Strong rumours NRL #18 team will be PNG

[Damien]

17 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

There were a lot of empty seats for a sell out

Not when it kicked off there wasn't. It was a 14,809 crowd in a 14,800 capacity stadium, not sure what else you want.

[DoubleD]

6 minutes ago, Damien said:

Not when it kicked off there wasn't. It was a 14,809 crowd in a 14,800 capacity stadium, not sure what else you want.

I never stated what I want, nor is it relevant to this topic. 

I'm just stating a fact that there were a lot of empty seats throughout the game for a sell out. @Man of Kent would've had a field day

[Damien]

2 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

I never stated what I want, nor is it relevant to this topic. 

I'm just stating a fact that there were a lot of empty seats throughout the game for a sell out. @Man of Kent would've had a field day

You saying you are stating a fact doesn't make it true.

[DoubleD]

Just now, Damien said:

You saying you are stating a fact doesn't make it true.

Yes you're right I was imagining those empty seats

[Damien]

1 hour ago, Lowdesert said:

We are witnessing some serious power at play here.  Building RL into the PNG school curriculums as well as deflecting China’s political influence in Cairns.

Amazing times.

 

Yeah it's fascinating stuff and it will be really interesting to see how it all develops.

[Anita Bath]

6 hours ago, NRLandSL said:

20 First graders + 5 or so who are definitely good enough for first grade.

And how many of them will already be contracted to existing NRL clubs or offered new deals to stay with those clubs.

One risk is that they will be left contracting those QRL level players for much of their squad. Another is they have to overpay to get NRL level players to relocate and that just leads to serious inflation in NRL salaries.

[The Partisan]

Any NRL player who has to relocate to living in Port Moresby may reap the rewards financially but their own and any family they have with them will have to accept the loss of freedom and relative safety. 

No more popping out to Bondi for a coffee or few late beers in a club. No more WAG's outings to swanky restaurants. No hanging out with your kids at a junior footy game. 

Gated and guarded community with no genuine connection between them and the team's fan base. 

Any player intending on taking the cash should sit down for a chat with one of many Aussies who live and work over there. 

It is for dollars only. Full stop.

No quality of life and often on their own leaving family back in Oz.  

People who are in mining or corporate business or government deal with it as unknowns. 

For anyone with a profile - like a highly paid NRL player - they have a target on them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2023 by The Partisan

[londonrlfan]

3 hours ago, The Partisan said:

Any NRL player who has to relocate to living in Port Moresby may reap the rewards financially but their own and any family they have with them will have to accept the loss of freedom and relative safety. 

No more popping out to Bondi for a coffee or few late beers in a club. No more WAG's outings to swanky restaurants. No hanging out with your kids at a junior footy game. 

Gated and guarded community with no genuine connection between them and the team's fan base. 

Any player intending on taking the cash should sit down for a chat with one of many Aussies who live and work over there. 

It is for dollars only. Full stop.

No quality of life and often on their own leaving family back in Oz.  

People who are in mining or corporate business or government deal with it as unknowns. 

For anyone with a profile - like a highly paid NRL player - they have a target on them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then ideally, all the players will be from PNG and the South Pacific, which would do wonders for the international game. 

[The Rocket]

21 hours ago, Lowdesert said:

We are witnessing some serious power at play here.  Building RL into the PNG school curriculums as well as deflecting China’s political influence in Cairns.

Amazing times.

 

The Chinese Gov`t push loyalty to the state and the Chinese communist party in their nation`s school curriculum. In P.N.G., it will be loyalty to the NRL.

[Anita Bath]

1 hour ago, londonrlfan said:

Then ideally, all the players will be from PNG and the South Pacific, which would do wonders for the international game. 

Well yes players from PNG who havent already been scouted and signed by NRL clubs already. We are talking about them entering a market for players, not having free access to any PNG born ( or PNG heritage) players.

 

[londonrlfan]

59 minutes ago, Anita Bath said:

Well yes players from PNG who havent already been scouted and signed by NRL clubs already. We are talking about them entering a market for players, not having free access to any PNG born ( or PNG heritage) players.

 

But if Aussies don't want to go there, then it opens up more opportunities to give players from PNG and the likes of Fiji etc full time contracts. It's not a situation where their fanbase will depend on how well they're doing. It's the national sport and games will sell out regardless. 

[Eddie]

The latest Bye Round podcast is all about the 18th team, an interesting listen from James Graham and a high profile panel of guests. 
 

https://podtail.com/en/podcast/the-bye-round-with-james-graham/expansion-rugby-league-roundtable/

[Eddie]

On 10/11/2023 at 12:47, londonrlfan said:

But if Aussies don't want to go there, then it opens up more opportunities to give players from PNG and the likes of Fiji etc full time contracts. It's not a situation where their fanbase will depend on how well they're doing. It's the national sport and games will sell out regardless. 

Do you think they’d sell out if they lost heavily every week? 

