Rugby reset on

THE Papua New Guinea Rugby Football Union is focused on reestablishing itself in the New Year with sevens and getting its house in order at the top of its priorities.
PNGRFU interim board chairman Syd Yates said ushering in a new board as well as a constitution was his primary concern but regaining the respect of all stakeholders, including sponsors as well as the Oceania Rugby, was key too.
“The first priority is to re-establish the governance structure for PNGRFU,” Yates said.
“This has commenced with rebuilding our relationships with key stakeholders such as World and Oceania Rugby, Provincial Rugby Unions in PNG and also partners that have supported PNGRFU in the past.
“The division that existed previously has set PNG rugby back many years and we have had to start from scratch,” he added.
“With the assistance of World and Oceania Rugby we are working on a new constitution for the code in PNG.
“Once a framework for the new constitution is agreed an EGM (extraordinary general meeting) will be held in the New Year to formally approve the new constitution. Following this an AGM will be held to elect a new board. We are hoping that this can be completed by the end of the first quarter next year.
“We are confident that rugby can re-establish itself as a premier sport in PNG however this will not happen overnight.”
Yates maintained that sevens would be a priority for the union.
“Sevens will continue to be a key priority for PNG Rugby — we can play more regularly at an International level and have the potential to qualify for the HSBC Word Series each year.
“Rugby sevens is now an Olympic sport and PNG has the potential to participate at the Olympics in both men and women.
“To achieve our goals we will need the support of key stakeholders and partners that will work with us and support our plans for development and administration of the game (sevens),” Yates said of the national teams’ performances at the Oceania 7s last week.
“They will not agree to support us unless we have our house in order. We need to ensure that we have a strong governance structure a good board and a good plan on how we wish to grow and develop the game in PNG. This will take some work however it can be done.”
Yates said he was disappointed the Pukpuks (men) were not able to qualify for tournaments on World Sevens Series but was confident they would get better and reach their potential with adequate support over the next 12 months.
“We expected that both our men and women’s team would qualify for World Series tournaments in 2019. We are disappointed that the men’s team failed to qualify.
“Sevens is tough to break into and you need to play at your best in every game. We have shown that we are competitive against the tier one teams at different times.
“These teams are professional and play against each other many times during the year. We need to have our teams playing at this level on a more regular basis instead of two to three times a year.
“We need to ensure that all players that have the potential to represent our Pukpuks and Palais have the opportunity to be considered for selection.
“We also need to move towards being professional with paying our elite players and participating in as many high level tournaments that we can afford.”