How US President Joe Biden cost NZ a second NRL team

By Trevor McKewen

Geo-political intrigue may have derailed hopes of launching a second New Zealand NRL side, as United States President Joe Biden tries to block Chinese influence in the Pacific.

Late last month, Biden signed a US$95 billion ($158b) war aid measure which he hailed as “a good day for world peace” but at the same time a pact was quietly sealed between the Australian and US Governments that dampens Kiwi hopes for a second team alongside the Warriors.

Included alongside the headline-grabbing support for Ukraine and Israel was a war chest for other strategic allies including Australia. Biden’s package contained US$8.2 billion (NZ$13.71bn) “to counter communist China” in the Indo-Pacific.

That handout sealed a deal that virtually guarantees a franchise representing PNG will be granted entry into Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL) competition, possibly as early as 2026 but more likely the year after.

That means Kiwi hopes of a second team alongside the Warriors – primarily resting on two rival Christchurch-based South Island bids both of whom claim they can be ready to play by 2026 – have been dashed until at least 2030.

If you’re wondering how this all makes sense – let alone how an important commercial sporting decision can be made on the back of a promise of financial military aid – let Sports Insider explain this bizarre development.

It all started at a White House dinner last October for visiting Australian PM Anthony Albanese, where Biden told his counterpart he was supportive of his plans to invest in sports as a diplomatic strategy to ward off Chinese ambition in the South Pacific.

NRL chairman Peter V’Landys, a shrewd opportunist and key driver of expansion, was a guest of Albanese at the dinner and met Biden. That didn’t happen by accident.

“The United States and Australia share a unique bond of friendship, [and] this includes our shared passion for sports,” a senior Biden administration official told Australian media afterwards.

“We both understand the important ways that sport can bring people of different cultures together and deepen trust between nations.”

V’Landys is understood to have left Washington and immediately fast-tracked PNG as the 18th franchise on the basis it will be funded to the tune of a minimum A$6 million ($6.59m) a year by the Australian Government.

When asked why the NRL was considering a PNG bid, he replied: “We are doing this for the Australian Government because of the importance of Papua New Guinea for the security of Australia and I would expect the US to certainly be part of it … I don’t have any doubt about that.”

The selection by the Australians of PNG as a strategic buffer against Chinese expansion was not random, either. It’s an island of fanatical league lovers with a handful - but growing number - of NRL players and future prospects.

The promise of representation in the code’s toughest competition is part of an aid and support package presumably enough, along with other aid, to help sway the island to resist Chinese investment into the South Pacific where the Communist regime has been increasingly active.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission