The NRL are reportedly set to appoint Michael Chammas as the head of football for the competition's newest club, the PNG Chiefs.
The outfit, due to join the NRL in 2028, will be able to begin negotiating with players off-contract at the end of 2027 from November 1 this year, and are slowly building their backroom staff.
Chammas, who was reportedly targeted for a role within the NRL over the last 12 months, is noted as one of the game's smartest operators for his work in the media with Channel 9 and The Sydney Morning Herald.
His reputation skyrocketted during 2025 after being involved in various confrontations on Channel 9s 100% Footy with Canterbury director of football Phil Gould.
News Corp are reporting the move for Chammas to become the head of football operations for the expansion outfit, who will be based in Port Moresby, is as good as done.
Chammas will bring the advantage of an enormous contact book across both the media and clubs with him to the Chiefs, although has no experience working within an NRL club's role.
It has been a wide point of contention across the game as to just how the Chiefs will go about signing players.
Despite tax breaks that have been agreed too by the PNG and Australian governments, players will still need to relocate to Port Moresby.
Other recent expansion clubs, the Dolphins and now Perth Bears, have also struggled to bring elite talent to their outfits.
The Chiefs are yet to appoint a head coach, but that will likely be done in the coming months as they prepare to begin negotiating with players while other boardroom issues work themselves out.
Former Digicel PNG boss Lorna McPherson has been appointed as the inaugural CEO of the club after Andrew Hill, who was originally appointed to the role, quit to instead take over at the Panthers group, while board member Wapu Sonk and board chair Ray Dib have also been forced to stand down.
