Papua New Guinea is leading the race to become the 18th NRL team in 2025, beating out the competition from Brisbane and Perth.

Cairns is expected to become the Australian base for the PNG NRL and NRLW teams, with most games being played in Port Moresby.

Andrew Hill, is leading the PNG bid, and he told Peter Psaltis on Wide World of Sports, “…There’s no secret that our bid is supported by the Australian Government…our consorting is actually from the government of PNG, so to have two Prime Ministers and two governments supporting the bid is a pretty unique situation…”

Hear more highlights from Peter Psaltis below: 

Image: Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Image