NRL: money, myths and hybrid theory
Papua New Guinea’s proposed entry into the NRL has caused
quite a stir with the Australian Rugby League Commission Chairman Peter
V’Landys now claiming that no deal has been reached with Canberra regarding the
‘rumoured’ AUD 600 million (++) of Australian taxpayer money needed for the
venture.
This week, NRL Clubs requested a cut of the action, with Fox
Sports reporting that existing NRL clubs are seeking ‘financial incentive to
back the bid’, to the tune of AUD 170 million.
Meanwhile, there has been a backflip by V’landys.
“It is certainly premature. It hasn’t gone to cabinet to
start with and our board hasn’t signed off on it, so there’s no agreement”, he
said recently.
According to Fox Sport, V’Landys says he doesn’t know where
the story came from.
“I was surprised as to how this speculation started, because
it certainly didn’t come from the NRL, put it that way”, he said.
Yet it was only less than a month ago that V’landys was
quoted as saying:
“What we want to do is have [the team] based in Papua New
Guinea and that’s important, so you need to have good facilities there, you
need to have good accommodation there, and all those things are on the table at
the moment.”
Along with the $600 million price tag courtesy of Australian
taxpayers, V’landys also suggested at the time that players would be offered
‘danger money’ and major tax breaks to go to PNG and live/play with a PNG
franchise.
PNG Dream Team Theory
Sorry folks, but a 100% PNG ‘dream team’ based in PNG is a poorly
conceived myth.
Most tellingly, it compromises and threatens to undermine the
‘integrity’ of the NRL salary cap.
The purpose of the salary cap is to allow for an even and
equitable spread of talent throughout the competition.
If incentives are given to PNG to retain home-grown talent,
or even attract players to live in PNG, then why not extend the same incentives
to other clubs to retain and settle players who have come through their junior
ranks?
NRL fans are constantly forced to watch much-loved local
players released to the open market. Often these players become involved in
bidding wars, driven by greedy managers.
There is not an NRL team that is currently 100% anything.
Every first-grade NRL team is a hybrid of players bought and sold on the open
market, based on team needs, not on parentage, loyalty or place of origin.
According to the NRL, the Salary Cap serves two functions:
1. It assists in "spreading the playing talent" so
that a few better-resourced clubs cannot simply out-bid other clubs for all of
the best players. If a few clubs are able to spend unlimited funds it will
reduce the attraction of games to fans, sponsors and media partners due to an
uneven competition. Allowing clubs to spend an unlimited amount on players
would drive some clubs out of the competition as they would struggle to match
the prices wealthy clubs could afford to pay.
2. It ensures clubs are not put into a position where they are forced to spend more money than they can afford, in terms of player payments, just to be competitive.
You can learn more about the NRL salary cap via the link at
the foot of this article.
It’s farcical to conceive of an NRL team composed of all-PNG
players – there simply isn’t the depth of talent to support such a concept and,
even if there was, the salary cap mechanism would erode it.
An equally farcical scenario would be a PNG team that
included non-PNG players. Under the current salary cap conditions, it’s quite
possible that half the PNG backline could be of Samoan descent, with a couple
of Fijian flyers on the wings. I doubt whether this will go down well with folk
in PNG. It’s not quite what they are expecting.
Hybrid Theory
The most viable solution is for a PNG-themed team in the NRL. It would be a hybrid of PNG players and other NRL talent required and acquired within the restrictions of the salary cap.
Here is how it could look:
- Cairns would be the most likely base. It’s in Australia, sustainable, removed from the socio-economic issues that confront PNG, has access to training and medical facilities needed for an elite sports team, and provides a desirable environment for NRL players and their families.
- Cairns needs NRL and NRL needs Cairns.
- Australian taxpayer money can then be spent at home, on much-needed sporting facilities in Cairns.
- Cairns has a large, affluent expatriate PNG population capable of adding tremendous weight and support to the new venture. While this would provide a Cairns-based membership, another membership base could be created within PNG at more affordable prices, consistent with the currency and economic conditions in PNG.
- The most important shared virtue between Australia and PNG is Kokoda.
- The name ‘Kokoda’ resonates between the two countries, evidenced by the recent trek by the prime ministers of Australia and PNG.
- A Cairns-based team named “Kokoda Brothers”, would honour this legacy and sit comfortably with most intending players, as well as communities in Australia and PNG.
- Incidentally Cairns Brothers is already a successful Rugby League club, so there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Use the same model that helped the Redcliffe Dolphins transform into a successful NRL franchise.
- Cairns is just a 90-minute flight from PNG, allowing PNG-based supporters to attend home games. Some games can also be played in PNG. This is a win-win for tourism and provides a platform for the positive portrayal and promotion of PNG in Australia. For most of us, games would be available via FTA and pay TV - there’s nothing new in this.
- If PNG gets smart and secures the commercial rights of the name ‘Kokoda’ in Australia, then user-pay royalties could be generated that could feed directly back into PNG for schools, hospitals, roads, etc.
In short, a win for PNG, a win for Australia… and a win for
NRL.
Further reading
https://www.pm.gov.au/media/we-will-continue-walk-step-better-future
https://www.nrl.com/operations/integrity/salary-cap/
About the authors
Charlie Lynn is a former army major and former Parliamentary Secretary for Veterans Affairs in the New South Wales Parliament. In 2015 he was inducted as an 'Officer of the Logohu' by the PNG Government in their New Years’ Honours List ‘for service to the bilateral relations between Papua New Guinea and Australia and especially in the development of the Kokoda Trail and its honoured place in the history of both nations’ over the past 25 years'. In 2018 he was inducted as a 'Member of the Order of Australia' for his services to the NSW Parliament. He has led 101 expeditions across the Kokoda Trail since 1991. Charlie has also been active with the Penrith Panthers RLFC, through its Panthers on the Prowl Kokoda Leadership Program. (https://www.kokodatreks.com/treks)
Glenn Armstrong has lived and worked in Papua New Guinea
since 2001. He was Marketing Manager of Post-Courier (2001-2004); General
Manager of EMTV (2004-2009) and then Executive Marketing Manager of Air Niugini
(2009-2013). At Air Niugini, he also created the Destinations Loyalty Program.
He was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for services to Papua New
Guinea in 2012. Glenn has also authored three major books on Papua New Guinea:
The Tonda (A Journey on the Bensbach River); 100 Treks Across the Kokoda Trail
with Charlie Lynn; and 40 Years of Hargy Oil Palms. He has also produced
several TV documentaries in PNG, including the Happy Gardener series with
EMTV. Before coming to Papua New Guinea,
Glenn was a publishing executive at Kerry Packer’s Australian Consolidated
Press in Sydney for 14 years. Born in the Parramatta district of Sydney, Glenn
played junior Rugby League at Seven Hills. He is a long-suffering Parramatta
Eels supporter and member. (https://www.tlamediagroup.com)
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