Papua New Guinea women's national rugby league team

The Papua New Guinea women's national rugby league team, also known as the PNG Orchids represents Papua New Guinea in Women's rugby league. They are administered by the Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League.^[2]

PNG Orchids and York Valkyrie (20 October 2022) - Elsie Albert and Lisa-Marie Alu each scored two tries as the Orchids won 38–0^[3]

For the men's team, see Papua New Guinea national rugby league team.

Papua New Guinea Orchids

Team information
Nickname	PNG Orchids
Governing body	Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League
Region	Asia-Pacific
Head coach	Tahnee Norris[1]
Captain	Elsie Albert
Most caps	Carol Humeu (9)
Top try-scorer	Belinda Gwasamun (5)
Top point-scorer	Belinda Gwasamun (20), Lila Malabag (20)
IRL ranking	5th
Team results
First game
Papua New Guinea 4–42 Australia  Port Moresby, 23 Sep 2017
First international
Papua New Guinea 8–36 England  Woolooware, 16 Nov 2017
Biggest win
Papua New Guinea 70–0 Brazil  Hull, 5 Nov 2022
Biggest defeat
Papua New Guinea 0–82 Australia  York, 14 Nov 2022
World Cup
Appearances	2 (first time in 2017)
Best result	2021 (Semi-Finalists)

Head to head records

Opponent	FM	MR	M	W	D	L	Win%	PF	PA	Share
England	2017	2022	4	1	0	3	25.00%	42	118	26.25%
Canada	2017	2022	2	1	0	1	50.00%	42	34	55.26%
New Zealand	2017	2017	1	0	0	1	0.00%	0	38	0.00%
Fiji	2019	2019	1	0	0	1	0.00%	0	28	0.00%
Brazil	2022	2022	1	1	0	0	100.00%	70	0	100.00%
Australia	2022	2022	1	0	0	1	0.00%	0	82	0.00%
Cook Islands	2023	2023	1	1	0	0	100.00%	28	20	58.33%
Totals	2017	2023	11	4	0	7	36.36%	182	320	36.25%

Notes:

• Table last updated 23 October 2023.
• Share is the portion of "For" points compared to the sum of "For" and "Against" points.

Coaches

The current Orchids head coach is Tahnee Norris.^[1]

Name	Span	Tests					PM's XIII					Nines					Ref.
		M	W	D	L	W%	M	W	D	L	W%	M	W	D	L	W%
Dennis Miall	2017	3	0	0	0	0%	1	0	0	1	0%	N/A					[4]
David Westley	2018	N/A					1	0	0	1	0%	N/A					[5]
Nigel Hukula	2019	1	0	0	1	0%	N/A					N/A					[6]
Bagel Solien	2019	2	1	0	1	50%	N/A					7	2	0	5	29%	[7][8]
Ben Jeffries	2022-23	5	3	0	2	60%	2	0	0	2	0%	N/A					[9][10]
Tahnee Norris	2024						N/A					N/A					[1]

Notable players

Main article: List of Papua New Guinea women's national rugby league team players

The following Papua New Guinea representatives have played in the NRL Women's Premiership

• Elsie Albert (Parramatta Eels 2020—present, 16 matches, 3 tries as at 17 August 2023)
• Therese Aiton (Parramatta Eels 2021 season, 2 matches)
• Amelia Kuk (Brisbane Broncos 2018, 2 matches)
• Ua Ravu (Canberra Raiders 2023—present)
• Shellie Long (North Queensland Cowboys 2023—present)
• Sera Koroi (North Queensland Cowboys 2023—present)
• Jessikah Reeves (North Queensland Cowboys 2023—present)
• Essay Banu (North Queensland Cowboys 2023—present)

Current squad

Head coach: Ben Jeffries

The Orchids squad for the 2023 Pacific Championships was announced on 5 October 2023.^[11]

