New Zealand Rugby has launched legal action against the Australian Rugby League Commission [ARLC] over the name of the NRL’s incoming Papua New Guinea team.
Join RUCK’s Instagram broadcast channel and get the latest rugby news straight to your phone.
The PNG [Papa New Guinea] Chiefs are due to enter the NRL in 2028. However, NZ Rugby is seeking to stop the franchise using the name of “Chiefs”, “PNG Chiefs” or anything similar in New Zealand.
The dispute centres on the Hamilton-based Chiefs in Super Rugby, as the New Zealand side have used the name since 1996.
NZ Rugby says it owns the trademark rights to the word “Chiefs” and the Chiefs logo in New Zealand. It has also held trademark protection for the logo in Australia since 1998.
The governing body claims the new NRL team could cause “significant confusion and damage" as both clubs will operate in overlapping markets and compete for many of the same fans.
NZ Rugby chief executive Steve Lancaster said, the organisation had spent the past year trying to resolve the dispute with the ARLC.
“For 30 years the Chiefs and their players have built an incredibly strong identity that is widely recognised and loved by fans,” Lancaster said to FOX Sports.
“We have raised our concerns with the ARLC directly and consistently over the last year in attempting to find a resolution. We now have a responsibility to protect the Chiefs brand.”
Lancaster insisted the legal action was not about opposing rugby league’s growth in the Pacific.
“We want to be absolutely clear, this is not about rugby league’s growth in the Pacific.
"We welcome the development of the Pacific region through sport and the passion that the people of Papua New Guinea have for both rugby and rugby league,” he said to ESPN.
[Super Rugby] Chiefs CEO Simon Graafhuis said the name carried a strong regional identity.
“Here in New Zealand, when people hear ‘the Chiefs’, they think of this club and this region,” Graafhuis said, reported by ESPN.
“Teams in different sports and markets can exist alongside one another with the same name, but the issue here is the similarity of our sports competing in the same market, for the same fans, in overlapping windows.”
The PNG Chiefs are due to reveal their logo and official jersey on October 21st, according to The Sporting News Australia.
UPDATE: ARLC Exec Peter V’landys fires back - calls out 'Blues' Hypocrisy
ARLC executive chairman Peter V’landys has vowed to fight the legal challenge, accusing NZ Rugby of hypocrisy.
“We will defend this vigorously,” V’landys said in a statement provided to FOX Sports.
“The hypocrisy is mind-blowing, considering the Auckland Blues in 1996 used the New South Wales Blues [State of Origin] name without any consultation or approval. The NSW Blues had been the Blues for in excess of 50 years before that.”
V’landys also claimed rugby union was feeling the pressure from rugby league in New Zealand.
“Rugby union is obviously feeling threatened by rugby league in New Zealand, with sell-outs at most rugby league games,” he said, according to FOX Sports.
The PNG Chiefs have declined to comment on the specifics while the case is ongoing.
The franchise is due to unveil its inaugural jersey on October 21, while the new team has already begun assembling its squad. Zac Lomax will return to Rugby League following his stint with Western Force in union, and Racing 92 star Joey Manu is also bound for a return to the NRL.
Now, however, the biggest question is whether the NRL’s newest team will actually be allowed to take the field as the PNG Chiefs.
