Fit for a Chief: 5-star accommodation and facilities to lure NRL stars

Papua New Guinea Chiefs players and their families are set to enjoy a luxury lifestyle with five-star accommodation in a secure environment and easy access to essential services and recreational activities – possibly including the use of a private island.

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo and members of the PNG Chiefs board toured a number of potential accommodation sites for players and staff of the new franchise while in Port Moresby for last weekend’s Prime Minister’s XII matches and came away impressed by the options.

The NRL received Expressions of Interest for the construction of the accommodation facilities from 19 consortiums. Three of the proposals are from established hotel businesses within PNG - Airways, Hilton and Marriott - which have submitted first class plans tailored to accommodate the NRL team, including players, staff and families.

The bids include a mixture of new developments and existing facilities, with the Airways proposal also including the use of Loloata Island Resorts for Chiefs players and their families.

They would also have access to on-site shopping, restaurants, cafes and bars, gym, swimming pools and recreational sports facilities, such as tennis, squash and basketball, parklands and walking tracks, while there are plans for an international school nearby.

The Marriott’s development proposal was compared to Sydney’s Wooloomooloo Bay, and the proposed accommodation site is located in an already established waterfront precinct similar to Darling Harbour.

Work is also set to be begin on a Centre of Excellence for the Chiefs, which is designed to be "best in class" and will include all the high-performance elements of leading sporting facilities in Australia and around the world.

The COE will be built on land adjoining Santos National Football Stadium, where the Chiefs will play and the club’s headquarters will be based, and will also include an accommodation element for the team around matches.

In addition to world-class training facilities and luxury accommodation, players and staff employed by the Chiefs will not pay tax on money earned from the club.

Abdo said there would be a lot of appeal for players and staff wanting to be pioneers of the game’s newest and boldest expansion team.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for players or officials or administrators who want to build something from the ground up, with huge amounts of potential, huge amounts of backing, and effectively create a club that is a top eight team on the field and a top eight team off the field with the support of two massive nations willing to succeed,” Abdo said.

“In addition to that, the benefits of earning a salary that is tax free is obviously attractive and there is the opportunity to have great accommodation, great facilities and establish a community and experience a new culture and a life experience that not many people get to do in their lifetime.”

With last Sunday's announcement that the PNG NRL team would be known as the Chiefs, the team now has an identity that fans are already getting behind.

A logo and colours for the Chiefs will be designed next, while construction of the Centre of Excellence, which will include facilities for a future NRLW team and have indoor and outdoor training facilities, is due to begin in early 2026.

"Our timeline is to move through to finalising the location, the design and the partners for the Centre of Excellence and the player village over the course of the next few months," Abdo said.

"There is strong interest from corporate sponsors and there was an opportunity to look at the player village sites and the Centre of Excellence, and to connect with the PNG Rugby Football League, who are going to be important delivery partners in this program."

While there is an obvious focus on recruitment of key players, the Chiefs will also benefit from pathways and development programs to produce a pipeline of local talent.

Abdo said the establishment of an NRL team, with the backing of the Australian and PNG Governments, had the ability to change lives in Papua New Guinea and change perceptions in Australia.

"I think everyone who comes here has an experience that reinforces a different way of seeing PNG. This is a wonderful country with warm people with a lot of natural beauty and a lot of interesting things to do.

"A key reason why we are doing this, and it is a big motivating factor, is driving educational outcomes for young people in Papua New Guinea to complete their education and get all of the positive attributes of a team sport like rugby league," Abdo said.

"There are so many structural challenges here, as there are in any emerging market, and rugby league and the partnership between the two governments can really fast-track that change.

"Then there is the opportunity around tourism and having been here a few times now I can foresee wonderful opportunities for fans from Australia and New Zealand and elsewhere to come and see their team play but also getting to experience Papua New Guinea.

"I think this will have a significant, long lasting and permanent impact on the amount of travel by Australians to Papua New Guinea to experience the culture, the food, the warmth of the people and the long history that exists between the two countries."

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