PNG’s Rugby League future shines bright in Goroka

The future of Papua New Guinea rugby league is in safe hands. That was made abundantly clear last weekend when teams from development centres across the country went head to head in the PNG NRL Bid National School Championships in Goroka.

The event was attended by the PNG Prime Minister, James Marape, the Australian High Commissioner, John Feakes, and hundreds of footy fans – all eager to get a grassroots, first-ever glimpse of the outstanding junior players set to be the rugby league heroes of tomorrow.

“You won’t find more passionate rugby league fans than you will in Australia and Papua New Guinea,” the High Commissioner told The National.  

Across two days and 22 matches of quality competition, the young players put on a show, hoping to be selected as part of the national U19 men’s or U18 women’s national teams – perhaps even to catch the eye of scouts representing the Australian NRL and NRLW clubs.

Andrew Hill, who heads up the PNG NRL Bid team, was excited about showcasing the next generation of NRL talent at the Championships.

“We have the depth and skill level required to compete against the best young talent from the NRL,” he said.

The weekend tournament, and the extensive national training program behind it, are all part of the Bid team’s efforts to prepare the PNG rugby league community for what they hope will be the launch of a local NRL team in the future.

“We are creating a solid structure for the game in this country and one that will put us in the best possible situation to succeed.”

A national search for talent

The Championships were the culmination of a 16-week program, supported by the Australian Government and run by the PNG NRL Bid Academy in development centres in Lae, Mount Hagen, Goroka, Rabaul, Port Moresby, the National Capital District and the Port Moresby Central District. The success of last year’s pilot program saw this year’s intake boom, with over 700 young people playing in U15, U17, and U19 teams for the boys, and an U18 team for the girls.  

The program was staffed by a star-studded team including Player Development Manager Joe Grima, who has coaching experience with the Parramatta Eels, Cronulla Sharks and St George-Illawarra Dragons, and the legendary former PNG Orchids captain Cathy Neap, now working as an Assistant Coach. The goal is to give school-age players across the country an opportunity to develop their football skills, their confidence, and their competitive edge.

"We are going through the basic fundamental skills of rugby league… catching, passing and how to grip a rugby league ball… how to run the lines, tackling techniques and play the ball," Neap told the ABC, adding that simply getting to training can be a challenge for many of the young players.

“The kids are really showing their determination,” she added. “Some kids, they travel quite a distance to come to the training venues, they're helping their parents after school doing their chores so they can get extra money for their bus fares to come all the way to training and go back. They're working really hard on it to make it happen."

Junior stars set for an exciting future

After two days of competition at Goroka’s National Sports Institute stadium, Lae emerged as winners of the U19 men’s tournament, and Port Moresby of the U18 women’s. After the winners’ trophies were presented, players gathered for the announcement of the national schoolgirls and schoolboys teams – to cheers from the crowd.

All this is just the beginning of what could be a very exciting future for PNG’s young players – at least that’s the hope of Neap, herself a national hero of the women’s game after leading her fledgling team to the Rugby League World Cup in 2017.

"I am hoping to see more girls coming on board, and also for more of our girls to be scouted into the NRL teams in Australia as well," she said. "This is a good starting point for the girls to work and grow and get up there, to where I want to see them in five years' time."