Papua New Guinea National Rugby League
| Current season or competition: | |
| Sport | Rugby league |
|---|---|
| Formerly known as | SP Inter-City Cup (1990–2008) Bemobile Cup (2009–10) Digicel Cup (2011–2022) |
| Instituted | 1990 |
| Inaugural season | 1990 (as SP Inter-City Cup) |
| Holders | Rabaul Gurias (2026) |
| Most titles | Rabaul Gurias (7 titles) |
The Papua New Guinea National Rugby League Competition (or the PNGNRL for short, for sponsorship reasons the PNGNRL Digicel-ExxonMobil Cup) is a semi-professional rugby league competition held annually in Papua New Guinea. Changes in sponsorship have meant that it was formerly known as the SP Inter-City Cup or SP Cup (1990–2008) and later the Bemobile Cup (2009–2010). The current competition is sponsored by pacific telecommunications giant Digicel and new co-naming rights sponsor ExxonMobil[1] (one of the world's largest publicly traded oil and gas companies) which joined in 2023 and so it is currently called the Digicel-ExxonMobil Cup.[2]
History
[edit]Previous to 2005 the PNG NRL was called the SP Inter-City Cup. The national competition was known as the SP Cup, and has been held since 1990. No national club competition was held in 2004. The PNGRFL instead staged a national zone championship, won by Southern Zone, who beat Highlands Zone 22–4 in the final at Lae to take the SP Shield and K4,000 in prize money.[3] The development plan the PNGRFL published that month set the start of a new national competition for April 2005.[4] The competition returned for the 2005 season as the new-look PNGNRL.
The 2005 season had eight teams in total from all around Papua New Guinea. In 2006, one team was relegated (Monier Broncos) to make way for two new teams, Central Raiders and Pagini Warriors. The winner of the relaunched competition in 2005 was the Agmark Gurias, who beat the Brian Bell Bulldogs in Port Moresby.[citation needed]
In 2009, the local mobile telecommunications company Bemobile took over from SP Brewery as the competition's major sponsor. Nine teams competed at that time. [5]

On February 9, 2011, telecommucations company Digicel who has taken over the industry in PNG since its operation started in 2007, announced that it will be sponsoring PNG's premier sporting event for the next five years.[6]
Sponsorship Names
[edit]- SP Inter-City Cup – (1990–2008)
- Bemobile Cup – (2009–10)
- Digicel Cup – (2011–2022)
- Digicel-ExxonMobil Cup – (2023–present)
Teams
[edit]| 2025 Digicel Cup Teams | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Stadium | City/Area | ||
| Oil Search National Football Stadium | Port Moresby, National Capital District | |||
| Johnson Siki Aipus | Wabag, Enga Province | |||
| National Sports Institute | Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province | |||
| Oil Search National Football Stadium | Kerema, Gulf Province | |||
| Oil Search National Football Stadium | Tari Hela Province | |||
| Muthuvel Stadium | Kimbe, West New Britain Province | |||
| Lae League Oval | Lae, Morobe Province | |||
| Joseph Keviame Oval | Mendi, Southern Highlands Province | |||
| Rebiamul Oval | Mt. Hagen, Western Highlands Province | |||
| Oil Search National Football Stadium | Port Moresby, National Capital District | |||
| Kalabond Oval | Kokopo, East New Britain Province | |||
| Minj Oval | Minj, Jiwaka Province | |||
History of Premiers
[edit]This section needs more citations. (September 2026) |
Performance by team
[edit]| Team | Win | Runners Up | Winning years | Runners Up years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rabaul Gurias | 7 | 8 | 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2026 | 1999, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2011, 2016, 2017, 2022 |
| Goroka Lahanis | 5 | 6 | 1993, 1999, 2010, 2011, 2018 | 1994, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2013, 2023 |
| Port Moresby Vipers | 5 | 2 | 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 2013 | 1993, 2005 (as Port Moresby Bulldogs) |
| Lae Snax Tigers | 5 | 1 | 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2025 | 2020 |
| Mendi Muruks | 4 | 6 | 1996, 2006, 2007, 2008 | 1995, 1998, 2010, 2012, 2025, 2026 |
| Mt Hagen Eagles | 3 | 4 | 1997, 1998, 2024 | 1990, 1991, 1992, 2008 |
| Hela Wigmen | 3 | 2 | 2014, 2020, 2022 | 2019, 2024 |
| Lae Bombers | 2 | 2 | 1995, 2002 | 1997, 2003 |
| Enga Mioks | 2 | 2 | 2000, 2023 | 2009, 2018 |
| Waghi Tumbe | 0 | 1 | 2021 | |
| TNA Simbu Lions | 0 | 1 | 2015 | |
| Kundiawa Warriors | 0 | 1 | 1996 | |
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "ExxonMobil becomes co-sponsor of PNGNRL Digicel ExxonMobil Cup". 17 March 2023.
- ↑ "Digicel Exxon Mobil Cup Launched". 14 April 2023.
- ↑ Ivaharia, Joe (14 September 2004). "Sauten Zon i sempion bilong PNGRFL SP Zon salens" [Southern Zone are champions of the PNGRFL SP zone challenge] (PDF). Wantok Niuspepa (in Tok Pisin). No. 1574. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
- ↑ Zuvani, Paul (9 September 2004). "PNGRFL Lig Divelopmen Plen: namba tu hap" [PNGRFL league development plan, part two] (PDF). Wantok Niuspepa (in Tok Pisin). No. 1573. p. 30. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
- ↑ "Bemobile Cup - PNG National Rugby League: About Bemobile Cup". Archived from the original on 7 February 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ↑ "Post-Courier Online". Retrieved 18 October 2010.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ↑ "Sports news". Archived from the original on 22 June 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
- ↑ EMTV Online (9 September 2012). "Gurias wins 2012 Digicel Cup Title". Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2018 – via YouTube.
- ↑ "PNG's Number One Daily Newspaper! - The National". The National. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ↑ "Gurias win 2015 Digicel Cup - Loop PNG". looppng.com. 5 September 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ↑ "Naru thanks Tigers for winning the 2016 Digicel Cup - Loop PNG". looppng.com. 5 September 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ↑ "Tigers are 2017 Digicel Cup champions! - Loop PNG". looppng.com. 9 September 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ↑ "Lahanis scoop coveted trophy! - Loop PNG". looppng.com. 2 September 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
- ↑ Patjole, Cedric (8 September 2019). "Lae Tigers ultimate 2019 winners". Loop PNG. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
- ↑ "Wigmen avenge defeat – the National".
- ↑ "Tigers Claim Fourth Premiership". 13 September 2021.