Papua New Guinea Prime Minister's XIII, or sometimes informally referred to as the PNG PM's XIII, is the name of a representative

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

team, comprising Papua New Guinean players from the

Papua New Guinea National Rugby League The Papua New Guinea National Rugby League Competition (or the PNGNRL for short, for sponsorship reasons the PNGNRL Digicel Cup) is a semi-professional rugby league competition held annually in Papua New Guinea. Changes in Sponorship have mean ...

PNG Hunters The Papua New Guinea Hunters (PNG Hunters) are a professional rugby league football club based in Papua New Guinea. They were formed in December 2013 and currently compete in the Queensland Rugby League, currently called the Hostplus Cup, a se ...

and other overseas clubs. The team is selected to play an annual fixture against Australian Prime Minister's XIII in Papua New Guinea in the final weeks of the rugby league season.

History

The PNG Prime Minister's XIII first played against their Australian counterparts in 2005 at

Lloyd Robson Oval PNG Football Stadium (known as ''Lloyd Robson Oval'' until 2015) is a sporting ground in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. It hosted three games for the 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup. It has been the home ground for the Papua New Guinea nat ...

in the Papua New Guinean capital,

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

. The team was coached in that match by former

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

team head coach Bob Bennett. The side has also been coached by former Papua New Guinean internationals

Adrian Lam Adrian Lam (born 25 August 1970) is a Papua New Guinean professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Super League Club Leigh Leopards (was Leigh Centurions), and a former rugby league footballer. He played for the Sydney Rooste ...

and

Stanley Gene Stanley Gene (born 11 May 1974) is a Papua New Guinean former rugby league Kumul (#166) player and professional Assistant Coach (Defence) of the Hull Kingston Rovers. He previously coached Gateshead Thunder and the academy team at Hull Kings ...

and is currently coached by Michael Marum, who played for the team in 2005. Originally played in Port Moresby, in recent years the games have been held in various locations around Papua New Guinea, including Lae and Kokopo. Unlike regular international matches, each team is allowed a five-man bench and given unlimited interchanges throughout the match. Originally, the team was made up of players predominantly from the local

competition. In recent years, players from the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

Intrust Super Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by four ...

and English

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

have also been selected. The match is also used to promote rugby league, as well as humanitarian causes such as HIV and AIDS awareness, among the Papua New Guinean community. The PNG PM's XIII has never won a match against Australia since the annual fixture commenced, but managed a 24–24 draw in 2007, after trailing 20–0 at half time. In 2019, the PNG PM's XIII did not play the Australian side, who instead faced the Fiji Prime Minister's XIII.

Results

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2022

Players

Captains

* Keith Peters (2006–2007, 2009) *

(2008) *

Paul Aiton Paul Aiton (born 1985) is a Papua New Guinean former professional rugby league footballer who is the current assistant coach of both the PNG Hunters in the Queensland Cup and the PNG Kumuls. A Papua New Guinea international representative , A ...

(2010–2011) * Charlie Wabo (2013) * Israel Eliab (2014) * Albert Patak (2015) * Ase Boas (2016) * Charlie Simon (2017) * David Mead (2018)

Coaches

* Bob Bennett (2005) *

(2006–2009, 2011–2013) *

(2010) * Michael Marum (2014, 2016, 2018) *

Mal Meninga Malcolm Norman Meninga (; born 8 July 1960) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Australian national team and a former professional rugby league footballer. Meninga is widely regarded as one of the fin ...

(2014) * Stanley Tepend (2015, 2017, 2022)

Records

Individual

* Most games ** 8 Rodney Pora (2005–2012) ** 7

(2006–2008, 2010–2011, 2013) ** 7 Jessie Joe Nandye (2005, 2007–2011, 2013) ** 7 Charlie Wabo (2005, 2007–2008, 2010–2013) ** 6 Larsen Marabe (2008–2013) * Most tries ** 3 Nickson Kolo ** 3 Jessie Joe Nandye ** 3 Menzie Yere * Most points ** 16 Glen Nami ** 12 Nickson Kolo ** 12 Jessie Joe Nandye ** 12 Menzie Yere * Most tries in a match ** 2 Tom O'Reilly (2006) ** 2

(2008) ** 2 Menzie Yere (2008) ** 2 Nickson Kolo (2010) ** 2 Thompson Teteh (2014) * Most points in a match ** 10 Rhyse Martin (2018)

References

{{International Rugby League Papua New Guinean rugby league teams P National rugby league teams Rugby clubs established in 2005 2005 establishments in Papua New Guinea