He is in Las Vegas along with Chiefs CEO Lorna McPherson and general manager Michael Chammas, a former rugby league journalist with the Herald, who are assigned with building the club from the ground up including identifying a head coach and signing players.
Two potential coaching options are in Las Vegas – Willie Peters, whose world champions Hull KR take on Leeds in the first match on the program here, and Brad Arthur, who oversees their weekend rivals Leeds.
Rugby league is the national sport in Papua New Guinea.Credit: NRL Photos
Feo said he would leave it for management and the NRL to decide, but liked the idea of luring Bennett to Port Moresby. The 76-year-old South Sydney coach has indicated the job is not for him at his age but V’landys has made clear he would leap at having the master coach associated with the team if he wanted to be.
Bennett’s brother is a former coach of PNG’s national team, the Kumuls. “So whenever the Kumuls went to play in Australia they would camp at the Brisbane Broncos training ground,” the minister said.
“I think [Bennett] is adventurous. He wants to try something new. I’m not sure what the board and the NRL will think but from my point of view and the government’s point of view we want the best person who can help our team not just come and compete but also make it the finals. We’re open to anybody but the best person for the job. ”
Players, coaching staff, management and other staff are expected to initially live in a gated apartment complex near the airport in the PNG capital as the team prepares to join the NRL before a potential shift to Port Moresby’s waterfront.
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The incentive of tax-free money is being used to draw recruits to what will be the league’s 19th club, but Feo said there were other enormous benefits too in PNG, where rugby league is the No.1 sport.
Asked his message for players considering moving there, he said: “They [will] treat you like a king. You won’t get that reception back in Australia. You’ll be valued and supported like you’ve never felt before. And the impact they will have on the community will be huge.
“You are giving purpose, you are giving direction to the young people. Once we get the team in we are trying to piggyback on that to deal with a lot of issues we have in the country.”
The minister insisted security issues were exaggerated and most violence occurred between tribal enemies, but added: “We will do anything and everything in our means to make sure they are safe”.
“We want to make sure the downtown area accessible for NRL players but not just that, the entire population,” he said. “We want to tidy up the whole place so they are free to move around.”
