PNG's NRL Bid still on

Papua New Guinea says it has not abandoned plans to have a team in the Australian National Rugby League competition.

PNG Sports Minister, Justin Tkatchenko, says the government will continue to support preparations for a team to enter the sport in the future, after the NRL announced they will not accept any new teams until the end of the 2018 season.

The PNG government has changed the bid name from PNG NRL Bid Team to PNG Rugby League Foundation to reflect the change.

Mr Tkatchenko says the focus has shifted to developing a pathway through the lower levels of the sport by first gaining entry into the Queensland Cup.

"It's a positive move, because we've got support from all the Australian members of parliament in different sectors," Mr Tkatchenko said.

"One thing that was said very clearly was that we didn't want to lose focus of actually wanting to get ourselves into the NRL in the future."

The chairman of the new foundation and National Capital District Governor, Powes Parkop, says the name change does not mean PNG is abandoning its dream to get a team in the NRL.

He says the foundation is now planning to run its own competition, scout for players and start the process of getting an NRL License.

"Again, I emphasise that we are not abandoning the dream of fans and rugby league players," Mr Parkop said.

"We're just changing the pathway."

Chief Executive Officer, Brad Tassel, says it aims to have a team into the Queensland Cup competition by 2014, which he says will prove it deserves to be considered for the NRL.

He says most of the players will come from its National All Schools Competition across the country.

"We have every intention of identifying players around the country who we believe have the necessary skills, attitude, to be able to step up," Mr Tassel said.

"They need a full-time program to be able to go from here to there, and I believe under a Queensland Cup program that they will do that."

He says the Queensland Cup competition management has given positive indications for PNG to enter a team next year.

ABC