Papua New Guinea women's national rugby league team

For the men's team, see Papua New Guinea 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.^[3]

PNG Orchids and York Valkyrie (20 October 2022) - Elsie Albert and Lisa-Marie Alu each scored two tries as the Orchids won 38–0^[4]

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	5 (21 July 2025)[2]
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 0–84 Australia  Brisbane, 18 Oct 2024
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	2024	2	0	0	2	0.00%	0	76	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	2024	2	0	0	2	0.00%	0	166	0.00%
Cook Islands	2023	2023	1	1	0	0	100.00%	28	20	58.33%
Samoa	2024	2024	1	0	0	1	0.00%	12	34	26.09%
Totals	2017	2024	14	4	0	10	28.57%	194	474	29.04%

Notes:

• Table last updated 10 November 2024.
• 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][5]

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					[6]
David Westley	2018	N/A					1	0	0	1	0%	N/A					[7]
Nigel Hukula	2019	1	0	0	1	0%	N/A					N/A					[8]
Bagel Solien	2019	2	1	0	1	50%	N/A					7	2	0	5	29%	[9][10]
Ben Jeffries	2022-23	5	3	0	2	60%	2	0	0	2	0%	N/A					[11][12]
Tahnee Norris	2024	3	0	0	3	0%	1	0	0	1	0%	N/A					[1]

Note

• Last updated 11 November 2024

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: Tahnee Norris

The Orchids squad for the 2024 Pacific Championships was announced on 15 October 2024.^[13]
Table last updated 11 November 2024 and includes the Week 4 match against Samoa.

J#	Player	Age	Position(s)	Orchids						Club	NRLW						Other Reps
				Dbt	M	T	G	F	Pts		CM	TM	T	G	F	Pts
1	Shae Yvonne De La Cruz	28	Fullback	2019	3	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
2	Jenny Wesley	—	Wing	2024	2	0	0	0	0	Goroka Lahanis	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
3	Belinda Gwasamun	28	Centre	2022	8	5	0	0	20	Wentworthville	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 3
4	Leila Kerowa	—	Centre, Second-row	2023	4	1	0	0	4	Central Dabaris	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
5	Lyiannah Allen	—	Wing, Centre	2022	4	2	0	0	8	Mt Hagen Eagles	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
6	Sera Koroi	22	Five-eighth	2022	8	1	0	0	4	Magpies	0	8	0	0	0	0	1 3
7	Ua Ravu	27	Halfback, Hooker	2019	9	2	0	0	8	Raiders	2	2	0	0	0	0	1 2
8	Elsie Albert	28	Prop	2019	10	3	0	0	12	Eels	10	25	5	0	0	20	3 1
12	Emily Veivers	23	Hooker, Second-row	2022	7	0	6	0	12	Devils	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 3
10	Essay Banu	22	Prop, Second-row	2022	8	2	0	0	8	Cowboys	8	8	0	0	0	0	1 1 3
11	Sareka Mooka	24	Second-row, Lock	2023	4	0	0	0	0	Cowboys	12	12	1	0	0	4	1 1 1
15	Jessikah Reeves	23	Second-row, Lock	2022	8	1	0	0	4	Clydesdales	0	5	0	0	0	0	1 3
13	Gloria Kaupa	25	Lock, Prop	2017	12	0	0	0	0	Wentworthville	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 3
14	Delailah Ahose	—	Halfback, Hooker	2017	5	0	0	0	0	Goroka Lahanis	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 1
9	Therese Aiton	35	Hooker	2019	6	1	0	0	4	Clydesdales	0	2	0	0	0	0	2 1 2
16	Yolanda Taute	—	Prop	2018	3	0	0	0	0	Goroka Lahanis	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
17	Mala Mark	—	Wing, Fullback	2017	3	0	0	0	0	Central Dabaris	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
18	Talitha Kunjil	—	Second-row	2022	3	0	0	0	0	Mt Hagen Eagles	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 2
19	Meli Joe	—	Halfback	2018	1	0	0	0	0	Mt Hagen Eagles	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
20	Lilah Malabag	—	Halfback	2018	3	0	0	0	0	Port Moresby Vipers	0	0	0	0	0	0	2 2
21	Roswita Kapo	23	Hooker	2019	6	2	0	0	8	Wentworthville	0	0	0	0	0	0	3 4
–	Frida Anthony	—	Lock	—	0	0	0	0	0	Central Dabaris	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
–	Freda Waula	29	Wing, Fullback	2017	2	0	0	0	0	Mt Hagen Eagles	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
IJ	Latoniya Norris	23	Centre, Fullback	2022	2	1	0	0	4	Darwin Brothers	0	0	0	0	0	0	2

