The Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League (PNGRFL), through its partnership with the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and the Australian Government’s PacificAus Sports Program, supported five outstanding PNG-based players from last year’s Santos PNG Orchids Rugby League World Cup squad to further their rugby league careers in Australia in 2023.
🌸 Belinda Gwasamun - Norths Devils - BMD Premiership, QRL
🌸Bertshiba Awoi - Norths Devils- BMD Premiership, QRL
🌸Gloria Kaupa - Wentworthville Magpies - Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership
🌸Martha Molowia - Norths Devils- BMD Premiership, QRL
🌸Roswita Kapo - Wentworthville Magpies- Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership
🌸 Belinda Gwasamun - Norths Devils - BMD Premiership, QRL
🌸Bertshiba Awoi - Norths Devils- BMD Premiership, QRL
🌸Gloria Kaupa - Wentworthville Magpies - Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership
🌸Martha Molowia - Norths Devils- BMD Premiership, QRL
🌸Roswita Kapo - Wentworthville Magpies- Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership
The five have played with women’s teams in the top tier competitions in New South Wales (Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership) and Queensland (BMD Premiership) in 2023. These ladies featured in the Prime Minister’s XIII fixture against the Australian PMXIII Women’s side on the 23 September 2023 and the 2023 Pacific Championship match against the Cook Islands played at the Santos National Football Stadium.
”We were delighted to see several of our Santos PNG Orchids move to this next level of the sport, off the back of their impressive performances at RLWC2021 (staged in England in November 2022)” said PNGRFL CEO, Mr. Stanley Hondina.
In further evidence of the value of RLWC2021 in exposing PNG talent, an additional six Santos PNG Orchids players had also signed to NRLW clubs for the 2023 season off the back of the RLWC Campaign: Ua Ravu - Canberra Raiders | Essay Banu, Jessikah Reeves, Shellie Long and Sera Koroi - North Queensland Cowboys | Parramatta Eels - Elsie Albert
“We saw an upsurge in interest in PNG women’s participation in rugby league in 2022, after the impact of COVID-19 saw many leagues stop or limit their competitions in 2020 and 2021,” Hondina added.
“The talent is abundant in the country for our women, and we saw this evidently in our 2023 National Women’s Championships in August. Where we have the majority of our Orchids and the inaugural Junior Orchids team, being selected from these Championships. The PNGRFL is now looking at ways to continue to harness that talent in proper pathways, guided by the organization’s recently launched High Performance Plan 2023 - 2027.”
“The PNGRFL aims to build credible and sustainable systems that will prepare PNG’s female talents for the 2026 Rugby League World Cup and other international fixtures for the next four years in the lead-up. The process has begun to identify the needs, adjustments and improvements to better equip and support the female pathway.” Hondina added.
“These opportunities would not have been possible without the support of the Pacific Aus Sports, who have invested in the Elite Female Pathway this year and throughout the preparation for last year’s RLWC.” said Hondina.
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