The third-party offers set to be thrown at the inaugural Papua New Guinea Chiefs players will be "absolutely endless", Phil Gould says.
And as ARL Commission chairman Peter V'landys told The Sydney Morning Herald in March, not only will the salaries of Chiefs players be tax-free – their third-party deals will be, too.
The Chiefs, who in 2028 will become the NRL's 19th team, landed Wests Tigers superstar Jarome Luai as their first official signing this week.
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South Sydney phenom Alex Johnston – the greatest try-scorer in Australian rugby league history – looks likely to be unveiled as the next official signing of the PNG franchise.
It's likely the Chiefs have at the very least signed Luai on $1.2 million a season – the value of his deal at the Tigers. On that money at any NRL club bar PNG, he would take home $670,000, but because of the tax-free allowance gifted to the Chiefs he will bank every cent of his estimated $1.2 million deal every year – almost doubling his take home pay.
"You can only pay so many players that amount of money, but the advantage is, of course, if it's proven to be true that these are tax-free dollars, it virtually doubles the contract amount that they would normally earn in Australia," Gould said on Wide World of Sports' Six Tackles with Gus.
PNG businesses will be falling over each other to secure third-party deals with players and the franchise, so rugby league-mad is the country.
And those third-party deals will sit outside the salary cap, V'landys told the Herald.
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"I think with PNG those [the third-party deals] will be endless," Gould said.
"Absolutely endless.
"They'll have six million members. I mean, it's quite extraordinary what'll go on up there commercially. But it'll depend on performance and popularity.
"At some stage, the PNG government and the PNG people are gonna be more represented by local PNG players, but this will help accelerate their education and their knowledge of the game and the profile of it, particularly with corporate partners and everything up there.
"There'll be a groundswell of support behind them, the PNG Chiefs, and everyone will want to see them play and see how they go."
The Bulldogs supremo admitted "a fairly daunting task" awaited Luai, Johnston and the other players set to become Chiefs, alluding to the team being based in and playing in one of the most dangerous cities in the world.
"But when you're getting paid that sort of money, it's a sacrifice well worth making," Gould added.
"To set yourself and your family up for the rest of your life – I mean, he [Luai] obviously feels he can make that commitment at that age, he's experienced enough to do it, and he's seen enough of the world to know that they can live in that environment. It's a sacrifice he's gonna make for his family, and other players will do it, too."
Chiefs players, staff and their families will be housed at Airways Hotel and Residences in Port Moresby. It's a five-star resort boasting a bar, a gymnasium, swimming pools, a medical centre, cafes, tennis courts, a beauty salon and a barber.
They will also have access to a private island.
Regarding the signing of Luai, Gould hailed the "huge statement" the Chiefs had made in snaring the four-time premiership winner.
"One of the marquee players in the game, and he may well play Origin again this year, a premiership-winning, Origin-winning five-eighth, has gone to play with the PNG Chiefs," Gould said.
"That's a big statement for them in recruitment."
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