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	[14]	[15]
19 Nov 2017	Canada	8–22			[16]	[17][18]
22 Nov 2017	New Zealand	0–38			[19]	[20]
22 Jun 2019	Fiji	0–28	Test Match	Leichhardt Oval, Sydney	[21]	[22][23]
9 Nov 2019	England	10–24	2 Test Series	Goroka	[24]	[25][26]
16 Nov 2019	England	20–16		National Football Stadium, Port Moresby	[27]	[28][29]
1 Nov 2022	Canada	34–12	2021 WRLWC	Headingley Stadium, Leeds	[30]	[31][32]
5 Nov 2022	Brazil	70–0		MKM Stadium, Hull	[33]	[34][35]
9 Nov 2022	England	4–42		Headingley Stadium, Leeds	[36]	[37][38]
14 Nov 2022	Australia	0–82		York Community Stadium, York	[39]	[40][41]
22 Oct 2023	Cook Islands	28–20	Test Match	Santos Stadium, Port Moresby	[42]	[43]
18 Oct 2024	Australia	0–84	2024 Pacific Championship	Suncorp Studium, Brisbane	[44]	[45]
3 Nov 2024	New Zealand	0–36		Santos Stadium, Port Moresby	[46]	[47]
10 Nov 2024	Samoa	12–34		Western Sydney Stadium, Sydney		[48]

Upcoming fixtures

• The 2025 Rugby League Pacific Championships in October-November.^[49][50]
  •  Cook Islands at PNG Football Stadium, Port Moresby on Saturday, 18 October 2025.
  •  Tonga at PNG Football Stadium, Port Moresby on Saturday, 1 November 2025.
  • Both matches precede a men's Pacific Bowl match.

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	—	[51][52][53]
6 Oct 2018	Australia	4–40	Women's PM's XII match	National Football Stadium, Port Moresby	[54]	[55]
25 Sep 2022	Australia	6–64	Women's PM's XII match	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	[56]	[57][58]
23 Sep 2023	Australia	4–56	Women's PM's XII match	National Football Stadium, Port Moresby	[59]	[60][61]
13 Oct 2024	Australia	0–50	Women's PM's XII match	National Football Stadium, Port Moresby		[62]

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	[63]	—
2 Sep 2018	Brisbane Broncos	14–48	Trial Match	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	[64]	[65]
31 Aug 2019	Brisbane Broncos	0–14	Trial Match	National Football Stadium, Port Moresby	[66]	[67]
20 Oct 2022	York Valkyrie	38–0	Warm-Up Match	York St John University Sports Park, York	—	[4]
15 Jun 2025	Australian Defence Force	48–6	Tour Match	National Football Stadium, Port Moresby	[68]	[69]
22 Jun 2025	Brisbane Broncos	0–48	Trial Match	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	—	[70]

Nines

Date	Opponent	Score	Tournament	Venue	Video	Reports
8 Jul 2019	Fiji	8–16	2019 Pacific Games	Apia Park	—	[71]
8 Jul 2019	Niue	10–4			—	—
9 Jul 2019	Cook Islands	14–8			[72]	—
9 Jul 2019	Fiji	14–16			[73]	[74]
18 Oct 2019	England	4–25	2019 International Nines	Bankwest Stadium, Parramatta	—	[75]
19 Oct 2019	New Zealand	12–24			—	[76]
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