Women to trial for Aust comp

By ROBINSON LEKA
PAPUA New Guinea Rugby Football League high performance manager Michael Marum says his team is looking at assembling 15-20 women to trial for spots in Queensland’s BHP Premiership next year.
Marum, who completed a tour of the New Guinea Islands (NGI) last week, told The National that the high performance team was finalising names for a train-on squad that would vie for spots in the Australian state’s premier women’s competition.
“We’re looking to bring at least 15-20 women for the camp in Port Moresby,” he said.
“We’re hoping to assemble the squad in Port Moresby by the end of this month, so we can kick off training in the first week of January.
“I’ve covered parts of NGI now and we also have another team that was based in Lae. They moved up to Goroka where testing was completed for the Highlands.
“There is a good number of women in the region and we’ve noticed a few talents who we will be asking to join us for a high performance camp in Port Moresby.
“It’s going to be a big move for most of the women, so we want to screen each player carefully.
“We will have to inform their parents and discuss the process like travel and studies in Australia.
“We have to find out if they have commitments in the country.”
League chairman Sandis Tsaka said last week that a final contingent of eight to 12 women would be selected to train and play with women’s teams in Queensland.
The contingent is expected to depart the country with the SP Hunters by the end of next month.