One of the highest-profile Papua New Guinean players in the NRL, Wests Tigers centre Justin Olam, has argued its capital city is not as dangerous as it's made out to be as the league prepares to introduce a team based in Port Moresby.
Olam is also hopeful the pathways rugby league program being implemented in PNG will result in more than half of the NRL team consisting of home-grown talent rather than imported players.
Port Moresby is the fourth-most dangerous city in the world to live, according to Oxford Economics' Global Cities Index.
And although the NRL decided the team would be based out of and play home games at Port Moresby, rather than in Queensland's north, the league's choice to have the team and players' families living in a compound is a reflection of the city's precarious reputation.
Olam played down those fears in an interview with Wide World of Sports.
"I think the media try to paint PNG as a dangerous place, but it's not; PNG is a good place. If you go there by yourself and you experience it, most of the people are really friendly. I think PNG media needs to do a good job of reporting the good things PNG do, because Australia paints a bad picture of PNG people," Olam said.
Justin Olam of Papua New Guinea tries to bust through a tackle. Getty
"… I'm not saying it [PNG] is perfect, but there's good parts and bad parts of every society in the world. There are parts in Australia where, when I first moved here, they said, 'Don't go there, this, this, this'.
"The boys that go over there [to PNG] to play are going to be heroes. The kids and the community will love them, and the team living there, it will work."
The PNG Hunters joined the Queensland Cup in 2014 and won the tournament in 2017, yet Olam is the only NRL player the Hunters have produced.
Joey Grima, who has coaching experience in the NRL and Super League and at international level with PNG and Malta, is running a pathways program that includes 720 male and female participants.
"If it's PNG as a team you want more than half of it to be your local kids from home getting an opportunity," Olam said.
"Judging from the Kumuls boys playing in the Pacific Bowl, I think half of those don't have NRL experience, [whether] training or coaching. So when you put that in I think we're going to have a very good team."
The likelihood of Olam playing for the NRL's PNG expansion team appears slim given he's 31 and the fact he had surgery on both knees late last season.
When PNG joins the competition in 2028, either as the NRL's 18th or 19th team, Olam will be 34.
But regardless of whether it's in a role on or off the field, Olam said he wanted to play a part in a venture dear to his heart.
Justin Olam celebrates with teammates after a PNG try. Getty
"I would love to play for them but I don't know how I'm going now with my injuries. Fingers crossed," said Olam, who's contracted to the Tigers until the end of 2026.
"I would definitely like to play for them or help in any way I can because that's history for a PNG team to come into the NRL. For me, I love playing for PNG. Playing for the Kumuls is something I hold close to my heart, and if I go back and help in one way or another that's something I'd like to do."
He pictures himself launching a foundation in PNG after retiring from the NRL, as well as running coaching clinics.
"It's always my passion to help young kids [and] to inspire them in one way or another," said the former Storm star.
"Even if it's with the [PNG] team or without the team, I will always help.
"I want there to always be a pathway for kids back at home, and it doesn't have to be in sport; it can be with anything."
