BS file claim#16: more participants in PNG playing RL than..

[ParraEelsNRL]

People
Population: 6,057,263 (July 2009 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 36.9% (male 1,137,796/female 1,099,365)
15-64 years: 59% (male 1,836,272/female 1,735,298)
65 years and over: 4.1% (male 114,789/female 133,743) (2009 est.)
Median age: total: 21.7 years
male: 21.8 years
female: 21.6 years (2009 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.069% (2009 est.)
Birth rate: 27.55 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Death rate: 6.96 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)


Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/papua-new- ... z1lyyWRS9h

[ParraEelsNRL]

Sport

Main article: Sport in Papua New Guinea
See also: Rugby league in Papua New Guinea
Sport is an important part of Papua New Guinean culture and rugby league is by far the most popular sport.[44] In a nation where communities are far apart and many people live at a minimal subsistence level, rugby league has been described as a replacement for tribal warfare as a way of explaining the local enthusiasm for the game (a matter of life and death). Many Papua New Guineans have become instant celebrities by representing their country or playing in an overseas professional league. Even Australian rugby league players who have played in the annual (Australian) State of Origin clash, which is celebrated feverishly every year in PNG, are among the most well known people throughout the nation.

State of Origin is a highlight of the year for most Papua New Guineans, although the support is so passionate that many people have died over the years in violent clashes supporting their team.[45] The Papua New Guinea national rugby league team usually plays against the Australian Prime Minister's XIII (a selection of NRL players) each year, normally in Port Moresby.

Other major sports which have a part in the Papua New Guinea sporting landscape are Aussie rules, soccer (football), rugby union and, in eastern Papua, cricket. Its football team ranked worst on FIFA ranking of all countries.[46]



Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/papua-new- ... z1lyzJh4Kc

[ParraEelsNRL]

You can listen or read this.

correspondents

http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/co ... 027871.htm

Rugby League... PNG style
Liam Fox reported this story on Sunday, October 3, 2010 08:20:00


ALTERNATE WMA VERSION | MP3 DOWNLOAD
ELIZABETH JACKSON: Australian sports fans are gearing up for this weekend's National Rugby League grand final between the Sydney Roosters and the St George Illawarra Dragons.

But the passion of Australian league fans pales in comparison to their Papua New Guinean counterparts.

Rugby league is PNG's national sport and the people follow Australia's NRL competition with a near-religious fervour.

Liam Fox witnessed that fanaticism when the Australian Prime Minister's XIII travelled to Port Moresby to play PNG last week.

LIAM FOX: Last year I made the mistake of taking my wallet with me to cover the arrival of the Australian Pm's XIII to Port Moresby's airport. It was stolen while I was jostled in the throng of people who'd come to catch a glimpse of their sporting heroes.

This year I left my wallet at the office. Hundreds of league fans pressed themselves up against the fence beside the International Terminal. They went absolutely crazy when the team walked from the building and people chanted the names of their favourite players.

Many in the crowd told me they'd come to see Matt Bowen, the Aboriginal fullback from the North Queensland Cowboys.

For many of the Australians this was their first trip to PNG. They would have been told what to expect but some still wore looks of mild shock on their faces. The team buses were mobbed as they left the gates. People slapped their hands against the windows and children chased them as they drove off.

Welcome to PNG, home of the world's most passionate rugby league fans.

Two days later thousands of people queued up to get tickets to watch the Australians play the PNG Kumuls As I drove up to Lloyd Robson Oval, children clambered up the high steel walls, ducked their heads under the barbed wire and disappeared into the ground.

Heavily armed police kept the crowd under control.

It was a different story at last year's match when the thousands who missed out on tickets pelted rocks into the ground.

The crowd inside responded with their own missiles until police dispersed the mob outside with a few gunshots into the air.

This year's match wasn't without off field excitement though. Minutes before kick off, the roof over one of the stands partially collapsed under the weight of the people sitting on top.
The crowd underneath panicked, surged out of the stands, over a barbed wire fence and onto the field.

Fortunately no one was injured.

When the match finally got underway, the Kumuls put in a surprisingly good performance. They kept Australia to just one try in the first half and delivered some bone-crunching tackles.

The floodgates opened after the break with the visitors crossing the line five times but the home side scored three tries of their own.

The crowd loved the Australians but the roar when a local boy scored was deafening.

The final score was Australia 30, PNG 18 - a much smaller margin than in previous years.

After the match the visitors walked around the field and waved to the crowd. At first the fans held back, then a few brave souls leapt the fences. Then there was a swarm of people trying to reach the Australians, to touch them, to get a photo.

Police armed with sticks and fan belts - yes, that's right, fan belts - tried to beat people away but they were vastly outnumbered.

