PNG football boss Michael Chammas says "short-sighted" critics of the Chiefs' tax-free salary cap need to expand their thinking beyond the footy field.
Announced this week, Jarome Luai's three-year deal to become the Chiefs' first player represented a significant coup for the NRL's 19th team, set to join the competition from 2028.
The four-time premiership winner is poised to help convince other NRL players to make the big move to rugby league-mad PNG, where a slice of history and tax-free salaries are both on offer.
"I remember reading things six to 12 months ago where people were saying this team would be a rabble and it would fold," Chammas said.
"Now we're sitting here with Jarome Luai as our first signing, and the narrative has shifted to it being unfair."
The team's offering of tax-free salaries are seen as a way to motivate players to uproot from Australia to PNG, which faces high crime rates and other challenges.
With more than $10 million worth of salary cap space still to use for their inaugural season, the Chiefs are poised for more big moves.
Chammas said it was in everyone's interest that the NRL's PNG move worked out, with the Chiefs regarded as a diplomatic play for the Australian Government in the Pacific, and a way to further expand the league.
"To the people criticising us around having that (tax-free) advantage, I think it's short-sighted," Chammas said.
"The game will benefit from having PNG thrive.
"To have a country with 10 million people whose footy team is thriving is what we want to achieve as a game. I can understand clubs have self-interest in making sure they don't lose players, but it's bigger than that."
Luai's signing comes as fellow expansion side the Perth Bears struggle to land a marquee player of their own, some six months after a swathe of talent hit the open market for their inaugural 2027 season.
None of the Bears' 16 contracted players featured in last year's State of Origin series and only two have played on NRL premiership teams: Penrith bench forwards Scott Sorensen and Liam Henry.
The tax-free salaries on offer in PNG mean players can offer much more significant windfall than the Bears, who are not receiving extra salary cap assistance from the NRL.
Luai's arrival has now made the Chiefs an even more enticing prospect for players looking for a change of pace.
Asked whether the Chiefs' entry and early roster success would hurt the Bears, Chammas backed Mal Meninga's side.
"We know that with Mal Meninga at the helm, they'll build a strong roster. They're coming in a year before us, so we hope they have success and we hope we fall on the back of it," he said.
"The game needs success."
