PNG NRL Franchise Working on Foundation

After the Australian Government and National Rugby League (NRL) made the official announcement last December in Sydney for Papua New Guinea to enter the top-flight competition by 2028, the PNG NRL franchise led by CEO Andrew Hill wasted no time and shifted their focus on building a robust foundation, especially investing heavily in the junior academy system, which has been running for two years.      

CEO Hill revealed that not much had been discussed following PNG's successful bidding to field a team in the NRL competition. However, they are working silently behind the scenes to ramp up preparations for the new PNG franchise and put the house in order in anticipation of 2028. 

“December 12th last year was a wonderful occasion for not only the country but the game of rugby league to come together and share in the excitement and appreciation of both the Australian and PNG Governments, announcing that we (PNG) would enter the NRL in 2028,” Hill expressed. 

“I’ve said at every press conference to the corporate partners and to the community that we intend to be the very best. We don't intend to make up the numbers. This country, this game, and our people deserve the best. Our goal is to lead the franchise that is second to none.

“We are not at the stage of talking about football, coaches, who’s playing, and where we are going to get all these players from; we are at day one of building a franchise. Predominantly, it is about facilities, it’s about the high-performance center, it’s about the player village, it’s about setting the standard of what type of club we want this franchise to be.

“The who, the where, the why, the development processes, the community engagement, and all that. And so, before we get to talking about football, we need to set up the foundations right. There is no doubt that the successful team on the field is driven by a successful office and a franchise that embeds community and development pathways.”

Hill further stressed that they would love to reach out and adopt the best model or system from a few powerhouse NRL clubs, such as the Penrith Panthers and others, to complement PNG’s philosophy in developing a strong pathway system. 

“We can’t copy what Penrith does in western Sydney and paste it here in Port Moresby. There’s a lot that we can copy, and we are not ashamed to say we will be taking the best of everything we can,” the PNG franchise CEO emphasized.

“They are a club (Panthers) that has a similar philosophy and development, with lots of synergy. They’ve got regional academies like NSW, the western part of Sydney, and outside the district. There's a lot that's going on in Penrith.

“However, there are a couple of NRL clubs that we have relationships with, and we will continue to slowly and quietly work a way to strengthen those relationships. If we see something that we think we can adapt here in Port Moresby, then we will work hard to make that happen. We aim to become the best. 

“If another sport has a model that we think will work here, we will go and ask for help. The key thing at the moment is that we are focusing on our facilities - we have to get our high-performance center in order. 

“The Panthers have a good model; it’s also a model that we think has synergy here - we have lots of land to build our academies - we will go wherever we have to go because the people of PNG deserve the best. 

“And our mantra of becoming “Better People, Better Sport, Better Nation”, with the support of PNGRFL CEO Stanley Hondina and his board, and the support of my board under Wapu Sonk, is to go out and deliver the best we can.”

PNG NRL franchise CEO Andrew Hill and his board, in partnership with PNGRFL and a couple of experts from the NRL, are busy setting up the foundation, designing the necessary structures, and preparing the new team to enter the NRL competition in 2028.