Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape has unveiled the name of the NRL’s 19th franchise at a board meeting in Port Moresby on Sunday.
After months of deliberation between the PNG government, Australian government, NRL, and the new team’s board, key parties agreed on the Papua New Guinea Chiefs.
“Before there was a prime minister, and a King or Queen in England, the sovereign head within the tribe was the chief,” Marape told the PNG board and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo on Sunday morning.
“In our country, about 30 per cent [of tribes] are matrilineal, so it fits in well when girls run on as Chiefs because there is a traditional context in our history.
“In East New Britain and New Ireland, women were chiefs. They hold land rights, they make the final decisions, so the name is fitting.
“The name just blends in well with the authenticity of where we came from as a nation of so many tribes, united into one nation in 1975, and gifted by Australia. It has a strong meaning to our authentic identity.”
PNG prime minister James Marape unveils the team name at a club board meeting attended by NRL CEO Andrew Abdo on Sunday.Credit: NRL
The people of Papua New Guinea were asked to submit their preferred team name before a shortlist was compiled. The name was announced to the crowd shortly before kick-off at Sunday’s match between Papua New Guinea and the Prime Minister’s XIII in Port Moresby.
Some of the most common names included the Angels, Crocodiles, and Wantok, but the list was reduced to two before Marape decided.
