They will be playing out of New Britain - probably for security reasons I suppose. The other big change is that the League Commission is putting 10 million dollars into the NSW and Qld cups which I think I read means 100k per team each year, and also the winner of the Qld cup will play the winner of the NSW cup on grandfinal day in Sydney as an undercard game for the grandfinal, so potentially PNG could play in front of 80k in Sydney. www.qrl.com.au/default.aspx?s=ar ... -expansion

They will be playing out of New Britain - probably for security reasons I suppose. The other big change is that the League Commission is putting 10 million dollars into the NSW and Qld cups which I think I read means 100k per team each year, and also the winner of the Qld cup will play the winner of the NSW cup on grandfinal day in Sydney as an undercard game for the grandfinal, so potentially PNG could play in front of 80k in Sydney. www.qrl.com.au/default.aspx?s=ar ... -expansion

This can only help the PNG national side.

It's been on the cards since early this year. I think it's a great step forward for PNG league

The Kokopo/Rabaul area seems a good place to base a team. Because of the spectacular harbour at Rabaul it is a regular stop for south pacific cruise ships, so it is one of the few places in PNG that is an established tourist destination. It also has a good, modern airport and a lot of accommodation, and being the old German capital from before WWI it has a very cosmopolitan population.
It only has a population of 20k or so, but tourism is just about the only local industry, so there will be plenty of scope for travelling fans to follow their teams over.

Great news.

Are all Queensland Cup clubs affiliated to NRL clubs? This will give the PNG players the platform to break into full time professional rugby league. Would it be practical to affiliate them to one side or will the PNG side be a showcase for all NRL clubs to monitor.

After the woeful display by the Kumuls in this years world cup this can only benefit them.

No. The Broncos, Cowboys and I think the Titans are all affiliated with Qld cup sides, and Melbourne send half their players to a Qld cup side and half to Cronulla in the NSW cup, but over half the sides in the Qld cup are stand alone sides. They are mostly the sides from the old Brisbane comp, but the cu is now statewide. A lot of the clubs go back to 1910 or so and developed players like Meninga, Beetson, Lewis and the Walters brothers before the Broncos joined the NRL.

I believe that - as part of the deal that is going to give $10 million to the second tier comps next year - that all NSW and QLD cup teams will be associated with an NRL team. This would be either as a primary or secondary feed club.
Now, that was the plan as I understood it, but how the details shake out is yet to be seen.

Sorry, it seems that that isn't going to necessarily be the case now.

I hope the impact on reserve players to the PNG side is minimal. We need that team almost exclusively PNG players on the field of play.

Do you live in PNG roopy?

I once had a girlfriend who was born there, if that counts.
No - I've never been myself, but I know several people who have worked there, and about a dozen who were born there.
I was talking on the net yesterday with an old schoolfriend of mine who spent several years teaching in New Britain and he said the biggest worry he has is that players will have to be very careful with their water. He said he was in the back country and ran out of water and drank some of the local stuff and it nearly killed him. All the players who go there will also have to start now to get there immunisation profile checked and up to date.

You seem to know your stuff that's why I was asking, saw you talk about PNG (and maybe Fiji??) before the World Cup and noted what you said then.

Why would they have chosen Kokopo though? And not somewhere on the mainland? Safety?

As I read the OP this afternoon, I've asked a question you've already answered!

I think that not having them on mainland still means that millions don't have access. Like you say 20k or so live on the island but 7 million still won't have access

New Britain is a pretty big island. It is probably bigger than Fiji, Samoa and Tonga combined in land area and the whole island has a population of 500k. Kokopo is the biggest town on the Island. It is basically a new town 15klm from Rabaul, which was the biggest town till a volcanic eruption destroyed the place in the 1990s. Rabaul is a tourist destination because the harbour there is basically a huge crator surrounded by active volcanoes.
Anyway, Port Moresby is basically a magnet for all the criminal types in PNG. It is a big town and is where all the money is and really isn't a safe place. If they are going to play in the NRL in the future they will need to play in Moresby and find solutions to security problems, but for now they can just hold games in a place that is safe and has all the facilities because of the tourist industry.

kumuls.pngfacts.com/17/post/2013 ... d-cup.html 7 Kumuls drop out of Qld cup side, but they still have 45 in training including 12 members of the World Cup squad.

kumuls.pngfacts.com/17/post/2013 ... d-cup.html 7 Kumuls drop out of Qld cup side, but they still have 45 in training including 12 members of the World Cup squad.

www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=255229 Fiji are now looking into joining the Qld cup. I don't think their domestic side would be good enough and they'd have to sign up half a dozen or so of the lower grade Fijians now living in Australia, but long term it would be brilliant for them if they could find the money and attract good enough players to base themselves in Fiji.

www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=255229 Fiji are now looking into joining the Qld cup. I don't think their domestic side would be good enough and they'd have to sign up half a dozen or so of the lower grade Fijians now living in Australia, but long term it would be brilliant for them if they could find the money and attract good enough players to base themselves in Fiji.

Bloody expansion ideas!

We've been an M62 sport since 1895 so why bother changing now?

Now't wrong with hobnail boots either.