Kawage adds his name to the long list of No.9s

By MELTON PAIS
IN rugby league there is always a reward for anyone willing to work hard and for Woods Kawage, three years of improvement and continually building on his play at hooker has paid off.
Growing up in Mt Hagen and playing his league on muddy fields and in tough conditions did not deter the crafty and willing dummy half.
‘Woody’ as his fiends call him, always dreamt that all young men playing competitive football dream — that one day he would get a chance to wear the national colours.
It’s a dream Kawage has held on to since his early teens.
In a country that seems to have an abundance of top quality No.9s (Wartovo Puara Jr, Warren Glare, Gahuna Silas, Stanley Olo, Noel Joel and Bryan Gispe), Kawage, 22, has been in progressivley great form over the last three seasons playing for the Hagen eagles and then the Enga Mioks.
That form did not go unnoticed as selectors penciled him in to represent the country in the PNG Resident U23s last month and now as fate would have it he is now in the Kumuls squad for the two-match series against the England Knights.
Kawage’s prospects look bright with the departure of SP PNG Hunters hooker and arguably the country’s best locally-bred dummy half in Wartovo Puara to English second division club Barrow Raider for next season.
One would have to pencil Kawage’s name in the vacant No.9 slot for Michael Marum’s Q-Cup side.
Kawage of mixed Simbu, Western Highlands and Enga parentage told The National making the Kumuls was his biggest achievement so far.
Kawage, a rugby league fanatic, even withdrew from his studies while doing Grade 12 at Dela Salle Secondary school in Port Moresby in 2015 to play
During his school days in Port Moresby, he developed his obvious talent while playing for the M2 Mumuts in Port Moresby Suburban Rugby League.
He has played in the Digicel Cup over the last four years.
Kawage got his chance in the semi-professional comp as a teenager (19) in 2015 for the Eagles before joinging the Mioks last year.
Kawage, whose game resembles that of South Sydney Rabbitohs’ Damien Cook, said he was proud of making the Kumuls squad but would continue to work on his game looking forward.
He thanked the selectors for giving him the chance to continue his dream. “I will give my best this week and if I get more opportunities in the future I will not waste them,” Kawage said.