One small boy ran back into the crowd clutching a pair of green and gold socks. Another managed to score a player's sweaty shorts.

Despite the chaos, the Australians took it in their stride, aware that the frenzy was good natured. When they finally managed to leave the field and get onto their buses, people still crowded around and followed them out of the ground.

I'd been stuck in the car park waiting for traffic to clear but when the team buses went past, I slipped in behind and followed them out.

It was chaos on the street. Thousands of people ran along both sides of the road and occasionally somebody would dart across in front of the car.

Then they began throwing rocks. I'm not sure if the Australians copped any but I sure did and was worried I was going to lose a window. Why people started throwing rocks I don't know.

Perhaps they were jealous that I was so close to their idols or that I could follow them in a car but it was another example of the passions rugby league inflames in PNG.

ELIZABETH JACKSON: Liam Fox with that report.

[ParraEelsNRL]

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/isla ... 76603.html

Island gods high in a dream world
Dave Hadfield explains the game's remarkable hold on Papua New Guinea



NOWHERE in the world of rugby league will victory - any victory - in the World Cup be hailed with as much joy as in Papua New Guinea. The country occupies a special place in the game's geography as the only country where the code is indisputably the national sport.
Every pass and tackle from the Kumuls, as the national side is known, will be followed with obsessive interest back home. "If we win one game, there will be celebrations throughout the country. If we win the group and qualify for the semi-finals, the country will go mad," their coach, Joe Tokam, said.

Such is the enthusiasm there, that the PNG captain, Adrian Lam, fears many supporters actually expect them to win the Halifax Centenary World Cup. They are bound to be disappointed, but not to the extent that could dislodge the game from the nation's affections.

It was the Australians who introduced the game when they were put in charge of administering the country after the Second World War. By the 1960s, it had ceased simply to be a pastime for Australian expatriates.

Although PNG's record overseas is poor, players who have met them on their own patch tell an entirely different story. Great Britain and New Zealand have both lost matches there. "They are some of the toughest, hardest men you could ever play against," said Jonathan Davies, a veteran of a PNG triumph at Goroka in 1990, which sent the country into a delirium of delight.

Matches in PNG are unlike any elsewhere in the world. It is not unusual for spectators in full tribal dress to walk for hours through the countryside to watch major games. When grounds cannot accommodate them, there have been near-riots by those locked out. The smell of tear gas became all too familiar during the 1990 tour.

The flavour of their own trips overseas has been very different. In Britain in 1991, the Kumuls had to cope with a 30C drop in temperature between Port Moresby and the North of England. Not even wearing all their kit at once could warm them up.

In France, on another chilly tour, the players apparently spent most of their time in a pornographic cinema - not because they were unduly interested in what was on screen, but because it was the only place they could keep warm. They also appear to have been making themselves at home last week even if one hotel-room party ended up in the local police station (though allegations of sexual assault were later withdrawn).

The ethnic mixture can also present problems. There are 600 linguistic groups in PNG, and on one tour the management had to keep the news from two players that their tribes had gone to war with each other.

The bulk of the players still fall into two broad camps - subsistence farmers from the Highlands and players based in Moresby, many of whom augment their earnings from the army, police or prison service with modest wages for playing semi-professional league.

The yeast in the brew this time, however, is a sprinkling of players who have acquired experience in the totally professional Winfield Cup in Australia. David Westley and Bruce Mamando, of the Canberra Raiders, will give PNG forward know-how in their matches against Tonga and New Zealand, something that has been missing in the past.

The biggest difference is Lam himself. His family might have left PNG for Brisbane when he was seven, but he has always regarded himself as a Papua New Guinean. That attachment to his roots was tested earlier this year when an outstanding series at scrum-half for Queensland in the State of Origin matches gave him a real chance of selection for Australia.

Lam turned his back on that prospect. "I just couldn't let the people in PNG down," he said. Now the country expects him to use his Australian expertise to work miracles for them. "I don't feel too much pressure," Lam said. "The players who are based in PNG are like gods there. They are under the real pressure."

Despite spending almost 20 years in Brisbane and Sydney, where he plays for the Sydney City Bulldogs, Lam has found few problems communicating with the side he leads. Even after moving to Australia, he and his father spoke pidgin English at home. It is that language, which, along with rugby league, is one of the few unifying factors in a mind-bogglingly diverse country.

"For us," Tokam said, "rugby league is nambawan." They might not be able to claim to be No 1 in the world in three weeks' time, but they have their place in the game. No true rugby league fan would begrudge them a few moments of glory.

[ParraEelsNRL]

http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news ... -8aqv.html

Papua New Guinea has kicked off their bid to enter a team into the Australian NRL competition.

Rugby league is officially PNG's national sport and the NRL is considered a sporting Nirvana.

