Wewak, Maprik set to merge

By PATRICIA KEAMO
EAST Sepik’s Wewak and Maprik rugby leagues are set to merge and form a provincial league to create tougher competitions and a pathway for Sepik’s player base.
This will improve their competitions, which is an area that was highlighted by the PNG National Rugby League Competition when rejecting Sepik Pride’s Digicel Cup bid.
Pride interim project manager Bradley Simon told The National that their competition was interrupted last year due to Covid-19, but they were looking forward to working with the two leagues to run a stronger competition this year.
“This year, we are focusing on our local association where we will go back to the old format to merge two leagues together to make a provincial association,” he said.
“Our plan is to include teams from Maprik, Wewak and Yangoru in one association.”
Simon said the idea was proposed to the executives of the two leagues to which they had agreed.
He said although they were disappointed with the rejection of their bid, they had taken a different approach to lift the level of competition and have a strong player base before re-submitting their bid for next year.
“Sepik is a soccer-dominated province and it’s not easy to convince those who grew up playing soccer to transition to rugby league, but I believe the merger will attract their interest,” Simon said.
“We will be introducing a women’s division to give equal opportunities to our women, given the rise of the national women’s rugby league team.
“While we are trying to develop and promote the game in the province, we must also promote gender equality by giving the opportunity to our women to excel in the code too.”
Simon said the merger would see the establishment of a secondary schools competition among four of the secondary schools in Wewak, Yangoru and Maprik.
“This creates a development pathway for junior players to senior competitions, which will give them an opportunity to impress Pride selectors,” he said.