Super League strengthens grip

Super League strengthens grip

SYDNEY (Reuter): Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch's Super League has strengthened its grip on international rugby league by signing up Papua New Guinea, chief executive John Ribot said yesterday.

The contract, signed after talks with the Papua New Guinea Rugby League (PNGRL) in Port Moresby, came only 24 hours after the announcement of similar agreements between Super League and South Pacific nations Tonga, Fiji, and Western Samoa.

Ribot said the latest signatures further isolated the Australian Rugby League (ARL), the ruling body in Australia which is battling Super League for supremacy in the sport's most powerful playing nation.