O'Neill said the PNG's government's $1.4 billion investment in sporting infrastructure and the country's passion for rugby league should be taken into consideration when finalising the fixtures for the sport's centrepiece event. "Hopefully the International Rugby League board will accept our offer," Mr O'Neill said. "Of course Australia and New Zealand are going to host it, but we are part of the Queensland Rugby League [competition] at present, we have developed our local competition and the schoolboys competition, so rugby league has a big future in this country. "There are more rugby league supporters here than in Australia or anywhere else in the world." The PNG government built Sir John Guise Stadium – an 18,000 seat arena – for the 2015 Pacific Games in July as well as two other stadiums with capacities of 15,000 and 20,000. The Prime Minister, however, said his government had plans to expand the stadium in a bid to make the atmosphere even more lively at rugby league matches.

"As you can see Papua New Guineans love the game and I hope that the NRL and the other custodians of our game can come up here and expose the game to people a bit more," O'Neill said. "We built it [the stadium] specifically for the [Pacific] Games but also to accommodate rugby league and other sports in the country. "The capacity is close to 18,000 plus people, but we are going to expand it to another 25,000 or so people. We have a population of eight million people and I don't think you will find one that doesn't love rugby league. It would be very hard to find one. "I can't see no reason why they can't develop the game here for that kind of supporter base that we have." O'Neill attended the annual Prime Minister's XIII match – which Australia won 40-12 – on Saturday and was thrilled with the crowd and event as a whole. PNG Minister for Sport Justin Tkatchenko, who oversees the new infrastructure being built, agreed with his Prime Minister, saying PNG's successful bid for the 2016 FIFA U20 Women's World Cup shows that a nation associated with high levels of unemployment and crime can in fact host sporting events on a world stage.

"We've never had this level of infrastructure before in this country," Tkatchenko said. "It's something that has now allowed us to have our own Suncorp Stadium here in Papua New Guinea and Port Moresby. "[The stadiums] will revolutionise sport in the country and events with the World Cup of the FIFA U20 women here next year. We're looking forward to seeing other major events in the country at the world level." One of the youngest players in the touring Australian squad Jake Trbojevic said he underestimated just how fanatical Papua New Guineans were about their rugby league. "It was a great experience," he said. "They just love their footy over here. They live and breathe it … it was very surprising."