J#	Player	Age	Position(s)	Orchids						Club	NRLW						Other Reps
				Dbt	M	T	G	F	Pts		CM	TM	T	G	F	Pts
1	Latoniya Norris	22	Fullback	2023	1	1	0	0	4	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
2	Lyiannah Allen	—	Wing	2023	1	2	0	0	8	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
3	Belinda Gwasamun	28	Centre	2022	5	5	0	0	20	Devils	0	0	0	0	0	0	2 1
4	Shellie Long	23	Centre, Second-row	2022	4	1	0	0	4	Cowboys	8	8	1	0	0	4	2 1
5	Freda Waula	28	Wing, Fullback	2023	1	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
6	Sera Koroi	21	Five-eighth	2022	5	1	0	0	4	Cowboys	8	8	0	0	0	0	2 1
7	Ua Ravu	26	Halfback	2019	6	2	0	0	8	Raiders	2	2	0	0	0	0	1 1
13	Jessikah Reeves	22	Lock, Prop	2022	5	1	0	0	4	Cowboys	5	5	0	0	0	0	2 1
9	Roswita Kapo	23	Hooker	2019	4	2	0	0	8	Magpies	0	0	0	0	0	0	3 3
10	Gloria Kaupa	25	Prop	2017	9	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	2 1
11	Emily Veivers	22	Second-row, Centre	2022	4	0	4	0	8	Tigers	0	0	0	0	0	0	2 1
12	Essay Banu	21	Second-row	2022	5	2	0	0	8	Cowboys	1	1	0	0	0	0	1 2 1
16	Berthshiba Awoi	—	Second-row	2019	2	0	0	0	0	Devils	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
14	Meli Joe	—	interchange	2023	1	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
15	Sareka Mooka	23	Centre	2023	1	0	0	0	0	Cowboys	6	6	1	0	0	4	1 1
17	Yolanda Taute	—	interchange	2023	1	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
19	Leila Kerowa	—	Prop	2023	1	1	0	0	4	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
18	Lancy Ulkambane	—	—	—	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
8	Elsie Albert	27	Prop	2019	7	1	0	0	4	Eels	1	16	3	0	0	12	1 3
20	Almah Johnson	—	Fullback	—	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
21	Delailah Ahose	—	Hooker	2017	3	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
–	Sillah Rumints	—	—	—	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	—

Notes:

• The Other Reps columns include matches:
  • against the Australian Prime Minister's XIII
  • against Far North Queensland, Brisbane Broncos, and York Valkyrie.
  • for the Australian Prime Minister's XIII: Sareka Mooka.
  • for the Indigenous All Stars: Essay Banu and Sareka Mooka.

Results

Full internationals

Date	Opponent	Score	Tournament	Venue	Video	Reports
16 Nov 2017	England	8–36	2017 WRLWC	Southern Cross Group Stadium, Sydney	[12]	[13]
19 Nov 2017	Canada	8–22			[14]	[15][16]
22 Nov 2017	New Zealand	0–38			[17]	[18]
22 Jun 2019	Fiji	0–28	Test Match	Leichhardt Oval, Sydney	[19]	[20][21]
9 Nov 2019	England	10–24	2 Test Series	Goroka	[22]	[23][24]
16 Nov 2019	England	20–16		National Football Stadium, Port Moresby	[25]	[26][27]
1 Nov 2022	Canada	34–12	2021 WRLWC	Headingley Stadium, Leeds	[28]	[29][30]
5 Nov 2022	Brazil	70–0		MKM Stadium, Hull	[31]	[32][33]
9 Nov 2022	England	4–42		Headingley Stadium, Leeds	[34]	[35][36]
14 Nov 2022	Australia	0–82		York Community Stadium, York	[37]	[38][39]
22 Oct 2023	Cook Islands	28–20	2023 Pacific Champs	Santos Stadium, Port Moresby	[40]	[41]

Upcoming fixtures

• Prime Minister's XIII match against Australia at Santos Stadium, Port Moresby on Sunday, 13 October 2024.^[42]
• 2024 Pacific Championships
  •  Australia at Suncorp Studium, Brisbane on Friday, 18 October 2024.^[43]
  •  New Zealand at Santos Stadium, Port Moresby on Sunday, 3 November 2024.^[44]
  • Potential Pacific Cup Final at CommBank Stadium on Sunday, 10 November 2024.

Other international matches

Date	Opponent	Score	Tournament	Venue	Video	Reports
23 Sep 2017	Australia	4–42	Curtain-raiser to men's PM's XIII	National Football Stadium, Port Moresby	—	[45][46][47]
6 Oct 2018	Australia	4–40	Women's PM's XII match	National Football Stadium, Port Moresby	[48]	[49]
25 Sep 2022	Australia	6–64	Women's PM's XII match	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	[50]	[51][52]
23 Sep 2023	Australia	4–56	Women's PM's XII match	National Football Stadium, Port Moresby	[53]	[54][55]

Note: In all three of the above matches Papua New Guinea and Australia each fielded 20 players (13 on the field and 7 on the interchange bench).

