Port Moresby Vipers
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| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1986 |
| Current details | |
| Ground(s) | |
| Competition | PNG NRL |
The Port Moresby Vipers (formerly the Port Moresby Bulldogs) are a Papua New Guinean rugby league team from Port Moresby. The team currently competes in the Papua New Guinea National Rugby League Competition.
The club competed in the Panasonic Cup in 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989. In 1990, they joined the new competition SP Cup where they won 3 premierships, up until 1995. They joined the Queensland Cup competition in 1996 and 1997. Due to the cost of transportation to and from Australia they were not invited to compete in the Queensland Cup for 1998. They returned to the SP Cup in 1999 for one season, before being demoted to the Port Moresby Domestic Competition. Another franchise Club that represented Port Moresby in the semi-professional competition was the Port Moresby Brian Bell Bulldogs.
Richard Sinamoi, William Bussil Junior, Paul Komboi, and POMRFL Chairman Solomon Ravu orchestrated the re-entry of the Vipers in the national competition, during the SP Cup transition period to Bemobile Cup in 2008. The Vipers ended with the wooden spoon in its maiden year returning to the high level national competition, but finished strongly in the following seasons (7th in 2009, and 5th in 2010). When Digicel took the naming rights of the national competition, the Vipers finished 5th in 2011, and 4th in 2012. The team eventually became premiers, winning the cup in 2013.
Sponsorship and merchandise arrangements were accumulated over time. The principal owners of the franchise, the National Capital District Commission started a partnership with Civil Pacific Engineering (CIVPAC) Limited in 2008-2010. From 2011, a partnership with City Pharmacy Limited Group under its merchandising brand name "Stop & Shop" Supermarkets was formed.
The club is a national and flagship identity in the metropolitan city of Port Moresby and its players are from a mix of all provinces in the country. The club's feeder league is the Port Moresby Rugby League competition.
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