But entering the NRL has wider implication than simply sporting success - it provides a unifying direction for millions of die-hard fans who often play all year round, barefoot, in searing heat and on rock-hard surfaces.

Advertisement: Story continues below
PNG political elite know the potential and on Tuesday Prime Minister Michael Somare gave 500,000 kina (A$250,000) of government money towards an official team to develop a NRL proposal.

Gold Coast Titans chairman Paul Broughton and Queensland coach Mal Meninga are also part of PNG's 'bid team'.

PNG's deputy Prime Minister Puka Temu said the government is now approaching private enterprise to help achieve the necessary criteria for entry into the competition.

"Imagine a PNG team in the NRL competition, imagine the opportunities, and imagine the strengthening of the PNG and Australia relationship," he said.

"To have our very own NRL team would unite the whole country," he said.

PNG rugby league president Danny Holmes told AAP an estimated third of PNG's six million population plays league.

"We can have more influence than the government, that's how important and big this is," he said.

"The implications are greater than just having a footy side in the NRL, it gives a big time goal to every kid who puts a boot on.

"We've been using league as a way for kids to learn to be part of a team and a community with a common goal, to learn life skills and confidence," he said.

Holmes admits its not going to be an easy journey to the NRL.

"The government has researched and there is corporate interest.

"The time frame is eight years but there is also talk about 2012, when Somare may retire, so we see," he said.

[ParraEelsNRL]

http://www.pngnrlbid.com/index.php?page_id=65

The big picture: PNG's grand plan to satisfy the masses
ROY MASTERS


Papua New Guinea's bid to join the NRL is well advanced, with a novel solution to the problem of convincing the 16 clubs it can deliver increases in broadcasting revenue, despite the young nation having limited TV sets.

A bid team met NRL chief executive David Gallop recently and explained it would fill a new stadium in Port Moresby with paying customers, all watching away games on big screens set around the arena.

The fans might not count as TV viewers in the OzTam definition but would send a powerful message to sponsors if they regularly filled a stadium.

Already, leading PNG companies have supported the bid, with Coca-Cola contributing 500,000 kina ($209,000) a year for three years and total sponsorships already exceeding five million kina. The PNG Government has committed 20.5m kina to the bid, with most reserved for the construction of a 30,000-seat stadium in Port Moresby.

The stadium will be used during the South Pacific Games in 2015, the same year as the bid committee hopes to field a team in the NRL.

The PNG minister for sport, Philemon Embel, told the Herald, ''Our government wants to build a stadium in Port Moresby. In view of the successful bid for the 2015 South Pacific Games and the PNG bid for an NRL licence, it is possible that the government could fund the stadium but there are also other options open. Given time constraints, it is most likely that the government will undertake funding itself. Whatever the cost, the government is ready to build the stadium. The PNG Government is 100 per cent behind this NRL bid.''

A park in Port Moresby's National Capital District already displays NRL and State of Origin matches on big screens, with the city Governor, Powes Parkop, enthusiastic for the role rugby league plays in bonding the nation's 800 disparate tribes and reducing crime.

''Here in Port Moresby, we have been able to translate the passion our people have for NRL games and State of Origin into positive community initiatives,'' Governor Parkop said. ''We have, since 2008, been showing the game on big screens throughout the city. On game night, 14,000 to 15,000 people are turning up and they reckon it is better than watching it at home. The atmosphere is electric but peaceful and harmonious. We have created a family friendly environment and I am very pleased to say that we have had very few incidents. We endeavour to create an alcohol free environment during the 'show' to enable families to come out, especially mothers and children. This initiative is helping us to transform the culture of this city which used to be known for crime and violence and other negative things. In the last two years, we have reduced opportunity crime by up to 50 per cent. This is what I want David Gallop and other NRL executives to know, appreciate and experience that the game is more than a game here in PNG. It has the ability to impact positively on all walks of life in PNG.''

An indication of the hold rugby league has on the nation's population was a recent government edict making the sport a mandatory part of the curriculum in all schools.

Even in ice hockey obsessed Canada, or the Nordic countries passionate about cross country skiing, it is unlikely a specific sport has been made a compulsory subject, along with spelling and arithmetic.

Minister Embel and Governor Parkop led the delegation to meet Gallop late last month, with the NRL boss insisting problems the bid team have experienced in dealing with the rugby league establishment in PNG must be resolved before the country's candidature can be taken seriously.

In the same way there were strained relationships between the QRL and the Broncos when the Brisbane team entered the NRL in 1988, the PNGRL fears its status as host of visiting national teams could be undermined.