Tour / trial / warm-up matches

Date	Opponent	Score	Tournament	Venue	Video	Report
20 Oct 2017	Far North Queensland	30–6	Warm-Up Match	Billy Slater Oval, Callendar Park, Innisfail	[56]	—
2 Sep 2018	Brisbane Broncos	14–48	Trial Match	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	[57]	[58]
31 Aug 2019	Brisbane Broncos	0–14	Trial Match	National Football Stadium, Port Moresby	[59]	[60]
20 Oct 2022	York Valkyrie	38–0	Warm-Up Match	York St John University Sports Park, York	—	[3]

Nines

Date	Opponent	Score	Tournament	Venue	Video	Reports
8 Jul 2019	Fiji	8–16	2019 Pacific Games	Apia Park	—	[61]
8 Jul 2019	Niue	10–4			—	—
9 Jul 2019	Cook Islands	14–8			[62]	—
9 Jul 2019	Fiji	14–16			[63]	[64]
18 Oct 2019	England	4–25	2019 International Nines	Bankwest Stadium, Parramatta	—	[65]
19 Oct 2019	New Zealand	12–24			—	[66]
19 Oct 2019	Australia	6–30			—	—

See also

• New Guinea portal

• Papua New Guinea national rugby league team
• Rugby league in Papua New Guinea
• Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League

References

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2. Liri, Isaac (2017-08-16). "Orchids unveiled". The National. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
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10. "Jeffries named PNG Orchids coach for World Cup". Cowboys.com.au. 21 Feb 2022. Retrieved 21 Sep 2022.
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44. "2024 rugby league Pacific Championships schedule announced with three Tests in Aotearoa". NZRL. 23 Aug 2024. Retrieved 23 Aug 2024.
45. "Womenʼs Internationals - Papua New Guinea 4 v 42 Australian Jillaroos". NRL. 23 Sep 2017. Retrieved 20 Jul 2022.
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48. "Match Highlights: Women's Prime Minister's XIII - Orchids v Jillaroos; 2018". NRL. 6 Oct 2018. Retrieved 10 Oct 2010.
49. "Womenʼs Internationals - Papua New Guinea 4 v 40 AUS PM XIII". NRL. 6 Oct 2018. Retrieved 20 Jul 2022.
50. "Australian PM's XIII v PNG PM's XIII - Women's International Match Replay - 2022". NRL. NRLW - National Rugby League Women's. 26 Sep 2022. Retrieved 26 Sep 2022.
51. Rosser, Corey (25 Sep 2022). "Jillaroos hopefuls star in Australian PM's XIII Women's big win". NRL. Retrieved 26 Sep 2022.
52. "Womenʼs Internationals - AUS PM XIII 64 v 6 Papua New Guinea". NRL. 25 Sep 2022. Retrieved 26 Sep 2022.
53. "NRLW 2023 - PNG PM's XIII v AUS PM's XIII - Match Highlights". YouTube. NRLW - National Rugby League Women's. 23 Sep 2023. Retrieved 23 Sep 2023.
54. "Womenʼs Internationals - PNG PM XIII 4 v 56 AUS PM XIII". NRL. 23 Sep 2023. Retrieved 23 Sep 2023.
55. Rosser, Corey (23 Sep 2023). "Whitfeld bags four in big win for Aus PM's XIII". NRL. Retrieved 23 Sep 2023.
56. "PNG Orchids v FNQ Women's Rugby League @ Innisfail 20.10.17". YouTube. 2 Nov 2017. Retrieved 1 Apr 2021.
57. "Broncos beat Orchids 48 points to 14". YouTube. 3 Sep 2018. Retrieved 12 Apr 2021.
58. "Kuk scores two tries in Broncos' win over Orchids". The National. 3 Sep 2018. Retrieved 12 Apr 2021.
59. "Trial Match Highlights: NRLW Broncos v PNG Orchids". Brisbane Broncos. 5 Sep 2019. Retrieved 12 Apr 2021.
60. Levongo, Levington Melvin (2 Sep 2019). "Broncos overcome spirited PNG Orchids". QRL. Retrieved 12 Apr 2021.
61. "Results from Day 1 of 2019 Pacific Games". Asia Pacific Rugby League. 8 Jul 2019. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 12 Apr 2021.
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64. Pavitt, Michael (9 Jul 2019). "Fiji celebrate double rugby league nines gold as history made at Samoa 2019". Inside the Games. Retrieved 12 Apr 2021.
65. "World Cup 9s Day 1: Kangaroos and Lions fire, Cook Islands spring upset". NRL. 18 Oct 2019. Retrieved 1 Apr 2021.
66. "Kangaroos take title as Generation Next arrives in style". NRL. 19 Oct 2019. Retrieved 1 Apr 2021.

External links

• Papua New Guinea women's national rugby league team on Facebook