Papua New Guinean legend David Mead has backed the NRL and the ARLC to rubberstamp his nation as the NRL’s 18th franchise after the success of the Dolphins in 2023.

There has been much speculation about a Pasifika team getting the nod ahead of Perth who have been screaming out for a return to top flight rugby league after being booted out after the Super League War.

“I’ve seen Peter V’landys say it’s very likely, and he’s a guy who makes things happen,” Mead told AAP.

“There does need to be a lot more improvement on the ground there.

“They are putting some things in place to get the junior set-ups going because I’m sure PNG would have a lot of backing in terms of funding. When I was at the Broncos the academy kids down to U14s level came in and trained for experience and then went back to their clubs, but in PNG there’s not much of that at the moment.”