Rugby League... PNG style

ELIZABETH JACKSON: Australian sports fans are gearing up for this weekend's National Rugby League grand final between the Sydney Roosters and the St George Illawarra Dragons.

But the passion of Australian league fans pales in comparison to their Papua New Guinean counterparts.

Rugby league is PNG's national sport and the people follow Australia's NRL competition with a near-religious fervour.

Liam Fox witnessed that fanaticism when the Australian Prime Minister's XIII travelled to Port Moresby to play PNG last week.

LIAM FOX: Last year I made the mistake of taking my wallet with me to cover the arrival of the Australian Pm's XIII to Port Moresby's airport. It was stolen while I was jostled in the throng of people who'd come to catch a glimpse of their sporting heroes.

This year I left my wallet at the office. Hundreds of league fans pressed themselves up against the fence beside the International Terminal. They went absolutely crazy when the team walked from the building and people chanted the names of their favourite players.

Many in the crowd told me they'd come to see Matt Bowen, the Aboriginal fullback from the North Queensland Cowboys.

For many of the Australians this was their first trip to PNG. They would have been told what to expect but some still wore looks of mild shock on their faces. The team buses were mobbed as they left the gates. People slapped their hands against the windows and children chased them as they drove off.

Welcome to PNG, home of the world's most passionate rugby league fans.

Two days later thousands of people queued up to get tickets to watch the Australians play the PNG Kumuls As I drove up to Lloyd Robson Oval, children clambered up the high steel walls, ducked their heads under the barbed wire and disappeared into the ground.

Heavily armed police kept the crowd under control.

It was a different story at last year's match when the thousands who missed out on tickets pelted rocks into the ground.

The crowd inside responded with their own missiles until police dispersed the mob outside with a few gunshots into the air.

This year's match wasn't without off field excitement though. Minutes before kick off, the roof over one of the stands partially collapsed under the weight of the people sitting on top.
The crowd underneath panicked, surged out of the stands, over a barbed wire fence and onto the field.

Fortunately no one was injured.

When the match finally got underway, the Kumuls put in a surprisingly good performance. They kept Australia to just one try in the first half and delivered some bone-crunching tackles.

The floodgates opened after the break with the visitors crossing the line five times but the home side scored three tries of their own.

The crowd loved the Australians but the roar when a local boy scored was deafening.

The final score was Australia 30, PNG 18 - a much smaller margin than in previous years.

After the match the visitors walked around the field and waved to the crowd. At first the fans held back, then a few brave souls leapt the fences. Then there was a swarm of people trying to reach the Australians, to touch them, to get a photo.

Police armed with sticks and fan belts - yes, that's right, fan belts - tried to beat people away but they were vastly outnumbered.

One small boy ran back into the crowd clutching a pair of green and gold socks. Another managed to score a player's sweaty shorts.

Despite the chaos, the Australians took it in their stride, aware that the frenzy was good natured. When they finally managed to leave the field and get onto their buses, people still crowded around and followed them out of the ground.

I'd been stuck in the car park waiting for traffic to clear but when the team buses went past, I slipped in behind and followed them out.

It was chaos on the street. Thousands of people ran along both sides of the road and occasionally somebody would dart across in front of the car.

Then they began throwing rocks. I'm not sure if the Australians copped any but I sure did and was worried I was going to lose a window. Why people started throwing rocks I don't know.

Perhaps they were jealous that I was so close to their idols or that I could follow them in a car but it was another example of the passions rugby league inflames in PNG.

ELIZABETH JACKSON: Liam Fox with that report.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au