TRANSCRIPT
Now this might sound like a sports story, but it isn't.
But it also kind of is, bear with me.
It's September 2017, and the grand final for the Queensland Cup has just begun.
The Papua New Guinea Hunters are facing the Sunshine Coast Falcons in Brisbane.
For context, PNG was only introduced to the League three years earlier - and now they're within reach of the championship.
The Hunters are behind by four points in the last minutes of the game, spectators are on the edge of their seats - and then this happens, as called by Channel Nine.
The PNG Hunters have just become the Queensland Cup Champions.
Believe it or not, this win could be key for Australia's national security and curbing the influence of China in the Pacific.
So who has really pushed PNG's NRL team over the line?
PNG loves rugby league.
Loves it.
It's the only country in the world that claims league as its national sport.
Australia can't even say the same.
Oliver Nobetau is a fellow at the Lowy Institute.
He grew up in PNG, backing the Brisbane Broncos.
"Growing up in PNG, everyone's a rugby fan, right? And it's something that you pick up at a very young age. Rugby is something that definitely unites communities. It's something that people gather around and they bond over as well. So it has a very big impact at PNG."
University of Sydney professor Jioji Ravulo says nowhere really gets rugby league like PNG does.
"PNG has always been a country that has celebrated league. I think if you look at a lot of other Pacific nations, there's been a leaning more towards union. But PNG, staunch rugby league fans."
When the Hunters joined the Queensland cup in 2014, there was one thing on the minds of a lot of the fans.
"This is the first step to get into the NRL."
Since then, even PNG's Prime Minister James Marape has been calling for a team.
"Rugby league is a dominant sport, and so having a team in National Rugby League competition for us will be a force to unite a nation that is so diverse."
And now, 10 years later, the NRL is looking to expand.
There's currently 17 teams in the competition: 16 based in Australia, and one in New Zealand.
The NRL wants to see 20 teams in the comp by 2030, and they say they would be open to the idea of at least two of those teams coming from overseas.
So PNG has a love of the game, the ambition to join the NRL, and one more key ingredient: the support of the Australian Government.
"The new team will belong to the people of Papua New Guinea. It will call Port Moresby home, and I know it will have millions, literally, of proud fans barracking for it from day one."
Australia has promised to sink $600 million into the initiative across the next 10 years.
$290 million goes directly to the franchise, and $60 million to the NRL as a licensing fee.
$250 million is to be spent on broader rugby league programs in the Pacific.
That contribution is capped, and is limited to the 10 years - the NRL can't ask for more money after the 10 years.
The Australian Government is able to withdraw its support at any time, and if that happens within the 10 years the NRL has to withdraw the franchise.
The funding is to start now, and the team will enter the competition in 2028.
Prime Minister Marape says it's a monumental day.
"To embrace a team from Papua New Guinea is monumental decision that will stand as pivotal in anchoring the PNG Australia relationship, and the Pacific relationship. In the heart of every foreign relation(ship) lies people-to-people relations."
Now this is starting to look a lot like a particular kind of soft diplomacy, as David Andrews from the ANU's National Security College explains.
"Sports diplomacy is, in some respects, what it says on the tin. It's a way of using sport and other diverse aspects of society and culture to extend Australia's diplomatic interests. It's moving beyond traditional forms of overseas development assistance and foreign aid into thinking about, well, what do these communities (want), what are they asking for? What do they want? And how can Australia support that? I don't want to reduce this to say it's all about China, by no means, it's very much about Papua New Guinea and their needs and their preferences. But it is also fair to say that China has been involved in different forms of diplomacy and development assistance around the Pacific as well."
And that's the thing.
China is spending big in the Pacific, and Australia has taken notice.
But can they keep up?
In 2022 during the Australian election, China's security pact with the Solomon Islands became a major talking point, which led to Anthony Albanese saying this:
"Australia needs to be a partner of choice in the Pacific."
So why PNG?
PNG is actually Australia's closest neighbour.
It's less than four kilometres away and strategically important.
It has vast untapped mineral resources, and it's also one of the largest countries in this part of the Pacific, and highly influential when it comes to South Pacific issues.
Australia is the biggest donor of aid in the Pacific.
But when it comes to infrastructure, China is outspending Australia five to one.
David Andrews says Australia is looking at areas where China just can't compete.
"There's a special advantage that Australia has, particularly in the Pacific and in sports like rugby league, rugby union, football as well, that there's a strong affinity for those sports in those countries. So it's trying to build on our strengths to respect the interests and preferences of the Pacific Island countries and provide that support. At the same time, we have to be cautious not to just apply the China label to everything - that not everything is because of China. All of this is just because of we want to be good neighbours and good partners and good friends to countries in the Pacific."
So supporting an NRL bid could be seen as sports diplomacy or an opportunity to get PNG on side.
Professor Ravulo says the impact is deeper than that.
"There are other flow-on effects associated with sports development. It's about being able to, again, value add to local communities, to provide opportunities for children and young people to see possibilities through the game, but just not from a sporting point of view. We know from research that people's engagement in sport does flow on to other outcomes: they're better engaged in their learning in schools; they're better engaged in their local friendship groups; they feel connected; they feel like they've got something that they can contribute to."
And it could offer PNG more autonomy.
"When we think about development in the Pacific region, generally it's on the terms of those that are partnering with the region. So basically Australia will give monies and it's like, well no, you need to develop on our terms based on we're funding you, but if we are genuinely going to develop in a sustainable way, we need to work alongside local communities, and what they want and what they want is a national rugby league team."
Now there are concerns about the logistics of how this team will work.
How will it attract players?
Who will want to coach it?
Will it be financially sustainable without the Australian Government propping it up?
And is it fair to all the other NRL teams that just one team is getting so much money?
The federal Coalition is also tentative about the deal, saying some more detail is needed, and reassurance it won't detract from other programs in the Pacific.
A lot of that will become apparent down the line.
But for now, on a diplomatic level Australia's commitment to a PNG NRL team, on the face of it, has a lot of benefits, and it seems like something PNG actually wants.
For the NRL, this could see a huge groundswell of supporters.
And at the end of the day, this is a pretty big moment for a country that is rugby league-obsessed.
