Papua New Guinea team will join the NRL from 2028

Australian Community Media

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed Papua New Guinea will field a team in the NRL from 2028 onwards as part of a new deal to support sports and development in the Pacific.

Transcript

00:00I'm delighted to announce the Australian Government is supporting a PNG team to join

00:05the National Rugby League competition from 2028. Rugby League is PNG's national sport

00:14and PNG deserves a national team. The new team will belong to the people of Papua New Guinea.

00:21It will call Port Moresby home and I know it will have millions, literally, of proud fans

00:29barracking for it from day one. Not just in PNG but I suspect many Australians as well will adopt

00:39the PNG team as theirs. What this is about isn't just the elite level,

00:45this is about the grassroots level, it's about economic development, it's about our relationship

00:51between our peoples and it provides, as sport often does, an opportunity for people to succeed

01:02not just in sport but in life. And that is why this partnership that we're announcing today

01:10isn't just about Papua New Guinea, it's also about our relationship with the Pacific.

01:16The partnership will support young people in the Pacific, girls and boys, women and men,

01:22to play rugby league with a focus on PNG but also on Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. It will complement our

01:30existing health and education programs in the Pacific and create new opportunities for women

01:36and girls to get involved too. This Pacific Rugby League partnership and my Government's support

01:42for a PNG team in the NRL shows we're serious about working with our Pacific partners,

01:50dare I say it, our Pacific family members, on the aspirations that we have.

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