A team from Papua New Guinea will enter the NRL from 2028 after officially being granted a licence by the league.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his PNG counterpart James Marape met in Sydney on Thursday to shake hands over the deal, the culmination of two years of planning.
The pair reached an in-principle agreement with the NRL in May, and have since been ironing out specifics.
The final legal documents to ratify the team’s creation are expected to be signed in the coming weeks.
“I am delighted to announce the Australian government is supporting a PNG team to join the NRL from 2028,” Albanese said.
“Rugby league is PNG’s national sport, and PNG deserves a national team. The new team will belong to the people of PNG and will call PNG home.
“I know it will have millions of proud fans barracking for it from day one. Not just in PNG, but I suspect many Australians will adopt the PNG team as theirs.”
ARLC chair Peter V’landys said the deal was a “historic step” for the sport, Australia, PNG and more broadly the entire Pacific region.
“Rugby league isn’t just sport, it’s a social force for good – a way to improve lives and build stronger communities,” V’landys said.
“The new PNG team provides the NRL with a new 10 million-plus audience many who will go from being casual fans into engaged fans. Just as importantly the pathways investments will provide many new and exciting players to the game.
The spending is split roughly in half between the NRL club and other rugby league-related development activities in the Pacific.
The as-yet-unnamed team is seen as key diplomatic tool for Australia to strengthen ties in the hotly-contested Pacific, and will cost the Australian taxpayer $600 million(US$389 million) over 10 years.
It will be either the NRL’s 18th or 19th franchise, pending further expansion plans into Perth.
Players will be granted tax incentives to relocate to PNG, and will live in a secure compound in Port Moresby to be organised and funded by the PNG Government.
Initial estimates suggest that players will therefore be able to pocket almost double the amount of money they would on the same salary in Australia.
The 10-year deal with the Australian government will commence now and run until the end of 2034.
Some $60 million (US$38 million) of it will exist as the licensing fee, with that money to be distributed to clubs.
Another $290 million (US$185 million) will be used to support the franchise, while the remaining $250 million (US$160 million) will be for rugby league pathways in the Pacific.
The NRL will be unable to ask for extra money through the life of the deal, and the federal government has the ability to withdraw support at any point.
The deal is also contingent on Papua New Guinea building safe, world-class accommodation for players and officials.
The PNG Hunters have played in the senior Queensland Cup competition – one tier below the NRL – since 2014 and were premiers in 2017.
