In a huge victory for Pacific league fans, the High Court in Wellington has thrown out New Zealand Rugby’s attempt to block Papua New Guinea’s new National Rugby League team from using the name “Chiefs”.
The ruling clears the runway for the PNG Chiefs to unveil their official brand and logo next Wednesday ahead of their 2028 NRL debut.
But while the team won the first battle on Friday afternoon, the wider legal war over the name is only just getting started.
NZ Rugby (NZR), which has held the trademark for the Super Rugby franchise name since the 1990s, wanted an urgent interim injunction to stop the launch.
They argued that having two oval-ball teams sharing the same name in the same market risks confusing fans and damaging a brand built over 30 years.
NZR lawyer Earl Gray reportedly argued in court that NRL representatives had been using “PNG Chiefs” and “Chiefs” interchangeably, creating huge confusion for fans across both union and league.
NZ Rugby is fighting to protect the Super Rugby Chiefs’ 30 years of history and deep fan loyalty as a new Pacific team enters the code under the same name. Photo/Photosport/file
Gray accused the NRL of seeking to take away the rugby Chiefs’ brand exclusivity “by stealth” through a rapid expansion, warning that “confusion can reign” and that the PNG team’s upcoming launch showed the “ramping up and loss of control of this brand” which union has spent decades building.
But Clive Elliott, lawyer for the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC), countered that adding the geographical qualifier “PNG” clearly distinguishes the franchise.
Elliott rejected NZR’s urgency, telling the court the launch was simply the unveiling of the team jersey and would not change the status quo. He said NZR had known about the PNG Chiefs name for nearly a year, making their last-minute legal bid after an “extremely long delay” inappropriate.
The High Court in Wellington has dismissed NZ Rugby’s bid for an urgent interim injunction, clearing the way for the PNG Chiefs to launch their brand and team jersey as scheduled ahead of a full trial next year. Photo/RNZ/Rebekah Parsons-King
For the PNG franchise, Elliott argued that a temporary court block would threaten the new club’s reputation at a critical juncture, just as free agency opens in November for player recruitment.
While Gray fired back that a dark cloud was “effectively already hovering” due to the brand confusion, High Court judge Karen Grau ultimately sided with the NRL’s stance for now, allowing the brand launch to proceed.
PNG Chiefs welcome outcome in Port Moresby
Following the decision, PNG Chiefs CEO Lorna McPherson welcomed the court’s ruling, though the franchise is treading carefully while the broader case remains active.
“As the matter remains before the Court, no further comment on this matter will be provided at this time,” McPherson said.
For leaders and fans in Papua New Guinea, where rugby league is the national sport, the name carries deep cultural pride than just commercial weight.
Leaders in Port Moresby have previously highlighted that PNG’s “thousand tribes were governed by chiefs” long before professional sport, making the identity deeply personal to the nation.
Watch as locals react to Jarome Luai’s arrival at the National Stadium in Port Moresby in April this year.
Legal fight far from over
Speaking with Tuilagi William Leolahi on PMN’s Pacific Huddle before the court delivered its decision, Australian sports lawyer Matthew Krog explained that an interim injunction is simply a temporary shield to prevent harm while a full dispute is sorted out.
Losing the application, he says, is not fatal to NZR’s case.
“The matter definitely doesn’t go away and this injunction hearing does not determine the actual matter itself,” Krog said. “It’s still play on if we don’t get the interim injunction granted.”
With the dispute now bound for a full High Court trial next year, the clash runs much deeper than legal fine print. It pits rugby union’s traditional hold on the region against league’s exploding Pacific fanbase.
Watch Matthew Krog’s full interview on Pacific Huddle below.
Dr Sarah Wymer, a sports marketing expert from Auckland University of Technology, told PMN’s Pacific Mornings host William Terite that taking the PNG franchise to court carries major public relations risks for NZR.
“When you see an established organisation like New Zealand Rugby taking action over a name, there’s quite a big risk that people see it as a much bigger issue around identity, representation and opportunity for Pacific sport especially,” Wymer said earlier in the week.
She said that while NZR is protecting its commercial rights, online fan sentiment is already turning negative.
“They might have a legitimate case around a trademark… but it doesn’t mean that it’s going to be a popular decision,” Wymer said. “They’re trying to protect their brand value but it could potentially damage a relationship with supporters.”
The NRL continues to argue that sporting teams across the world routinely share names without issue, pointing to the Super Rugby Auckland Blues and State of Origin New South Wales Blues, as well as the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs in the United States.
Listen to Dr Sarah Wymer’s full interview on Pacific Mornings below.
But intellectual property authorities have already flagged potential friction. IP Australia previously rejected attempts by the NRL to register the Chiefs trademark across the Tasman, citing potential brand confusion.
Wymer says while everyday fans can easily tell a league jersey from a union jersey on the field, the real mess happens off it especially when competing for the same limited commercial dollars across Aotearoa, Australia, and the Pacific diaspora.
“If we’ve got two teams in the same markets called the Chiefs, both playing some sort of oval sport competition… both approaching very similar commercial partners, it becomes quite confusing when there’s a headline coming out, a major Chiefs sponsorship,” Wymer said.
With their brand unveiling moving ahead as scheduled next week, PNG Chiefs fans can celebrate a major off-field win even if the ultimate court battle still looms in the year ahead.
