The PNG Hunters visit Hastings Deering 

Hastings Deering welcomed players from the Papua New Guinea Hunters rugby league team and their management to site for a meet and greet and site tour last Friday.

Due to the complications associated with international borders and COVID, the PNG Hunters had to relocate to Australia in 2021 to compete in the Intrust Super Cup.

The winners of the 2017 Intrust Super Cup completed a 31-day quarantine, spread between Port Moresby and Brisbane at the start of the year and have been based in Runaway Bay since February this year.

Hastings Deering has a 70 plus year history with PNG and is a proud employer more than 350 people across 7 sites in Papua New Guinea.

Manager of PNG & Solomon Islands Andrew Dare spoke at the visit “Like the wonderful people of PNG, Hastings Deering has a strong family culture, and we are thrilled to showcase our relationship with the PNG Hunters, as it reflects our shared values and joint connection with Papua New Guinea. Hastings Deering was proud to have the Hunters on site today, reinforcing our commitment to supporting the team while they are based here in Queensland.”

The 2020 Queensland Cup was cancelled after one round due to Covid-19 and the Hunters risked being left out of the competition for good if they did not find a way to participate in 2021.

The move was a ground-breaking decision for PNG, relocating one of their national teams, a national franchise, into Queensland.

The PNG Rugby Football League Board hope the move will be the start of the journey towards PNG, one day in the future, filling an NRL team.