However, Gallop used the PNG bid to extol the NRL's no draft policy, saying in a press release distributed to PNG media, ''One of the things we often get criticised for is not having an external draft like other sports. But in fact one of our greatest strengths is that local kids can grow up to become local heroes. Wouldn't it be great if one day local kids can grow up to be local heroes in PNG and play in the NRL?''

Given that the next NRL broadcasting contract will begin in 2013, only two years before PNG hopes to have a team in the NRL, it seems the next media deal will be short term, or the bid's time frame must be reviewed … or an existing NRL team must fall over.

The PNG bid team has rejected the suggestion it should invest in a vulnerable Sydney NRL club, opting to support the Central Coast's bid in order to bring the number of NRL teams to 18, meaning nine games a week.

The general manager of the PNG bid is Bev Broughton, a very capable sports marketing consultant who is married to Paul Broughton, chairman of the Titans.

Minister Embel recently toured Skilled Park on the Gold Coast and considered it a model for Port Moresby's planned arena.

[ParraEelsNRL]

http://jeffrey-baxter.suite101.com/papu ... 15-a145718

Stars like Mal Meninga have joined a bid for PNG to enter a team based in Port Moresby into the Australasian competition. The social and economic impacts are key.
Papua New Guinea is a country of nearly 7 million people, where rugby league has long been the dominant sport. It has been estimated that over 50% of men under-20 play the game.

[ParraEelsNRL]

http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8277983

Broncos fly PNG expansion flag
Wayne Heming
14:12 AEST Wed Jul 27 2011

Photos: Highlights of 2011
Latest League:
Wallace could play No.6 for Broncos: coach
Chalk predicts bright rugby league future
Thaiday will leave his mark as captain
RL Commission was never in doubt: Searle
Raiders pre-season tough, says Berrigan
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."

[TLPG]

500K? Are you sure TLPG? There would have to be that in Victoria alone surely? Can you double check that?

The HREOC did a report on the AFL and it's relationship with the Aboriginal community, and in that report in 2005 they quoted the participation total at 345,000. Now I don't know if it included Auskick because I don't think there were any Auskick centres in the Aboriginal population areas (at least at the time - that may be part of the reason for HREOC's investigation). But even with Auskick the total won't get anywhere near 1 million let alone 2 million.

I'll try and get some stats for you, but I'm going to Canberra and I'll be concentrating on other things while I'm there. However they won't be the useless stats Eels provided. That proved nothing, and neither did any of the other stuff he put up. The only mention of this two million was from the thugby league president, and I'd hardly call him reliable - he even admitted it was only an estimate! Sure it may be popular and maybe an NRL team there would work based on attendances. But even that school note doesn't prove the numbers claimed.

[NSWAFL]

500K? Are you sure TLPG? There would have to be that in Victoria alone surely? Can you double check that?

The HREOC did a report on the AFL and it's relationship with the Aboriginal community, and in that report in 2005 they quoted the participation total at 345,000. Now I don't know if it included Auskick because I don't think there were any Auskick centres in the Aboriginal population areas (at least at the time - that may be part of the reason for HREOC's investigation). But even with Auskick the total won't get anywhere near 1 million let alone 2 million.

You sure that wasn't 345,000 Aborigines including Marngrook players? There are enough in WA, NT and Queensland to cover those numbers and isn't there an Aboriginal team in the north east of Victoria somewhere?

[cos789]

500K? Are you sure TLPG? There would have to be that in Victoria alone surely? Can you double check that?

I'm sure the ABS has much higher figures.

[cos789]

RL is mandatory in all PNG schools for a start, .

So they are forced to play rl ?

Roy Masters as a source :P :P :P

[NSWAFL]

500K? Are you sure TLPG? There would have to be that in Victoria alone surely? Can you double check that?

I'm sure the ABS has much higher figures.

Can you find them, Cos? I'm not familiar with the ABS website.

[cos789]

27,000 for (AFL)PNG officially is more than RL by 17k, do you honestly believe PNG AFL is bigger than RL?

para's own words.

[TLPG]

500K? Are you sure TLPG? There would have to be that in Victoria alone surely? Can you double check that?

The HREOC did a report on the AFL and it's relationship with the Aboriginal community, and in that report in 2005 they quoted the participation total at 345,000. Now I don't know if it included Auskick because I don't think there were any Auskick centres in the Aboriginal population areas (at least at the time - that may be part of the reason for HREOC's investigation). But even with Auskick the total won't get anywhere near 1 million let alone 2 million.

You sure that wasn't 345,000 Aborigines including Marngrook players? There are enough in WA, NT and Queensland to cover those numbers and isn't there an Aboriginal team in the north east of Victoria somewhere?

LOL! If only we did count the Marngrook players!

I think the team you're thinking of in the North East is probably Rumbalara. There's also Fitzroy Stars in Melbourne, and Koonibba in the Far West league in South Australia.