PNGRFL hails partners

GREETINGS to all our rugby league family and welcome to our 28th edition of “Fulltime Reserve” column for this year in our favourite rugby league newspaper, The National.
The Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League’s (PNGRFL) end-of-year programmes and tournaments remain suspended as we continue to closely monitor the Coronavirus pandemic and its impacts.
The PNGRFL board is scheduled to meet next week to deliberate on the situation and will make definitive decisions on the remaining programmes for this year and also on preparations for next season to provide certainty for all our members and stakeholders.
The announcements will also cover our 2022 plans for all our flagship programmes which include the Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited National Schools Rugby League (KPHLNSRL), the PNG National Rugby League Competition (Digicel Cup), SP Hunters and the Rugby League World Cup for the PNG LNG Kumuls and the Oil Search PNG Orchids.
On behalf of PNGRFL and our rugby league family, we acknowledge the respective PNGRFL programme boards and their managements for their outstanding work this year under extremely challenging circumstances to successfully deliver their initiatives.
We acknowledge chairman Benedict Yaru and the board and management of the NSRL programme for the successful delivery of the KPHLNSRL Championships this year. The successful delivery of the regional and national NSRL Championships bodes well for the future of rugby league in PNG and gives us confidence that the junior talent development pathway for has set its foundations for growth.
We also extend our gratitude to chairman Adrian Chow and the board members and management team of the PNGNRLC led by Ora Gairo who have worked very hard to successfully deliver this year’s Digicel Cup season, including the memorable finals series, in spite of the many challenges.
We also commend chairman Stan Joyce and the board and management team of the SP Hunters led by coach Matthew Church and general manager Scott Barker for their outstanding work in ensuring the SP Hunters’ participation in the 2021 Intrust Super Cup season. The tremendous work required and the many challenges overcome in basing the team out of Queensland this year has given us much experience and confidence for the future growth, sustainability and success of the programme.
We acknowledge the tremendous work done by Kumuls and Orchids chairman Ms Okaro Yogi and the high-performance team led by national coach Michael Marum to prepare the national teams for the World Cup.
On behalf of the PNGRFL board and the rugby league family, I commend the support and overall oversight provided to all our programmes by chief executive Stanley Hondina, Marum and the PNGRFL staff. In another difficult year, you have all done well.
Whilst the end 2021 season is at hand and we start planning for 2022, we ask all our rugby league family to remain cautious and follow the ‘Niupela Pasin’ guidelines in our fight against the pandemic.
Until next week, may the grace, love and care of our Good Lord be with you.

Cheers,
Sandis