Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Papua New Guinean counterpart James Marape may have been speaking on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum on Thursday.
But what they said will be felt across the playing field of the NRL, and regional geopolitics.
At a picture opportunity for media ahead of a bilateral meeting, Mr Marape stated to Mr Albanese — as part of the pleasantries provided for the cameras — that rugby league was part of PNG's national character.
"If there’s something good that Australia has left as far as a lasting imprint in Papua New Guinea, rugby league is one of them," he said.
But Mr Albanese went beyond mere courtesy in reply.
The PNG government's bid to have the NRL's 18th team hail from Port Moresby was launched earlier this year to much fanfare north of the Torres Strait.
Cynics suggested it was an announcement tuned for the political and not sporting reality, designed to hype up support for Mr Marape ahead of the election currently underway. But diplomats have long recognised the potential of tapping into a shared love of rugby league to increase ties between the two countries.
Now Mr Albanese's public support of the bid has established its legitimacy.
Origin of a bid
New Queensland side the Dolphins will join the NRL in 2023 as the league's 17th team.
The promise of an 18th to be added imminently prompted the PNG government to act earlier this year. It appointed a five-person board to oversee a bid, including prominent members of local industry, administration and sport.
Wapu Sonk, managing director of PNG's massive national oil and gas company Kumul Petroleum — and the bid's newly appointed chairman — said at the time the board would use its experience and skill "for the people of PNG in making sure that we are the successful 18th team in the NRL when the licence becomes available in 2025".
Not long after the first board meeting in May, Mr Marape wrote to Mr Albanese to introduce the bid, and provide an outline to the Australian government of Papua New Guinea's intent and commitment.
PNG's surprise win over Fiji last month in the Pacific Test — sponsored by the Australian government — bolstered calls for a PNG NRL team from fans, from north of Kokoda to Campbelltown Stadium.
Enoch Perazim travelled to Sydney from Cairns with his family to support the Kumuls, and could not be more enthusiastic of the bid.
"It's not an easy task, lots of hoops to jump through, but it's not impossible," he said.
"But what it will do is, because rugby league is the national sport, it would unite the country."
Sarah Haoda Todd, an entrepreneur and activist originally from PNG's second largest city Lae, also expressed her support.
"It would do great things, given the other interests for other parties around the region. I think Australia needs to truly come good with forging more ties."
As China flexes its diplomatic muscle in the Pacific, many think fusing sport and international relations has merit.
Newly appointed Minister for the Pacific, Pat Conroy, told the ABC he's well aware of the significance of soft power in the Pacific, "and that's why I'm so keen on rugby league in PNG".
Labor's deputy leader Richard Marles — a Victorian — wrote last year in his book 'Ties that Bind: Australia in the Pacific', that a team from PNG in the NRL would put the relationship between the two countries "on a different plane" and it "must be viewed in terms of an Australian national imperative".
The Labor Party enshrined the investigation of a PNG team in the NRL in its 2019 national platform. While the 2021 platform was streamlined ahead of the 2022 election, many members of the Labor Party remain attached to the goal. And Mr Albanese's comment to Mr Marape is the party's boldest commitment yet.
The opportunity
In launching PNG's bid to join the NRL earlier this year, the Chairman of the PNGRFL Sandis Tsaka insisted the country was ready.
"The work that the government has done in infrastructure and the work that the rugby league family has done to invest in our domestic competitions — we are pretty confident that we can sustain an NRL licence," he said.
The country made a failed attempt to join the league in 2009-10, but the current team said lessons had been learnt from that experience.
While the idea has been welcomed by many footy fans, there are still plenty in the country who remain sceptical about whether it will be successful.
And others have called for PNG's limited resources to be focused on other issues, like health and education.
More than 2,000 people have signed a petition to that effect.
But there is clearly political capital in the idea, with the bid launched shortly before the start of the country's official election campaign, and with a funding commitment of 10 million kina ($3.8 million) a year for three years to assist.
In a statement released after the bilateral meeting between Australia and PNG, Mr Marape again mentioned the issue.
"We also spoke about PNG's bid to join the NRL in 2025," he said.
"I sought Prime Minister Albanese's intervention on the same, which he agreed to."
Mr Albanese has also had more to say on the idea after the meeting.
"I've had discussions with the NRL, very directly, and I have spoken to (Australian Rugby League chair) Peter V'landys and Andrew Abdo about the Pacific's engagement with rugby league," Mr Albanese said.
"It would be a good thing if we gave consideration about how you get a Pacific team, a team with connections to PNG, Tonga, Samoa."
While PNG is bidding for a team on its own, the idea of the country partnering with an Australian city, or being incorporated into a regional team is being talked about in several circles.
A team in the NRL provides a focus for the endeavour, but benefit from a successful bid may also end up flowing to the women of Papua New Guinea.
Mr Conroy is keen to demonstrate that Australia's current commitments, as well as any future support, must prioritise gender equality.
