Australian Government expands its support for rugby league in Papua New Guinea

September 26, 2022

Events / Finance / Government / Sport /

In partnership with Queensland Rugby League, the Australian Government is expanding its support for high performance rugby league in Papua New Guinea.

The Australian Government invests $15.5 million per year in the PacificAus Sports program, which develops elite sports pathways for Pacific teams and athletes to compete in Australia and internationally, and to increase Australia’s sports engagement in the Pacific.

Australia’s new support worth $2.275 million, to be delivered through the PacificAus Sports program, will implement a high performance strategy, driven by the PNG Rugby Football League (PNGRFL) to deliver on four key objectives:

To improve preparation and support for the PNG Orchids (women’s) and Kumuls (men’s) national teams and cultivate their high performance pathways.
To enhance opportunities for female players in the high performance rugby league system.
To build and deliver capability programs to develop home grown high performance expertise.
To evolve the Digicel Cup clubs as the long term high performance drivers of Papua New Guinea’s rugby league system, for men and women.

The high performance strategy supports the broader PNGRFL corporate vision to be one of the top five nations in the rugby league world.

Federal Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Pat Conroy notes “Australia is a steadfast partner and friend to Papua New Guinea, our closest neighbour. We are bound by rich historical ties, shared values and our love for rugby league, which has been a binding force in our relationship for over a half a century.

“The Australian Government has supported rugby league in PNG since 2013 through the community driven League Bilong Laif program. This new investment extends our support to the high performance level for both men and women.”

Queensland Rugby League Chief Executive, Rohan Sawyer advises “we are proud to continue our partnership with PacificAus Sports to grow and support rugby league in Papua New Guinea.”

“The PNG Hunters have been part of the Queensland Cup since 2014 and enrich our competition with their athleticism, skill and love for the game. We hope this expanded partnership will pave the way for more PNG women’s and youth teams to play in QRL competitions.”

Image: PNG Orchids Credit: Queensland Rugby League

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