Wigmen staying strong

THE Hela Wigmen is the brainchild of the former Hela governor late Anderson Agiru to use rugby league as a unifying force for the new Hela province, chairman Andy Hetra says.
In a media statement yesterday, Hetra said since the franchise was established to take part in the Digicel Cup competition, its board had been working to find a home for the team in Hela.
“It has been high on the agenda for Wigmen board to take the team back to Hela since its inception into the Digicel Cup in 2013,” Hetra said.
“The Wigmen franchises is so grateful to the people of Southern Highlands, especially Mendi Rugby League for allowing and hosting Wigmen in Mendi from 2013 to 2016.
“Wigmen won their inaugural premiership in 2014. This vision has been made possible through our major sponsors, Kumul Petroleum Holdings (2017-2018), Kemele Construction (2013-2016), Hela provincial government and supporting sponsors like the Hides Gas Development Company, Paradise Tailoring and Ipwenz Constructions,” Hetra said.
The Wigmen franchises moved to Port Moresby last season when the franchise presented its case to PNG National Rugby League Competition board for the safety of the franchise and visiting teams during the election period.
The Wigmen will play out of Port Moresby this year under a special condition by PNGNRLC, which runs the Digicel Cup, and will move to Hela in 2019.
Hela does not have a standard field that is fully compliant to host Digicel Cup games or to run PNGRFL-sanctioned games.
This has been one of franchise’s greatest challenges.
With funding from Kumul Petroleum Holdings a design for a rugby league field in Hela was completed last year.
The scope and design was presented to the Hela government and the provincial executive council approved it and allocated funding in its 2018 budget to build the home of the Wigmen in Tari, to be known as the Agiru Memorial Stadium.
A contract has been awarded and construction will begin soon.
Hetra said the Hela Wigmen Rugby League Limited was a legal entity registered with Investment Promotion Authority.
He said the selection pathway for Wigmen since 2013 had been open and transparent.
The invitational Agiru Friendship Cup held in January each year is how then franchise picks the Wigmen team. However, the tournament did not eventuate this year due to law and order issues in Hela.
Meanwhile, Hetra said he would not comment on a call by former Hela Wigmen players for his removal, only to say that it was an internal matter that would be addressed at the board level.