[Midlands hobo]

I'd be more interested to see if Aussies will travel to PNG to watch. The place has a bad record for violent crime. Perceived rich tourist dropping in every other week could too easily become targets putting off future visits.

[Buderus]

The talk is the team will be based in Carins, flying into PNG for their home games.

[The Partisan]

9 hours ago, Buderus said:

The talk is the team will be based in Carins, flying into PNG for their home games.

So every game of the season will require travel. Home or away.  

I get the political drivers behind this and the enormous amounts of money being discussed but I just can't see this being a long term success. 

 

 

 

[The Partisan]

13 hours ago, Midlands hobo said:

I'd be more interested to see if Aussies will travel to PNG to watch. The place has a bad record for violent crime. Perceived rich tourist dropping in every other week could too easily become targets putting off future visits.

Great observation.  Can't say I hear too many people now saying they are off to PNG for a holiday.  It ain't Fiji or New Caledonia! 

[Copa]

On 16/11/2023 at 05:31, Midlands hobo said:

I'd be more interested to see if Aussies will travel to PNG to watch. The place has a bad record for violent crime. Perceived rich tourist dropping in every other week could too easily become targets putting off future visits.

PNG has a sizeable trekking tourism industry. Lots of Australians go there to trek PNG’s famous trails. It’s a well protected cocoon that the international travelers are kept in from arrival at the airport to the return to the airport. This is one example https://trekkokoda.com.au/safety-on-the-kokoda-track/

I imagine that if a similar set up was provided for any international visitors wanting to watch an NRL match they’d also have no problems.

[The Rocket]

1 hour ago, Copa said:

trek PNG’s famous trails.

Jesus mate, `tracks` are Australian, `trails` are for the Yanks. Kokoda Track.

Btw, I could see this type of tourism venture in New Guinea getting a significant boost if they do get an NRL team, especially around ANZAC day time of the year.

Edited November 16, 2023 by The Rocket

[Anita Bath]

Abdo now acknowledging the challenges facing a possible PNG franchise in terms of infrastructure, travel….and recruitment. He is warning 2026 may be too soon for a PNG franchise.

Could it be the Cairns hunters with 2-3 games a season played in PNG? Vlandys will not want to sniff at the Federal govt funds….but Abdo seems to be injecting some realism into the matter.

[jim_57]

1 hour ago, Anita Bath said:

Abdo now acknowledging the challenges facing a possible PNG franchise in terms of infrastructure, travel….and recruitment. He is warning 2026 may be too soon for a PNG franchise.

Could it be the Cairns hunters with 2-3 games a season played in PNG? Vlandys will not want to sniff at the Federal govt funds….but Abdo seems to be injecting some realism into the matter.

They would just go with Perth, NZ2 or Brisbane 3 if PNG doesn’t get it, a Cairns (mostly) standalone side is way down the list, they don’t have the infrastructure either for that matter.

If they wanted games in PNG they can offer $ for clubs to move games there in the meantime.

Ideal scenario for me would be the NRL say PNG will be team 19 in 2030-2032 as long as they meet x list of criteria and the government funding is used to build pathways and infrastructure in the meantime. Then open bidding for team 18 in 2027 up to anyone else. Very unlikely to happen it seems but giving PNG a spot and 5+ years to build towards it would be the ideal scenario.

18 - Perth 2027
19 - PNG 2030
20 - South Island NZ (Christchurch) 2033

Sub PNG with Brisbane 3, Wellington or Adelaide if it all falls apart.

[frank]

The NRL have no intension of moving outside the three eastern states so PN could be a good bet.

[Sports Prophet]

On 16/11/2023 at 15:59, The Partisan said:

So every game of the season will require travel. Home or away.  

I get the political drivers behind this and the enormous amounts of money being discussed but I just can't see this being a long term success. 

 

 

 

It’s got failure written all over it

[Balmainboy]

On 17/11/2023 at 01:28, Anita Bath said:

Abdo now acknowledging the challenges facing a possible PNG franchise in terms of infrastructure, travel….and recruitment. He is warning 2026 may be too soon for a PNG franchise.

Could it be the Cairns hunters with 2-3 games a season played in PNG? Vlandys will not want to sniff at the Federal govt funds….but Abdo seems to be injecting some realism into the matter.

Yep, can't see 2026 happening. Recent quote from gov minister copied below, so guessing that is the most accurate info in the public domain currently. If it's 2028 hypothetically, will be interesting to see if NRL want to bring in team 18 before then. East Tigers or Ipswich Jets would really only need 18 months lead in so you could go one team out of those two for 2026 and PNG for 2028. 

"Australia’s Pacific Minister Pat Conroy also revealed that the government’s were in conversations regarding the push. He even revealed that PNG could become an NRL team but the 2027 season. “(PNG) would love to see an announcement in 2025 with the games starting in 2027-2028,” Conroy said. “I think that’s a timeline that makes sense. We are talking to PNG about how we can best support the bid. Obviously that might involve allocating resources."

[Anita Bath]

I suppose expansion timelines will be influenced by Timelines for TV contracts. I dont know when the current contracts expire.