Kumuls to host

Normal, Sports
Source:

The National, Friday February 21st, 2014

 PAPUA New Guinea will host a minimum of two matches at the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, with the potential for further matches throughout the Pacific.

New Zealand and Australia have been named joint hosts, with the Trans-Tasman bid beating out a proposal by South Africa.

 The chief executive officer of New Zealand Rugby League, Phil Holden, says the international game grew an extra leg during last year’s World Cup and spreading games round would continue that momentum.

 “There will be a pool based in far North Queensland,” Holden said. 

That was part of our proposal, of which a couple of games would be played in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. 

“And then there was discussion during the actual presentation whether there might be an opportunity to play a fixture in the South Pacific somewhere, either Fiji or Samoa. 

“Again, that’s all got to be worked through but the PNG one is locked in.”

With the Pacific Games in July next year sports infrastructure will be built by then including the National Football Stadium on the site of the Lloyd Robson Oval. The stadium is expected to have an initial seating capacity of 15,000 with plans to extend this figure to 25,000 depending on funding.

This is the first time World Cup matches will be hosted outside strongholds United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and France