Good news, I can see a PNG team tbh in the next 3-5 years!

Quote ="manly4ever"icon_eek.gif What other sport has 2 million people playing one sport in there country ,besides soccer that is . rleague.com/db/article.php?id=32350'" Must be a big pitch

Quote ="manly4ever"icon_eek.gif What other sport has 2 million people playing one sport in there country ,besides soccer that is . rleague.com/db/article.php?id=32350'" Must be a big pitch

Aye, they will be the expansion side in place of Widnes/Leigh

There's one now. They played in the world cup.


If you man a PNG based club – there's a full league of them.

Impressive considering the total population of PNG is estimated at around 6,300,000.

Wow surely if the sport is that popular they can have their own league similar to the NRL and super league in years to come?

I somehow doubt they all play on the same pitch. But you never know.

Now that's amazing !

"Sport"?

How is sitting on a riverbank, swigging from a hip-flask, "sport"?

Fishing isn't a sport it doesn't involve movement.

Hockey in Canada

It's one of the poorest countries in the world.

Dwarf Curling.

True. They need an investor to get them an NRL team before they start thinking about their own league.

Any league they put together would not be a major draw, they do need a franchise or a helping hand in some other way from the aussies. Not sure they're rich enough though for a team in the NRL otherwise it'd probably have happened by now.

How about Alan Stanford ?

I know, would have been Rugby Union if they did

it'd just look like a pitch invasion.

yes cause he has done a great job in cricket

Whoever said 2 million has been borrowing the RFU's calculator. Out of population of under 6 million, take out the ones that obviously don't play, women, young children, over 40s and it means that just about every male between 7 and 40 is playing the game, not true I'm afraid.

It is the most popular sport by far but there other sports here to compete like soccer, AFL, yawnion, cricket and softball for example. There would be around 20,000 - 30,000 registered players plus a lot more playing in organised but unofficial competitions and more still playing friendly ad hoc games. But 2 million? Give this man a job at Twickers!

Ignore Stanley Gene at your peril!

PNG have to get an nrl team.

its the only nation where its the national sport

It was a joke.

PNG couldn't afford to run a Q'land cup team, where will they get $15mill a season to run a NRL team?

Apart from no stadium, no money, no Australian/Kiwi players who would want to play there, no poeople who could afford $20 a ticket to see a game and no value to the NRL from corproate $ or TV....

it is agreat idea!!

What they do have is lots of talented kids playing RL and the NRL should be looking at how it can offer opportunities for those kids to have a shot at making it in a NRL team.

every NRL team gets $3.5 million from the TV contract.

fans also attend games. when they do they pay for that privelage which goes to the club.

PNG has hundreds of australian companies operating there. indeed north queensland just signed one up as a sponsor after little effort seatching

and the PNG government has committed $20 million to fund a stadium