"Any further expansion of support should include expanded support for women's participation in rugby league in PNG," he said.
"Ultimately that could be an NRLW side, but there's plenty of challenges we have to get through first."
PNG's best female players have just been selected in a squad for the national side, called the Orchids, to compete in the Women’s World Cup in England later this year.
The locally based players are in the midst of a gruelling training and selection process, to try to make the final team.
"They're looking great," said Della Audama, a former Orchids player and PNGRFL Women's High Performance Manager.
The PNG Orchids team will be made up of local players and PNG women who are playing for teams in the NRLW competition in Australia.
"The NRLW girls will be like mentors to the [other] girls, supporting them throughout – especially the high-performance stuff, how to play at that elite level," Ms Audama said.
"We have players like Elsie Albert and Therese Aiton (playing in the NRLW), they are good leaders and they will be role models for the girls here."
It's hoped the exposure of playing in the upcoming international games could mean more PNG players are offered contracts in the NRLW.
"We have a bunch of potential players who could make the NRLW, but I think it comes back to us to prepare them," Ms Audama said.
The thought of a PNG having its own team in the NRLW is an appealing prospect for many of the young players and fans.
Ms Audama was in the first Orchids team in 2017 and has seen women's participation in the sport rising in the years since.
"In our country, we have this cultural barrier, I've been through it – it's very hard, but once we break this barrier, we see young girls coming through with hopes," she said.
"[Rugby league] is a place that ladies can come and express themselves, that they are equal and they can do whatever the men can do."
Ms Audama said she and her teammates who played in that first national team had to be "very brave".
"Now it's normal to the nation, back home back at the village people accept the fact that now women can play rugby league, so we have family supporting us, community supporting us."
The reality
A new team in the NRL is unlikely to play until the start of the next broadcast deal in 2028. That would mean a decision by the Australia Rugby League Commission (ARLC) on the 18th franchise would be made around 2025.
For Mr Marape, the timing couldn't be better.
"2025 is an important date for us – 50 years, celebrating our golden jubilee, since we lowered the Australian flag and raised the new Papua New Guinean flag,” he told Mr Albanese in Fiji.
But more conservative, and potentially lucrative, options will no doubt be available.
The Dolphins beat two well-resourced bids from Brisbane to the 17th license, suggesting there's no shortage of demand. And while it's unlikely those unsuccessful bidders will return, former top-tier club the North Sydney Bears, reportedly backed by globally renowned comedian Jim Jefferies, are keen to be involved in any conversation.
Perth, Adelaide and New Zealand have all been reported as options and each either has or has had a team in Australia's top competition in the past three decades.
There are precedents, however, that make a team from the PNG less far-fetched. The New Zealand Warriors have proven international borders can be overcome in the NRL. Teams from Fiji and the Pacific are now involved in men's and women's Super Rugby.
And the PNG Hunters, set up nine years ago, are a permanent fixture in the Queensland Rugby League, the second tier of competition in Australia. They even won the premiership in 2017.
Mr Conroy is wary about the long term and wants to avoid a possible collapse of a PNG club and the international diplomatic incident that would follow.
"I think there are a number of hurdles to get over, and I think the most critical one is, to be quite frank, making sure that any expansion of the NRL into PNG is sustainable," he said.
"A PNG team getting established and then falling over, actually could potentially impact our relationship with Papua New Guinea."
The idea has support from many within the playing ranks, including outgoing Kumuls captain David Mead.
Before the Pacific Test, he told the ABC a team from PNG in the NRL "will help solve and improve a lot of social issues that happen on a day-to-day basis".
But support is not universal, and perhaps PNG's best-known player, Justin Olam, wants to see pathways improved before a new franchise is launched.
"I don't know what the big bosses have in mind, but for me, instead of doing that I would invest in the junior comp," he said.
While any successful bid would have private financial support, there's an expectation that some of the costs would be met by the Australian taxpayer.
Australia currently spends around half a billion dollars on aid for Papua New Guinea each year. The annual expenses accrued by the Brisbane Broncos – widely considered the NRL's commercial benchmark – are around $50 million. The club made a small profit in 2021.
Then there's the question of priorities. Any funds committed to the team by the government of Mr Albanese or his successors could be spent on other things in PNG.
That might include junior competitions of the kind Mr Olam suggests, or health, education and infrastructure. Even help with balancing the nation's budget.
Detailed financial plans for a new franchise remain some time away. Before then, Mr Marape has to win an election. Although his main competition, Peter O'Neill, is also a rugby league fan.
But before long, Mr Albanese can expect the ball – launched from Australia's nearest and increasingly dear neighbour – to land in his court.
As Mr Marape told him in Fiji, "we've placed a bid and it's not within your responsibility, but it will help a lot if you assist".
"You're the number one man in Australia, and you're a rugby league man yourself."
