.

I think getting the players is the least of the issues around this.

[Sports Prophet]

1 minute ago, Damien said:

Surely you'd get some if they can get paid more there than elsewhere and I'm sure you'd get the pick of players who would otherwise come to SL. A 3 hour flight time to Brisbane would be appealing to some I'm sure. Yeah I'm sure they wont get the Tedesco's of this world but neither will half the NRL clubs at the moment anyway. Supplement that with PNG players, whose development has to be the goal anyway, and it is more than possible to build a competitive team.

I think getting the players is the least of the issues around this.

I disagree, getting the players and up to standard coaching staff is the insurmountable hurdle to this.

Taken a trip to Port Moresby before?

[Damien]

1 minute ago, Sports Prophet said:

I disagree, getting the players and up to standard coaching staff is the insurmountable hurdle to this.

Taken a trip to Port Moresby before?

No but I know people that have.

NRL players are hardly going to be slumming it. If this did get that far there would be huge Government funding and assurances in place regarding security. It would be a case of displaying PNG on the world stage and national prestige and the Government would pull out all the stops. It wouldn't happen without all this in place.

Getting players or coaches isn't an issue. If this did get that far then that would mean everything was in place.

[Sports Prophet]

35 minutes ago, Damien said:

No but I know people that have.

NRL players are hardly going to be slumming it. If this did get that far there would be huge Government funding and assurances in place regarding security. It would be a case of displaying PNG on the world stage and national prestige and the Government would pull out all the stops. It wouldn't happen without all this in place.

Getting players or coaches isn't an issue. If this did get that far then that would mean everything was in place.

Well time will tell if I am wrong, but I think coverage of this idea is nothing more than fanciful for another 30 years.

[Damien]

11 minutes ago, Sports Prophet said:

Well time will tell if I am wrong, but I think coverage of this idea is nothing more than fanciful for another 30 years.

I'm not disagreeing that it isn't a fanciful idea, I can't see it happening myself. I specifically disagree with the player element being an issue when there are much bigger obstacles that need to be overcome first, which make any issues around players trivial.

[Hull Kingston Bronco]

4 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

I hear this part a lot, but when the bid is primarily backed by Aus government funding, you need to ask the question, what benefit does the Aus government get out of underwriting a club based in N Queensland? 

Next to none is the answer.

I think the Aussie government gain from supporting a team that presents itself as a PNG one and culturally links PNG better to Australia is blindingly obvious, wherever they do most of their training. As long as most home games are in PNG. The article I shared covered that in decent detail.

Like I said, it's a long shot, but I think it's an interesting perspective.