PNG players during the 2024 Pacific Championships rugby league competition. Photo: NRL Photos / www.photosport.nz
The new Papua New Guinea NRL team will be known as the Chiefs.
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape made the announcement at Santos National Stadium in Port Moresby on Sunday.
The selection of the Chiefs name was a joint decision by the governments of Papua New Guinea and Australia, with the Australian Rugby League Commission, following a public naming competition, which yielded more than 20,000 submissions.
The Prime Minister said Chiefs had particular appeal for the PNG team as the term Chief can be equally applied to a male or female leader in Papua New Guinea.
The PNG Chiefs also intend to establish an NRLW side, and the name would be used by both teams.
Prime Minister Marape said the PNG Chiefs name is a fitting emblem as the country celebrates 50 years of Independence in 2025, representing both the past and future of leadership in Papua New Guinea.
PNG's campaign for an NRL team began in 2008 and finally came to fruition when Prime Minister Marape and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced last December that the nation would join the competition in 2028.
-RNZ/NRL
