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Rugby league is a popular team sport in Papua New Guinea and the country's national sport. Papua New Guineans have a reputation as being some of the world's most passionate rugby league supporters.

History

Papua New Guinea first came into contact with rugby league during the gold rush in the 1930s through Australian miners. Australian soldiers stationed in the country during and after the Second World War reintroduced the sport and in 1949 and the Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League was founded. It quickly became a popular spectator sport.

During the 1960s rugby league grew to be the clear national sport of the country. Despite being the most popular spectator sport, rugby league was mainly played by Australians and New Zealanders at this time. Participation numbers did not grow to reflect spectator numbers for another decade.

The governing body for rugby league in Papua New Guinea became members of the Rugby League International Federation in 1974 and the national team's first ever Test match was a 40–12 home defeat by Great Britain a year later. They first competed in the Rugby League World Cup in the 1985–89 competition.

A record attendance was established at the Papua New Guinea Grand Final held at the Morobean capital on 8 September 2010. When the Goroka Lahanis defeated the Mendi Muruks 21–10 in front of a crowd that was believed to be 20,000+

The PNG Hunters professional rugby league football club formed in 2013 to compete in the Queensland Rugby League's Intrust Super Cup. The Hunters won the Intrust Super Cup in 2017.

In October 2015, Papua New Guinea sealed a deal to co-host the 2017 Rugby League World Cup along with Australia and New Zealand. The Kumuls were given their 'own pool' hosting both their Group C fixtures against Wales and Ireland, plus an 'inter-group' match against USA of Group D, in Port Moresby.

Governing body

The Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League are the governing body for rugby league in Papua New Guinea. They have been members of the Rugby League International Federation and Pacific Islands Rugby League Federation.

Domestic competitions

1990 saw the launch of a national competition then called the SP Inter-City Cup or SP Cup (1990–2008) and later the Bemobile Cup (2009–2010) after changes in sponsorship. The current competition is sponsored by pacific telecommunications giant Digicel and is now known as the Digicel Cup. The current competition is made up of 12 teams from various cities or provinces around the country. The competition follows the conventional Australian NRL format, with 26 round robin games followed by the top 4 teams entering the finals play-offs.

Below the Digicel Cup exist many local and provincial competitions, the most prestigious of which is the Port Moresby League. In 2007 a new league called the Nokondi Cup was created for teams in the Eastern Highlands province.

A Port Moresby team (the Port Moresby Vipers) competed in the Panasonic Cup in 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989; and in the Queensland Cup in 1996 and 1997. The 2014 season saw the PNG Hunters enter the Queensland Cup, based out of Kokopo.

NRL team bid

An official bid for a PNG team in the National Rugby League (Australia's primary rugby league competition) began in October 2008. The bid was launched by Sir Michael Somare. In 2021, Prime Minister James Marape supported the bid, stating his country wanted an NRL team by 2025. Many have also suggested the addition of one NRL team for both Papua New Guinea and the city of Cairns in Far North Queensland.

Notable players

Many Papua New Guineans have gone on to play professional rugby league either in the National Rugby League in Australia or Super League in Europe. It is the goal of the PNGRL to have 120 players participating in the NRL and Super League by 2010.

• Adrian Lam
• Bal Numapo (Canterbury Bulldogs 1st Grade)
• Neville Costigan
• John Wilshere
• Paul Aiton
• Arnold Kerwanty
• Menzie Yere
• David Mead
• Marcus Bai
• Elias Paiyo
• Stanley Gene
• Makali Aizue
• Rhyse Martin
• James Segeyaro
• Nene McDonald
• Justin Olam
• Kato Ottio
• Kurt Baptiste
• Wellinton Albert
• Rod Griffin
• Ray Thompson
• Xavier Coates

Popularity

Rugby league is the most popular sport in Papua New Guinea and is commonly referred to as the national sport. In a nation where communities are far apart and many people live at a minimal subsistence level, rugby league is the lifeblood of the country and is considered a matter of life and death.

During the 2000 Rugby League World Cup an estimated audience of 2 million watched the Kumuls lose to the Welsh Dragons in the quarter-finals in the early hours of the morning local time. Despite this loss over 50,000 fans welcomed the team at Port Moresby Airport later that week.

A sold-out crowd always comes to watch the annual match between the Kumuls and the Australian Prime Minister's XIII.

