Full steam ahead: how the new Papua New Guinea rugby league team is shaping up

A Papua New Guinea franchise in the world’s premier rugby league competition, the Australia-based National Rugby League (NRL), was confirmed in an announcement by the prime ministers of both countries in December 2024. With around two years to go until kick-off, we take a look at the state of play.

From bid to Chiefs

Many Papua New Guineans have long aspired for a team of their own to support in the NRL, and the stars began to align in 2022 when the PNG government formally launched a bid to achieve this. In 2023, the Australian government committed to working together to explore its feasibility. With the NRL motivated to access a new rugby league supporter base of more than 10 million people and an established pool of talented players, by the time the news was confirmed in late 2024, it seemed almost a formality.

In October 2025, following a public call-out for suggestions, the PNG NRL team’s name was confirmed as the Chiefs by Prime Minister James Marape, beating off other contenders including the Wantoks, Kundus and Pythons.

Upon announcing the name, the PM explained: “We are a nation of a thousand tribes. Before there was a modern state called PNG in 1975, our people lived for thousands of years under tribal structures led by chiefs – both men and women – who governed, protected, and held our communities together.

“Our forefathers and mothers were chiefs who kept order, peace, and balance among our tribes. As we play on the world stage, the PNG Chiefs will carry that same spirit – the strength of unity in diversity. Every game they play will showcase the strength, resilience, and talent of our people. This is more than sport – it is nationhood expressed through rugby league.”

Millions of PNG rugby league fans who currently support other NRL teams will have two years to adjust to the Chiefs while they wait for the team logo, colours and other elements to be revealed.

It takes a village

Chiefs players, staff and their families will live together in a ‘team village’ setting.

The NRL has confirmed that several locations are being considered, including the Airways Hotel and Residences complex overlooking Jacksons International Airport.

Airways has pledged to build 80 new apartments for the Chiefs, and to allow players and their families to access Loloata Island Resort.

In June 2025, the PNG NRL team unveiled a board comprising PNG and Australian commercial and sporting expertise including Chair Ray Dib (who previously chaired another NRL club, the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs) and one of PNG’s most famous and respected retired rugby league players, Marcus Bai. The board is working with the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) to prepare the franchise, and necessary infrastructure, to begin pre-season in November 2027.

The team will play its home matches at the Santos National Football Stadium in Port Moresby, with a new high-performance training centre to be built nearby. The stadium, which has a capacity of around 15,000 and boasts impressive corporate facilities, is around a decade old and located on the site of the spiritual home of rugby league in PNG’s capital, the former Lloyd Robson Oval.

The PNG NRL team and its infrastructure requirements will be funded by the Australian government, the PNG government and corporate sponsors. The project has been described as a “world first sports diplomacy partnership”.

Australia’s Minister for Pacific Island Affairs, Pat Conroy, said: “The Australian Government is proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with PNG in supporting this once-in-a-generation opportunity. The PNG NRL team will be a catalyst for economic growth, creating jobs and boosting tourism.”

Kumuls halfback Lachlan Lam has been one of the top performers in the English Super League in recent years and could be on the PNG Chiefs’ target list. Credit: NRL PHOTOS

Building the team

The Chiefs men’s team will take to the field in 2028, and a women’s team is expected to follow soon afterwards.

The first major signing for the Chiefs (expected in 2026) will be its head coach – a figurehead required to attract star players. ARLC Chair Peter V’landys has spoken of his desire to lure one of Australian rugby league’s most successful coaches, Wayne Bennett, to the club. Although Bennett would be 78 by the time the Chiefs run out, his involvement would continue the legacy of his brother Bob, a former PNG-based police officer and rugby league coach who guided the PNG Kumuls (national men’s team) in one of their most successful eras, including the 2000 World Cup.

There is no requirement for the Chiefs to field primarily PNG players, and the new club will be seeking to attract a mix of stars to be competitive. The 2028 squad is expected to comprise young homegrown talent, Papua New Guineans who currently play for other clubs in Australia and England, and other top-quality NRL players.

The promise of tax-free salaries is expected to be a drawcard for players and staff from other top-flight clubs.

While some current and former players in Australia have expressed doubt about relocating to PNG, others are already putting their hands up. South Sydney Rabbitohs and PNG Kumuls winger Alex Johnston, whose grandmother is from PNG, told The National newspaper “it would be pretty cool to be player number 1” for the PNG NRL franchise.

Stars of the future

The Chiefs will also be able to draw on a new junior pathways system that was established in 2024, the PNG NRL Academy. Now in its third season and led by experienced Australian coach Joe Grima, the academy is identifying and training talented young male and female players in eight regions of the country. The academy requires players to attend school in order to be considered for selection, enforcing a link between rugby league and education.

“A key reason why we are doing this (franchise), and it is a big motivating factor, is driving educational outcomes for young people in PNG to complete their education and get all of the positive attributes of a team sport like rugby league,” NRL Chief Executive Officer Andrew Abdo said following a recent visit to PNG.

Players who have graduated from the academy have already represented PNG in junior and senior international matches, and earned trial opportunities with the PNG Hunters, who play in the Queensland competition. With a further two years of development to go, the academy may produce several of the Chiefs’ first stars.

Bear with us

While expectation and scrutiny around PNG’s entry to the NRL has attracted much attention, particularly on either side of the Torres Strait, the Chiefs’ arrival will be preceded by that of another franchise in 2027: the Perth Bears. Formed by a new entity in the West Australian capital joining forces with the long-demoted but much-loved North Sydney Bears foundation club, Perth will become the 18th team in the NRL before PNG becomes the 19th.

And, in a surprise move that appears to contradict those casting doubt on PNG’s own talent pathways, one of Perth’s first signings (on a train-and-trial contract) in late 2025 was Papua New Guinean hooker Judah Rimbu.

V’landys has made clear that the NRL intends to round out the competition to 20 clubs in the near future, with a possible second franchise from New Zealand mooted as the most likely to follow the PNG Chiefs into the competition, as Australia’s NRL takes on an increasingly international feel.