PNG is full of untapped RL potential
By THADDEUS TIRIMAN
THE Queensland-based NRL teams and their New South Wales counterparts do not realise that they have a huge pool of talented rugby league players in Papua New Guinea.
This was the view of the Pacific correspondent for ABC/Australia Network Sean Dorney. Dorney, a former PNG resident for ABC, said this during a public lecture at the Holiday Inn in Port Moresby on Wednesday night.
He was delivering a public lecture entitled, “Australia in the Rudd era – will Australia engage more with PNG and the Pacific”.
“It amazes me that there are not more Papua New Guineans playing for the Cowboys, the Broncos and the Titans,” Dorney said.
PNG is Australia’s closest and biggest Pacific Island neighbour yet when it comes to the number of players playing in the world’s toughest rugby league competition we are well below par compared with our Pacific Island neighbours.
A glimmer of hope for more cooperation between PNG and Australia, particularly in sports, came last week when Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd during his State visit to PNG announced an assistance of about K560,000 to help develop sports, and putting more into rugby league.
The rugby league code has a huge following in the country and is seen as a national game.
Dorney, a former rugby league player who in 1976 captainde the PNG Kumuls, said he was pleased with Rudd Government’s commitment to rugby league.
He has fond memories of those times and wished rugby league could be better off by now.
“I just wish the Australian NRL teams would realise what a huge pool of talents there is in Papua New Guinea,” he said.
One locally-bred star who became a huge success in the NRL was winger Marcus Bai, now retired in Australia after a stint in England. Bai was a founding member of the Melbourne Storm and was also part of their first premiership title in 1998.
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