Participation

Rugby league has a huge participation rate in the junior level with every school in the country involved in a rugby league competition as rugby league is part of the school curriculum. There are 5,000 registered players between the ages of 12 and 18.

There are 10,000 registered senior players. They compete in 40 affiliated leagues around the country. Each league has a minimum of seven clubs and each club has four teams.

National teams

Men

The Papua New Guinea men's national rugby league team are nicknamed Kumuls after the bird-of-paradise, a national symbol of the country. Their first ever Test match was a 40–12 home defeat by England in 1975.

They compete in the Rugby League World Cup and first entered a team in the 1985–89 competition, though it was not until the 1995 Rugby League World Cup that they were able to win away from home.

The Papua New Guinea national rugby league team usually play against an Australian national rugby league team (The Prime Minister's XIII made up of players in teams that have not qualified for the National Rugby League Final Series) each year in Port Moresby. It is such a popular fixture that thousands of people can't get into the ground once it's full, causing people to climb onto the stadium roof or up trees outside the ground in order to see the match. The limited capacity of the stadium for this fixture often sparks riots. Spectators clashed with riot police during this fixture in 2006.

Women

The Papua New Guines women's national rugby league team are nicknamed Orchids. The name was chosen as a symbol of diversity; there are over 3,000 species of Orchid in Papua New Guinea. They competed in the Women's Rugby League World Cup for the first time at the 2017 competition. At the 2021 World Cup they won their opening match against Canada.

See also

• Sport in Papua New Guinea

References

1. http://www.insidefootballonline.com/aus_04072007.html
2. "PNG vow to upset World Cup odds". Rugby League. BBC. 15 October 2008. Retrieved 3 July 2009. But it would still be one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history if Papua New Guinea – the only country to have rugby league as its national sport – were to qualify for the last four.
3. Hadfield, Dave (8 October 1995). "Island gods high in a dream world". The Independent. independent.co.uk. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
4. Fox, Liam (3 October 2010). "Rugby League... PNG style". Correspondents Report. Australia: ABC. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
5. ^ "Papua New Guinea". Asia Pacific Rugby League Confederation. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
6. "Home of the State of Origin". The National. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
7. ^ PNG Kumuls' Archived 17 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine
8. Papua New Guinea to co-host Rugby League World Cup, dailytelegraph.com.au, 8 October 2015
9. Naime, Quintina (27 September 2015). "Port Moresby league nears finals". Loop PNG. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
10. "Nokondi cup opens new pathways". Papua New Guinea Post-Courier. 18 January 2007. ProQuest 375885013. Retrieved 12 July 2024 – via ProQuest.
11. "PNG NRL Bid". Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
12. "PM of Papua New Guinea says his country wants an NRL team by 2025". 24 February 2021.
13. "Cairns-PNG unity for NRL the answer". 4 March 2021.
14. Rugby League World Cup 2008 Teams
15. Rugby League Planet – Nations
16. The big picture: PNG's grand plan to satisfy the masses
17. "'Power Meri' - the story of the PNG Orchids". The Roar. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
18. "Orchids unveiled". The National. 16 August 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
19. "Story of the 2017 World Cup". RLWC2001. 10 October 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
20. "Papua New Guinea 34-12 Canada: Molowia magic gives Orchids first win". RLWC2021. 1 November 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.

External links

• Papua New Guinea NRL bid

v t e Rugby league in Papua New Guinea
Federation	Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League
National Teams	Men's (The Kumuls) Players Matches Coaches Women's (PNG Orchids) Players
Australian competition and Other teams	Papua New Guinea NRL team (NRL) PNG Hunters (Hostplus Cup) PNG Prime Minister's XIII
Domestic Competitions	PNGNRL
PNG NRL Teams	Central Dabaris Enga Mioks Goroka Lahanis Gulf Isou Hela Wigmen Kimbe Cutters Lae Snax Tigers Mendi Muruks Mt Hagen Eagles Port Moresby Vipers Rabaul Gurias Waghi Tumbe
Previous Clubs	Sepik Pride Lae Bombers Madang Globetrotters Simbu Warriors TNA Simbu Lions Gulf Isapea Mastamak Rangers Popondetta Butterflies
PNGNRL Seasons	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

• Rugby league in Papua New Guinea