League set for major reform

Provincial league boards to oversee restructure in administration

THE Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League has announced new guidelines for the management and administration of the domestic game and its 2021 Rugby League calendar.
The new measures are in line with the league’s strategic plan 2019-2029 which was approved by the 6th PNGRFL annual general meeting in Lae in February 2019 and the governance reforms approved by the 7th PNGRFL AGM in Port Moresby last June.
PNGRFL chairman Sandis Tsaka said the implementation of the new governance and management structure commenced with the pilot reform undertaken in New Ireland in partnership with the game’s stakeholders in the province and the new model has been named the “New Ireland” model.
He said the PNGRFL manages the sport in the country through a six-tier competition structure, namely: 1. Under-6-U12 (Mini Mode); 2. U14-U18 (National Schools); 3. Senior Affiliate Leagues (major and minor); 4. The National League (PNGNRLC – Digicel Cup); 5. The Elite HP Programme (PNG Hunters) and; 6. The National Teams (Kumuls, Orchids and other representative teams).
“The ‘New Ireland’ model ensures the effective management of the domestic game under these decentralised framework across all six tiers, especially tiers 1 to 4 which covers Mini Mode (6-12 years), National School Rugby League (14-18 years), Affiliated Leagues and Confederates and the National Rugby League Competition,” Tsaka said.
“The pilot model was launched in Kavieng, New Ireland, on Friday (Jan 22) after extensive consultation and reviews,” he said. “In essence, the ‘New Ireland’ model establishes and delegates authority for rugby league administration and management to the affiliate leagues (schools and seniors), provincial boards and confederate boards.”
He said the implementation of the ‘New Ireland’ model would see new requirements for affiliation for member associations and the establishment of the new respective provincial rugby league boards and the four regional confederation rugby league boards.
Tsaka said expressions of interest (EOI) from interested leagues wishing to affiliate with the PNGRFL opened on Monday (Jan 25) and would close on March 19.
“Upon receipt of the EOI from interested associations, the PNGRFL will send the relevant documents including the recently approved 2021 PNGRFL international and domestic calendar and give every assistance required to interested member applicants for compliance,” he said.
The EOIs can be emailed to: http://[email protected].
Tsaka said the process of properly establishing the member associations, provincial league boards, the confederate boards and their management structures had commenced.
“The PNGRFL will assist them with their IPA registrations and certifications for them to have proper legal status to perform their delegated functions and responsibilities under the PNGRFL constitution and its regulations and guidelines,” he said.
“The PNGRFL wants all these boards and management structures to be in place within the next two months prior to the commencement of all domestic and international PNGRFL sanctioned programmes and competitions in March or April,” he said.