People throughout Papua New Guinea will have the chance to see the Rugby League World Cup 2017 (RLWC2017) trophy.
The Paul Barrière Trophy will tour PNG in months leading up to the tournament.
The RLWC2017 is scheduled from October 26-December 2 and will be co-hosted by Australia, New Zealand and PNG.
RLWC2017 tournament partner, Oil Search, will take part in significant programs within the community with RLWC over the next 10 months.
This includes the Paul Barrière Trophy tour across the country where Oil Search will have the naming rights to the trophy tour.
RLWC2017 general manager commercial and marketing, Rohan Sawyer, said they aim to take this great trophy to all people in PNG.
Sawyer revealed that they want to get the trophy out there so that everyone will feel, touch and see what the RLWC is all about.
Oil Search managing director Peter Botten said taking the Paul Barrière Trophy around many places in PNG is going to be exciting because rugby league is the national sport.
Botten said going out to the villages and many remote places is a great opportunity to involve the country during the tournament as very few people have the chance to watch the world cup matches.
The National Football Stadium will host the PNG Kumuls’ three pool matches against Wales (October 28), Ireland (November 5) and the USA (November 12).
“We’ll bring the World Cup closer and also demonstrate the culture and the wonderful support that rugby league has in this country to the rest of the world,” Botten said.
He added that the tournament will showcase PNG and our diverse culture to the rest of the world.
The RLWC2017 will be televised in over 110 countries.