NRL star details extraordinary PNG Chiefs buzz following gruelling pre-season adventure

Sydney Roosters star Connor Watson says there’s an extraordinary level of excitement building in Papua New Guinea ahead of the NRL’s historic expansion into the nation.

The Chiefs, set to be based in Port Moresby, won’t enter the NRL until the start of 2028 – and plenty of detail is still to be confirmed including their head coach.

Watson was part of a group of 16 Roosters players and staff that recently completed the gruelling 96-kilometre long Kokoda Trail through PNG’s Owen Stanley Range as part of their pre-season schedule.

That trek was designed to strengthen unity within the Roosters squad, but also offered the players and staff an insight into PNG‘s deep-rooted connection with the game, which will only be enhanced over the next few years via the Chiefs.

29-year-old Watson, who also stars in State of Origin for New South Wales, spoke about the Roosters’ experience during their time in PNG on the SEN 1170 Breakfast radio show Down Under.

He said: “When we got over there, there was a massive buzz.

“Every day, the back page was about who’s coaching PNG [Chiefs] or what player they’re getting. Even the porters we walked with were rugby league mad.”

Like most of the group of 16 Roosters that took on the Kokoda Trail, it was Watson’s first time visiting PNG, a nation which has come under scrutiny for concerns around safety and logistics since the Chiefs’ entry into the NRL was rubber-stamped.

Rubbishing those concerns, Dubbo-born Watson explained: “I’d never been over there before, and to see a country where rugby league is the major sport, and just their reaction to it, it’s awesome.

“It’s obviously going to be a challenge being a different country, but the passion of the Papua New Guineans… if you’re playing for them, you wouldn’t want to let them down!” - Love Rugby League