Despite Women’s Rugby League been played in the Pacific nation for over a decade, and the PNG Women’s Rugby League being officially formed back in December 2008, the Rugby League mad nation of Papua New Guinea has been starved of opportunities to test themselves against the likes of the Jillaroos, Lionesses or Kiwi Ferns.
Irrespective of the international opportunities, Women’s Rugby League has flourished in the Pacific nation, with regular competitions conducted in Lae, Port Moresby, Goroka, Kundiawa, Mt Hagen, Kudjip, Minj, Banz, Rabaul, Kimbe, Kavieng, Buka, Mendi and Wabag.
The ever-growing club competitions, plus the introduction of new representative fixtures such as the National Championship is set to mean the Orchids won’t be looking to make up the numbers at this year’s Women’s Rugby League World Cup, they’ll be looking to win it.
One such player who is ready to represent her nation of birth is Cathy Neap.
From the town of Wabag in the Enga Province in the Papua New Guinea Western Highlands, Neap moved down to Port Moresby in secondary school, going to Marianville Secondary School, before completing a Batchelor of Accounting at the University of Papua New Guinea.
A talented athlete, Neap first made her mark in the local Rugby Union scene in Port Moresby for the Sisters club, trying her hand at Rugby League in the inaugural Port Moresby Women’s Rugby League Premiership in 2011.
Playing for the Paga Panthers, Neap was a key player in the Panther’s inaugural premiership that year, and would go on to join the coaching setup the following year. At the same time, Neap would be selected for the Southern Conference representative team in the National Championship, making her mark as one of the form forwards in the Women’s game.
Neap would continue to be a regular in the Women’s Rugby League representative scene, however it would be in Rugby Union where she would earn her first national honours, being selected in the PNG Palais in 2013 for the Oceania Sevens in Noosa.
Neap would go on to play a number of Sevens tournaments for the Palais over the following two season.
