PNG Chiefs in war over name as NZ Rugby threatens legal action

September 11, 2026 — 11:48am

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The NRL has been warned it will be dragged to court in an escalating dispute with New Zealand Rugby unless it changes the name of the new Albanese government-backed team in PNG from the Chiefs.

Formed with a $600 million Australian taxpayer package devised to counter the influence of China in the Pacific, the Chiefs are due to enter the NRL in 2028 as the competition’s 19th club.

However, a mounting trademark feud with New Zealand Rugby, which owns the Chiefs franchise in Super Rugby Pacific, threatens to blow up the unveiling of the PNG side’s logo and jersey, which is scheduled to take place at an event in Port Moresby next month.

In a letter to the NRL this week, NZ Rugby said the Chiefs was not an acceptable name for the incoming team and asked league officials to reconsider it.

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NZ Rugby told the NRL it wanted to discuss the clash of names with the rival code before the logo and jersey launch but was prepared to defend its position if the 13-a-side game pressed ahead with calling the PNG organisation the Chiefs. If NZ Rugby sued and won, the NRL could be forced to change the new team’s name.

“The Chiefs have been a professional rugby club since 1996 and has an established identity and fan base, both in the Pacific region and globally. This 30-year identity includes the Chiefs name, logo and distinctive colours,” NZ Rugby said in a statement to this masthead on Friday.

“NZR can confirm we have corresponded with the NRL, including this week, about the decision last year to similarly name and brand a new rugby league team. NZR’s focus is on protecting the Chiefs trademark and working with all parties towards a positive outcome.”

The NRL, which owns the PNG Chiefs, did not comment.

Rugby’s Chiefs, who play in Hamilton, wear the same black, red and yellow colours as those worn by PNG teams and which appear in the PNG Chiefs social media channels.

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When they join the NRL the PNG side will play away games in Auckland, only an hour from the Waikato region, and could end up running out in Hamilton itself by 2029 if a reported bid to base a second New Zealand team there is successful.

NZ Rugby claims the NRL’s use of the same name infringes on its long-standing registered trademarks for the Chiefs in New Zealand and Australia and has sought additional word mark protections for the Chiefs with IP Australia, the agency which administers intellectual property rights in Australia.

There is geopolitical sensitivity over the name, given it was endorsed by PNG Prime Minister James Marape last October following a public survey and talks between the PNG and Australian governments, the NRL and the club’s board.

“Our thousand tribes were governed by chiefs,” Marape said at the time. “The name truly reflects our history where chiefs, both male and female, held our nation together.”

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But the NRL has a headache on its hands about using the name.

Two days after Marape’s announcement, the NRL applied to IP Australia to register the PNG Chiefs as a trademark.

Nearly a year later, the NRL is yet to have it approved amid strong objection from NZ Rugby.

The NRL has argued unsuccessfully that the same team names already exist in different sporting leagues and the PNG Chiefs would not be confused with that of rugby’s Chiefs, whose logo features a Maori man holding a traditional weapon.

“For example, there are many different sports teams from different locations that share names like Tigers, Panthers, Lions, Bears and Broncos, just to name a few,” the NRL’s lawyers said in a February submission.

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“There also are and have been many ‘Chiefs’ sports teams aside from those related to NZRU or the Applicant, including for example Exeter Chiefs (Rugby Union), Kansas City Chiefs (American Football), Chiefs Esports Club (Esports), Atlanta Chiefs (Soccer), Kaizer Chiefs (Soccer), Bulawayo Chiefs (Soccer) and Syracuse Chiefs (Baseball).”

That fell flat with IP Australia, which determined rugby’s Chiefs did not have a geographical identifier and there “remains a reasonable chance that consumers unfamiliar with one or both teams would infer that they are the same”.

The PNG Chiefs this week heralded a major sponsorship with Bank South Pacific as the largest in NRL history.

Chief executive Lorna McPherson said their logo “represents where we have come from as a nation, the values we will stand for as a club, and the future we want to build together for all Papua New Guineans”

“This is a logo that belongs to the entire PNG Chiefs community,” she said. “It is a mark of pride for Papua New Guinea and for everyone who has believed in what this club can become, and we are incredibly excited to walk into the next era of the Chiefs in this way.”

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Chris Barrett is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former South-East Asia correspondent for the Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.

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