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NRL boss Peter V'landys and PNG prime minister respond amid major issues with $600 million deal

The Australian government has officially struck a deal with Papua New Guinea to bring in a new NRL team.

sam goodwin
Sports Editor
·5-min read

Peter V'landys has moved to ensure the NRL's new PNG franchise will have ample time to sign players before their $600 million entry into the competition. And PNG Prime Minister James Marape has shot down concerns about player safety in Port Moresby. However there's growing backlash about whether the $600 million of taxpayer money could be spent elsewhere.

Australian PM Anthony Albanese and PNG counterpart Marape met in Sydney on Thursday to shake hands over the deal to welcome a PNG team into the NRL in 2028. An in-principle agreement with the NRL was reached back in May, and the three parties have now ironed out specifics at the tail-end of two years of negotiations.

The final legal documents to ratify the team's creation are expected to be signed in the coming weeks, and a name for the team is yet to be finalised. "Rugby league is PNG's national sport and PNG deserves a national team. The new team will belong to the people of PNG and will call PNG home," Albanese said on Thursday. "I know it will have millions of proud fans barracking for it from day one. Not just in PNG, but I suspect many Australians will adopt the PNG team as theirs."

James Marape and Peter V'landys alongside PNG players.
James Marape (L) and Peter V'landys (R) have responded to concerns about the PNG NRL team. Image: AAP/Getty

Questions have emerged about how safe the players and their families will be in Port Moresby, and whether world-leading crime rates will deter big-name players from joining the newest franchise. The PNG government will be tasked with building a secure compound to house the players and their families, and Marape is confident there won't be any issues.

Marape said the creation of an NRL team would mark a "total lifestyle transformation" for his country, and predicted the players would be treated like gods. "For the NRL team to be based out of Port Moresby, it gives me enough reason now to ensure Port Moresby is safer, Port Moresby is cleaner, Port Moresby is better," he said.

"Come 2028 I can bet my life on this ... it is on my own international interest to make sure PNG is safer. I have daughters and children who will live in PNG forever. The catalyst to make it urgent for me right now is the three-year window I have until 2028. We want to make it safe for our players, we want to recruit the best players and we want to nurture the younger ones to play."

James Marape, Anthony Albanese and Peter V'landys, pictured here at a press conference in Sydney.
James Marape, Anthony Albanese and Peter V'landys at a press conference in Sydney. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)
Anthony Albanese and Peter V'landys.
Anthony Albanese and Peter V'landys address the media. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

Players who opt to join the PNG team will be given tax exemptions and won't lose a chunk of their pay to the government. Furthermore, the Federal Government has the ability to withdraw support at any point if PNG signs a security deal with China. The Australian taxpayer will kick in $600 million over the 10-year life cycle of the agreement, which expires at the end of 2034.

Meanwhile, V'landys has dismissed concerns about whether the PNG team will have enough time to sign players. Under the current NRL system, players can only negotiate with rival teams from November 1 before the final year of their deal. That means the PNG franchise can only start signing players from November of 2026.

Players' union boss Clint Newton has said he's open to working with the NRL and clubs to create exemptions for expansion clubs, to help them build competitive rosters. But V'landys is adamant the November 1 rule would work for PNG, and not prevent them from forming a competitive team.

"Absolutely (it will be enough time)," V'landys said. "I'm confident of the timeline. I think it's probably more than what we need. For it to be a success, we have to put the pathways in. That's the first port of call and that's why we need the lead time, is to go in and make that PNG Schoolboys team even more successful."

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Public opinion on the PNG team has been heavily divided. The tax exemptions have led to fears the salary cap won't be on a fair playing field for all teams, while many have labelled it a blatant geopolitical play to prevent China muscling in on the Pacific.

“We should call this team the PNG Dollar Signs, because that’s what they are,” veteran NRL journo Danny Weidler said this week. “It’s all about the money. Call them the Albos. It’s a political team and that’s why I don’t like it - it’s as simple as that.”

with AAP