Matty Johns has tipped Papua New Guinea’s incoming NRL side to become a dominant force in the years following their 2028 debut. The former NRL playmaker said the nation’s passion for rugby league, combined with its steady progress at junior and senior levels, makes its rise to power inevitable.
“They will be eventually a powerhouse,” Johns declared on SEN’s Morning Glory with Matty Johns.
He pointed to the national team’s growth over the past decade and the increasing number of PNG players breaking through in competitive leagues like the Queensland Cup. The PNG Hunters, who joined that competition in 2014, lifted the premiership just three years later and have reached the finals five times since, a sign of the country’s growing strength at the professional level.
Foundation for future success
Johns also highlighted the success of PNG’s youth system, noting how the Junior Kumuls held the Australian Schoolboys to a 22-all draw last year.
“If you look at the progression of the game there, like last year we had the junior Kangaroos play the junior Kumuls,” he said. “There were some red-hot players, I remember there was a right centre who was class.”
With talent already emerging through the junior pathways and a country united by its love for the sport, Johns believes PNG’s eventual impact on the NRL is a matter of time.