'Every metric is high': Grand final to showcase rise of PNG talent
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Kumuls legends Stanley Gene, Justin Olam and David Mead will arrive at Sunday’s grand final by helicopter as the PNGRFL takes another step towards confirming the Digicel ExxonMobil Cup as the world’s third best rugby league competition.
Gene, Olam and Mead will join Kumuls coach Jason Demetriou and Orchids mentor Tahnee Norris as Mendi Muruks take on Lae Snax Tigers, while Goroka Lahanis meet Central Dabaris in the Women’s Santos Cup decider.
As the biggest sport in Papua New Guinea, the PNGRFL grand finals at Santos Stadium will be a day of national pride ahead of the 50th anniversary of independence on September 16.
For the players, it is a chance to impress as the Digicel ExxonMobil Cup is set to be uniquely placed as a feeder competition to an NRL team when PNG joins the Telstra Premiership in 2028.
With 12 teams playing in the nationwide competition, there is no shortage of talent and the PNGRFL has been introducing measures to help prepare players for the NRL.
An Under 19s National Youth Competition has been established, video referees are used at the two to three matches broadcast each week, independent doctors attend every game, and the judiciary is aligned with the Queensland Cup.
“The standard is definitely improving, the age of the players is getting younger over the last two years and with Stanley Gene and Joey Grima working closely with coach education we are starting to see the green shoots coming through," PNGRFL GM Pathways and Performance Tony Archer said.
“The semi-final standard has been really high on all of our metrics - completion rates, play-the-ball speed, error rates, ball-in-play … we stat every game, and we have seen improvement across the board.
“We have concentrated on improving our coaches to improve our players.”
All 12 Digicel ExxonMobil Cup coaches are Papua New Guinean and the Santos Cup grand finalists are both coached by women, with Orchid No.1 Cathy Neap having charge of Centrals Dabaris and Rutha Omenafa aiming to steer Goroka Lahanis to back-to-back premierships.
Gene, who played more than 350 Super League matches, works with the premiership coaches in his role as PNGRFL coach development manager, while Grima oversees a series of academies as PNG NRL Bid coaching and pathways manager.
Grima also coaches the Junior Kumuls, who last year had a draw with the Australian Schoolboys after being edged out in the dying minutes in 2023.
“The ability to run our NRL Bid Academy into our youth competition into our national competition is really important," Archer said.
"We played our NYC grand final in Goroka and we had 4000 people packed into the ground so the interest is there, but some of the social impact around the competition is just as important.
“Every one of our NYC players has got a birth certificate, which makes them more employable and makes it easier for them to get a bank account.
"We have the BETTER Rugby League Development Program that we piloted last year and will extend next year. That is modelled on the NRL's RISE Program.
"Similarly, the coaching accreditation for our BETTER level coaches in the NYC is mapped with the NRL standards but we give that a PNGRFL accreditation.
“Stanley Gene was an assistant coach at Hull. He is back here now working day in and day out with the Digicel ExxonMobil coaches. Tahnee Norris works with the Santos Cup coaches, Joey Grima has the academy.
"There is a whole expansion of knowledge but while we do that we are also building capacity in the PNGRFL community."
Players in the Digicel ExxonMobil Cup currently feed into the PNG Hunters, who play in the Queensland Cup, but they will also have a direct pathway to the NRL from 2028.
Archer said the aim was for the Digicel ExxonMobil Cup to become the No.3 rugby league competition after the NRL and Super League.
"We need to continue to improve but the ability to have a national competition feed an NRL team will be unique," he said.
“The importance that the Digicel ExxonMobil Cup plays is not only from a development point of view but also for the country.
"It is a national competition, and it unifies the country so as much as the rivalry is a wonderful aspect of the game here it is also a really important competition for the game and the country.
“We play across the country, and we play on another island, Rabaul (East New Britain). We mobilise eight teams - often by air - every weekend, so it is a national competition, which is important, because 80 per cent of the population doesn’t live in Moresby."
As for the grand final itself, Mendi claimed the minor premiership in the penultimate round of the competition by beating Lae 10-4 but the Tigers triumphed 24-10 in their semi-final clash to secure a grand final berth
Mendi qualified for the decider by beating Agmark Gurias 20-12 in last weekend's preliminary final.
Centrals Dabaris and Goroka Lahanis were grand finalists in last year's inaugural Santos Cup and Neap's team will be out to avenge their loss.
"We've had a wonderful season and everyone can see the standard is improving in both the men's and women's games," Archer said.
"Jason Demetriou and Tahnee Norris are coming to the grand final, and Justin Olam, David Mead and Stanley Gene are being recognised on the day. They will be flown in on a helicopter and will be presenting the game ball and the trophy.
"Grand final day will showcase what we can do as a country and celebrate rugby league as the unifying sport of Papua New Guinea."
