The chairman of Papua New Guinea Rugby League, Albert Veratau, says the country must work to ensure it enters a franchise in Australia's NRL competition.
He says the whole country supports the concept of having a team in the National Rugby League, and he envisages it could become a reality in 10 years time.
In its latest budgetary allocations, PNG's government provides for a scoping mission to assess what is required to enter a team.
Mr Veratau says the mission is working closely with Paul Broughton, who spearheaded the Gold Coast Titans' successful bid to enter the NRL in 2007, to get an accurate idea of the preparation needed.
"You're looking at ten-year window to put all the necessary things together such as the business model, such as the playing facilities, basically the sponsors put together, the business arm that's going to fund the whole franchise and the whole lot and you know, I couldn't ask for a better person (to seek advice from) than Paul, the person behind the Titans."
Albert Veratau.
