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The Chiefs are poised to set the ambitious target of fielding a team with a third of its players of Papua New Guinean heritage.
The fledgling franchise has just made two of its biggest appointments, in the form of coach Willie Peters and recruitment manager Liam Ayoub. The pair, in conjunction with head of football Michael Chammas, are tasked with putting together the playing roster ahead of NRL inclusion in 2028.
While the aim will be to sign several marquee names – it’s been speculated that Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo and Cameron Munster will be recruitment targets – Chiefs powerbrokers want the side to be truly representative of PNG as well. To that end, a goal has been set for one in three players to be of Papuan heritage.
“I’m not going to be shying away from setting benchmarks and making sure it’s called the PNG Chiefs,” said Chiefs CEO Lorna McPherson.
“So therefore it has to have Papua New Guineans in the team, no question about it. For me, it’s about having that right mix as well because if you think about the fact you need to have some mature players there, but also having some really good talent from PNG as well.
“So I’m quite happy to set thresholds and [begin] working with the NRL about what the thresholds should be for the first years. Eventually as you go forward, you’re looking at the fact that the team for me would be young, talented Papua New Guineans in the team long term.
“As I said at the start, it’ll certainly be a mix of international players and Papua New Guineans as well. It’s really key that we get that right.”
The Chiefs’ stance will provide a pathway to a nation full of talented juniors who aspire to represent their country at NRL level. PNG is the only country in the world that considers rugby league its national sport, with the Junior Kumuls pushing the Australian Schoolboys in recent encounters (the sides drew in 2024, while the Australian Schoolboys won 22-14 last year).
While there won’t be a strictly enforced quota for the inaugural Chiefs team when it enters the competition, the target is for about one-third PNG representation.
“The challenge, and as I’ve said this to Chammas, is we’d be looking probably to try and get 30-35 per cent of the team being Papua New Guineans if possible,” McPherson said.
“It’s about making sure it’s the right talent with the right stages because that’s something that we’re looking at.
“So you’re looking at getting maybe [players like] young [Gold Coast Titans forward] Cooper Bai, there’s so much talent out there. It’s not as if there’s not strong Papua New Guineans there, not only in the NRL, but they’re in the Super League.
“There’s plenty of talent out there, but it’s getting that right mix because when you create the team, you have to get the right mix as well. Look at AJ [Souths winger Alex Johnston], he just succeeded the best try scorer we had. It’s something that we should be proud of.
“There’s so much young talent coming up as well. If you look at the last time the Junior Kumuls were out playing against Australia and how well they played, that just shows you the talent that’s there, that’s coming through. I think it’s something that we’ll be successful with.”
Current NRL players with PNG heritage include Test skipper Johnston, Xavier Coates, Bai, Zac Laybutt, Robert Derby and Jack de Belin. Johnston is contracted to the Rabbitohs until the end of next season, but has a clause in his contract that allows him to negotiate with the Chiefs at any time, should he choose to do so. The new franchise will go to market for players from November 1 with the advantage of being to offer tax-free salaries to its recruits. Even third-party payments offered to players will be tax-free.
The PNG Hunters have been in the Queensland Cup competition since 2013, winning the title in 2017. They have been competitive from the outset and are particularly hard to beat at home. However, save for premiership-winning Storm and Tigers centre Justin Olam, they have not produced an NRL player.
The PNGRFL Academy, overseen by experienced Australian coach Joey Grima, is tasked with identifying and coaching the next generation of talented youngsters emerging in PNG. While there is now a clear pathway towards the NRL, it remains to be seen how long it will take for it to become a genuine production line of first-graders.
McPherson is confident that the Pacific nation will soon become a consistent NRL production line.
“PNG’s already got real talent in the country, there’s no question about it,” she said.
“You’ve got Papua New Guineans already playing in the NRL. You’ve got Papua New Guineans playing in the Super League and lots of other competitions as well. There is already a strong base there to be able to actually look at and evolve.
“There still has to be a lot more work put into the pathways, we’ve been very focused on the academies. The development systems are key for us as we go forward because you have to really build that pipeline.
“Rome was never built in a day, but we’ve been putting a lot of work in over the last couple of years to really get the pathways right, but we still need to do a lot more too.”
