PNG NRL Team.

[red750]

PNG 'don't want an NRL team' as Leisel Jones makes staggering claims about $600m deal.    Yahoo Sport.

 

Australian swimming legend Leisel Jones has claimed people in Papua New Guinea don't actually want an NRL team and the $600 million deal would actually be seen by locals as "an embarrassment to the country". Jones - who won nine Olympic medals across her illustrious swimming career - recently spent three days in PNG, where she gathered local insights. And she said the general consensus is the country doesn't want an NRL team.

 

"I just returned from Port Moresby yesterday, I had a three-day trip to PNG, and I've been hearing a lot about the NRL team that they're setting up," she said on Triple M’s 'The Rush Hour with Leisel Jones, Liam & Dobbo' on Tuesday. "From what I heard on the ground and speaking to a lot of people in PNG, I don't think they want an NRL team there.

 

"I was of the opinion that it would be a great way for us to build a relationship with PNG and that it was going to be a great result. I don't think that's the case... I've been hearing a lot that it's lip service, that it was a lot of the Australian government just very quickly, just off the cuff deciding that they want to have this team for safety reasons for Australia, but really didn't think it through.

 

"There's a lot of stats in PNG that, 80 per cent unemployment rates [in rural areas], that's the big issue. Children are going through to school and ending at year six, that is their education level ... an NRL team might be an embarrassment to the country. The Australian Government is funding $600 million, putting into PNG. Yes, it buys us safety, sure. But the people of PNG, I don't think they want this NRL team because I don't think they're going to be proud of the result."

 

Australian government's $600 million deal for NRL team in PNG

Her comments come as the NRL continues to work towards its bold plans to reach 20 teams in the competition in the next decade, with Papua New Guinea the first license they wish to grant. Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) chairman Peter V'landys has previously voiced his desire to have a PNG team in the NRL for the 2028 season.

 

The proposal is backed by a $600 million federal government deal, with the funds intended to help the PNG franchise get off the ground and support them financially for a decade. This initiative is also seen as a way to strengthen international relations with Australia's neighbour, while also countering China's increasing influence in the Pacific.

[old man emu]

Politics in sport. Again.

 Maybe $6M would be better spent helping the common people to have the basics of the 21st Century - education, health and transport.

[Litespeed]

It's all a bullshit money grab from the NRL 

 

In the deal,  each team gets an additional $2 million a year,  for 10 years to cover travel etc to compete in PNG. That's $400 million over ten years.

 

The code deserves no gov funding at all and that includes stadiums. They are  a rich sport which huge tax free funding status and commercially successful vultures.

 

A typical Australian style Aid program where the vast majority stays in Australia and the rest gets spent on Aussie helpers overseas.

 

[facthunter]

OME, Are you familiar with the nature of the PNG topography and the High rainfall and the many different tribes and languages and customs? Roads get washed away all the time. Nev

[old man emu]

7 hours ago, facthunter said:

OME, Are you familiar with the nature of the PNG topography and the High rainfall and the many different tribes and languages and customs? Roads get washed away all the time. Nev

Not personally, but I've seen pictures. What I was suggesting were things that are basic to improving the lives of the inhabitants. I don't deny that it's a hard geography to conquer.

[facthunter]

I don't think it lends itself to "Civilising" in the way we see it. why would THEY want the problems we create with our lifestyle? . Nev

[facthunter]

I confess I'm no great supporter of football but a team from PNG might just give them something to give them a feeling of success, pride and unity. Their natural qualities may well produce some fine football performers like other pacific Islanders..  Nev

[willedoo]

3 hours ago, facthunter said:

Their natural qualities may well produce some fine football performers like other pacific Islanders..

They're no slouch on the footy field. I went to high school with a lot of blokes from PNG and played on the same side as them as well as against them. They were solid and very,very fast on their feet. There were a couple of taller, slimmer brothers who didn't play football but they were unbeatable in the long distance track events. All the shorter, stockier blokes who played football also were outstanding at track and field events like sprinting, hurdles, shot put, long jump, relay - you name it, they could do it.

[facthunter]

The slower ones got eaten but I'm not allowed to  say that..  Nev