PNG Kumuls On Wrong End Of Rugby League World Cup Pay Divide

PAPUA NEW GUINEA's Kumuls are among 13 nations staring down a massive pay gap ahead of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup, with Australian players guaranteed almost 10 times more money than the rest of the international field for pulling on their national jersey.

The Kangaroos have locked in a flat payment of A$40,000 (K124,984) per player just for selection, while the Kumuls and every other competing nation will receive only A$850 (K2,655) a match from tournament organisers, a gap that has stirred fresh debate over fairness in the international game.

The figures, first reported by The Sydney Morning Herald and backed up by later reports, lay bare just how far apart Australia sits from the rest of the world when it comes to player payments at this year's tournament.

Working off the official match fees, a player from any of the other 13 nations would need to feature in every fixture and reach the grand final just to walk away with A$4,250 (K13,279) in total. Even then, that figure falls well short of the flat A$40,000 handed to each Kangaroo before a ball is kicked.

For PNG, the timing could hardly be sharper. The Kumuls are building towards hosting World Cup matches on home soil and have been drawn into a difficult Group C alongside England, Samoa and Lebanon.

Fans in the capital will get to see the Kumuls face Samoa and Lebanon at the Santos National Football Stadium in Port Moresby, before the side crosses the Coral Sea to take on England.

Much of the gap comes down to money in the bank. Australia's rugby league bosses run a far bigger commercial operation and were able to strike the A$40,000 deal for their players through negotiations between the Australian Rugby League Commission and the Rugby League Players' Association.

Everyone else is left working off the tournament's base rate, topped up only if their own governing body can find the cash. For PNG and several of its Pacific neighbours, stretching the budget that far has long been a struggle.

The pay gap has also crept into a trickier conversation, one about loyalty. A number of established NRL players eligible to play for more than one country have reportedly been weighing up a switch in allegiance toward Pacific nations such as Samoa and Tonga, fully aware it could cost them a considerable payday compared to lining up for Australia.

For the Kumuls, the stakes are rising by the season. PNG now has a growing pipeline of talent coming through the NRL and Queensland Cup, and expectations around the team have lifted after the country locked in four home fixtures for the World Cup.

What it all means in practical terms is simple enough: whatever happens on the field, the players wearing the Kumuls jersey will be paid a fraction of what their Australian counterparts take home for the same tournament.