Sepik Pride bid denied due to lack of local leagues, finances

THE Papua New Guinea National Rugby League Competition (PNGNRLC) says the Sepik Pride bid to join the Digicel Cup was unsuccessful because it lacked financial backing and had a limited player base to support.
The PNGNRLC board in a letter addressed to the Pride management last week said there was no evidence of sponsorship or an active local league — which were requirements for bids.
“The bid is financially weak as there is no evidence or letters in support of sponsorship, the local league is not active so there is limited local player and official base,” the PNGNRLC said.
The PNGNRLC suggested that local rugby league competitions in the East Sepik be revived to boost active participation.
“It is essential the local competition be restarted to develop the game through active participation at local level to give confidence in the province’s rugby league administration.” Meanwhile, the Pride management have welcomed the decision from the PNGNRLC, however, they have pointed out differences in the assessment of their financial backing and local competitions.
“We believe the reasons (given) were not on a good ground and PNGNRLC has failed the bidders,” the Pride said.
“For the Sepik Pride, we had good backing of sponsors and we were ready to hit the ground running.
“Sepik alone has three local leagues affiliated to PNGRFL – Wewak, Maprik and Vanimo — unlike some other franchises.
“There are over 49 leagues affiliated to PNGRFL and three of them are from the Greater Sepik Region alone.
“PNGNRLC has failed by not going through their books to see which leagues are active.
“We welcome their decision but we kindly ask PNGNRLC to go back to their round table and review their requirements and make it right.”