Women’s game backed

OIL Search has partnered the PNG Rugby Football League to sponsor the first ever national women’s rugby league team to participate in international events.
Oil Search was announced this week as the naming rights sponsor for the inaugural PNG Orchids — the women’s team that will play against the Australian Jillaroos in next month’s Prime Minister’s 13 match and also in the 2017 Women’s Rugby League World Cup.
Speaking during the launch, Oil Search managing director Peter Botten said the company was a proud advocate of women’s empowerment and strongly supported the campaign to end violence against women, through the company as well as the Oil Search Foundation.
“We are of the firm belief that the national sports should be the domain for both men and women,’’ Botten said.
“We are not only sponsoring the team, but we will also be sponsoring the coverage of the women’s tournament through a partnership with EMTV, which will enable more people in PNG to watch the Orchids in action in Australia.
“We want this group of talented women to be showcased around the world, demonstrating and celebrating female talent.
“PNG is a proud rugby league nation and as a proud national company, it makes sense for us to be a major player in promoting PNG and its amazing talent.’’
His sentiments were echoed by the Lynda Babao-O’Neill, the wife of Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.
Commending the PNGRFL for advancing women’s league in PNG, she said it was good to see more attention being given to what used to be exclusively male sport.
“Support for the Orchids demonstrates the progress and potential of women’s rugby league in PNG,” Babao-O’Neill said.
“The international events can only strengthen and develop the code in PNG. I would like to commend the PNGRFL and sponsors for seeing the talent of our women, and harnessing and nurturing it.’’
PNGRFL chairman Sandis Tsaka commended Oil Search for stepping up to support women’s rugby league.
“While the women’s game has been played in PNG in various capacities since the early 1970s, it was never properly organised nor recognised as a formal sporting competition until February 2014 when the current PNGRFL board formally ratified the women’s competition to recognise, incorporate and sanction the women’s rugby league programme into the national competition structure,” Tsaka said.
The PNGRFL’s strategic plan 2014-2017 incorporates the women’s involvement in the sport as a key development priority.
“We believe that for rugby league to rightfully claim to be the national sport of PNG, the sport has to be gender inclusive and that means to proactively promote the involvement of our girls and women in all aspects of the game from playing, refereeing and officiating to management and governance of the game.
“From its humble beginnings in 2014 when the game commenced with competitions in four provinces with less than 800 players, the competition has now grown to include 14 provinces across all four regions with over 22 PNGRFL-sanctioned local women’s competitions with more than 6000 players.”
Tsaka said it was the fastest growing division of the sport in PNG.