Over 700 young rugby league boys and girls of the PNG NRL Bid Academy learned about healthy and respectful relationships, harnessing positive behavior at school, and driving gender equality in a nationwide program of activities being delivered by the NRL in PNG this week.
The PNG NRL Bid Academy, funded by the Australian Government, was established to identify and coach the next generation of talented rugby league players in PNG. It delivers a 22-week Australian-modeled program combining rugby league training and life skills modules in six locations across PNG for male and female players. The program is the first structured rugby league pathways program run across the country. A key element of being part of the PNG NRL Bid Academy is attending school, underpinning the important link between education and sports.
The life skills are being delivered in Central, Goroka, Kokopo, Lae, Mount Hagen and NCD. Male Academy players in the age groups of under 15, 17, and 19, along with female players in the under 18 age group, will attend the Voice Against Violence (VAV) and Power Meri activities run in partnership with the NRL in PNG, another Australian Government supported initiative. The VAV workshop is designed to help rugby league teams, both male and female to learn more about different forms of violence, what healthy and unhealthy relationships look like, and how to identify and respond to violence.
The sessions will also include the screening of ‘Power Meri’, an internationally released documentary about the formation of PNG’s national women’s rugby league team, the Orchids, and explores how women’s rugby league is changing attitudes in PNG.
“These sessions are very important for our young players to complement what they are learning on the rugby league field,” said PNG NRL Bid Coaching and Pathways Manager Joe Grima.
“The Academy aims to create better people, not just better players, and so learning about relationships, the treatment of women, and preventing violence is a big part of that.”
Australian High Commission representative Krishni Goonesena said, “Australia’s support for the NRL Bid Academy is more than rugby league skills. Rugby league brings out passion, energy, and togetherness and we also want to transform the next generation of leaders on and off the field.
“Through these life skills sessions, there will be more than seven hundred young Papua New Guineans that will come out of this program as better individuals who will positively contribute to the community. Australia is proud to be supporting stronger communities through sport."
Tina John Tipa of the Central Under 18 girls’ team said, “The life skills program was good because some of the boys were here. In PNG, women are thought to come after the men. It is good that the boys are taught how to treat women. I was happy that we came together to learn how to treat women."
The 2024 season of the Academy saw extremely positive results as part of an overall strengthening of PNG’s rugby league pathways structure in preparation for entering the NRL competition.
Players from the PNG NRL Bid Academy made up one-third of the Junior Kumuls side that secured a historic 22-all draw against the Australian Schoolboys in October, while Academy supplied 50 percent of the Junior Orchids team that lost narrowly to the Australian Schoolgirls 14-4.
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