Broncos fly PNG expansion flag
Friday night's NRL clash at Suncorp Stadium will have a distinct Papua New Guinea flavour as part of Brisbane's sponsorship of PNG's 2015 expansion bid team.
Brisbane have tagged the clash with Cronulla "PNG Day", swapping their regular playing socks to wear PNG's national black, red and yellow colours to highlight their support for the bid to get a team in the NRL.
With a record six successive State of Origin series wins, record crowds and record TV ratings, Queensland lacks nothing in rugby league passion.
But in terms of league fanaticism, PNG may have the state covered.
With the appointment last week of a new commission, expansion is set to become one of rugby league's hot issues and PNG believe they can put together an appealing argument for 2015.
They point to an extremely high player participation rate in the only country in the world which can boast rugby league is truly its national sport.
"People up here play the game anytime and anywhere they can - on footy ovals, patches of grass, even dirt," said PNG NRL bid chief executive Brad Tassell.
"On the night of Origin I this year, nine giant TV screens were erected around Port Moresby and we estimate just on 100,000 people watched the game - a quarter of the city's population, the atmosphere was incredible."
As part of their sponsorship, Brisbane will offer PNG nationals living in south-east Queensland a special ticket price for the game, while the PNG Sing Sing tribe will perform on field prior to kick-off.
The Broncos currently display the bid team's logo on their playing shorts.
Some of the bid team members who'll attend the game believe a recently-inked agreement between them and PNG Sports Minister Philemon Embel can only enhance the country's expansion hopes.
"This partnership will deliver strong game development outcomes and ensure that we can learn from a great club like the Broncos how to build a successful rugby league culture and business model," Embel said.
"Our investment in this partnership is about providing assistance to advance rugby league in PNG. It will also lay the foundations around building a strong PNG bid brand and create the awareness we need as we move towards establishing ourselves as a highly-competitive franchise bid."
Tassell believes PNG will offer one of the strongest bids in 2015, a year NRL chief executive David Gallop has indicated is a more likely time for expansion than 2013.
"We are well on our way to achieving this and by then we will have a stadium in place, a long sustainable business model and strong revenue streams," said the former Roosters NRL player.
"We are also currently building a national development program which will help push our case for inclusion in the NRL competition."
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