{"id":151,"date":"2026-04-27T06:17:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T06:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/?p=151"},"modified":"2026-04-27T06:17:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T06:17:03","slug":"papua-new-guinea-rugby-football-league-reports-strong-growth-governance-progress-and-record-participation-%f0%9f%8f%89-%f0%9f%a4%9d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/?p=151","title":{"rendered":"Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League Reports Strong Growth, Governance Progress and Record Participation \ud83c\udfc9 \ud83e\udd1d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mount Hagen, 02nd April, 2026: The Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League (PNGRFL) 2025 Annual General Meeting was held in Mt Hagen on the 28th of March. PNGRFL has reported a year of strong growth across governance, community development, financial performance, and player pathways, reinforcing its commitment to a sustainable and inclusive future for the game.<br><br>A key milestone was the increase in the compliant affiliated leagues from 37 to 63, reflecting strengthened governance standards and improved alignment nationwide.<br><br>PNGRFL Chairman Sandis Tsaka said the progress signals a stronger foundation for the game.<br><br>\u201cThe growth in compliant leagues from 37 to 63 is a significant achievement. It reflects stronger governance, better systems, and the commitment of our community and game development teams across the country. We are also seeing growing confidence in PNGRFL as a financially responsible organisation. With audits up to date and strong financial performance, our partners and sponsors continue to invest in the game. Most importantly, we are building for the future \u2014 strengthening pathways, supporting the PNG Hunters program, and creating opportunities for the next generation.\u201d<br><br>Participation continues to rise, with more than 15,000 registered players, while the launch of the National Youth Competition (NYC) Under 19s has further strengthened the pathway to elite rugby league.<br><br>PNGRFL Chief Executive Officer Stanley Hondina said increased investment at the community level is delivering results.<br><br>\u201cThe real work of our game happens at the community level, and that is where we have focused our investment. Strengthening our presence on the ground is now translating into growth and stronger engagement nationwide. While feedback from our members is encouraging, there is more work to do. Our focus is on equipping leagues with the technical capacity \u2014 both on and off the field \u2014 to meet standards and continue to grow.t the same time, we are ensuring clear and accessible pathways. Our role is to provide opportunities for players to progress from community rugby league through to academies, national competitions, and elite programs. We are now seeing stronger alignment across the system \u2014 from grassroots to PNG National Rugby League Competitions, PNG Hunters, PNG Chiefs, and our national teams \u2014 creating a more connected and sustainable rugby league ecosystem.\u201d<br><br>Read More: <a href=\"https:\/\/lnkd.in\/gNAdqdHt\">https:\/\/lnkd.in\/gNAdqdHt<\/a><br><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/search\/results\/all\/?keywords=%23pngrflagm2026&amp;origin=HASH_TAG_FROM_FEED\">hashtag#PNGRFLAGM2026<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/search\/results\/all\/?keywords=%23grassrootsparticipation&amp;origin=HASH_TAG_FROM_FEED\">hashtag#GrassrootsParticipation<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/search\/results\/all\/?keywords=%23crl&amp;origin=HASH_TAG_FROM_FEED\">hashtag#CRL<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/search\/results\/all\/?keywords=%23pngrflacademy&amp;origin=HASH_TAG_FROM_FEED\">hashtag#PNGRFLAcademy<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/search\/results\/all\/?keywords=%23pathways&amp;origin=HASH_TAG_FROM_FEED\">hashtag#Pathways<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/search\/results\/all\/?keywords=%23gamedevelopment&amp;origin=HASH_TAG_FROM_FEED\">hashtag#GameDevelopment<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/search\/results\/all\/?keywords=%23growingthegame&amp;origin=HASH_TAG_FROM_FEED\">hashtag#GrowingTheGame<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/search\/results\/all\/?keywords=%23capacitybuilding&amp;origin=HASH_TAG_FROM_FEED\">hashtag#CapacityBuilding<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"156\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775091946369-1-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-156\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775091946369-1-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775091946369-1-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775091946369-1-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775091946369-1-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775091946369-1.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"159\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775091946219-1-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-159\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775091946219-1-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, 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PNGRFL has reported a year of strong growth across governance, community development, financial performance, and player pathways, reinforcing its commitment to a sustainable and inclusive future for the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_angie_page":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digicel-cup","pmpro-has-access"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775091947192.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=151"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160,"href":"https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions\/160"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pngrfl.org.pg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}