SANTOS CUP CELEBRATES THE INAUGURAL POWER MERI ROUND

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THE contribution of women to rugby league in Papua New Guinea will be celebrated and acknowledged this week through the Power Meri Round of the Santos Cup, PNG’s national women’s rugby league competition.

Round 4 of the Santos Cup (24 and 25 August) will see Power Meri Round matches played in Port Moresby, Goroka, and Minj, as well as a range of activities, activations, and digital content honoring women in the game.

From players to coaches, trainers, physiotherapists, match officials, media personnel, administrators, and executives, women are contributing to and shaping PNG’s national sport for the better.

The Santos Cup features women in the roles of head coach, trainer, team manager, team doctor, and match officials, as well as in the administration and delivery of the competition.

“Women are not only the backbone of our families and the unsung heroes behind our rugby league stars – they are also increasingly taking up key roles within the sport,” explained Santos Cup Competition Lead, Ms Urith Toa.

“We chose to introduce Power Meri Round as the first themed round of the Santos Cup to recognize and celebrate the contribution women are making to our game, from the grassroots to the boardroom, and we encourage people across the country to join us.”

Santos Cup media channels and match days in all three locations will honor some of the Power Meri in the PNG rugby league. This will take place through a mixture of stadium announcements, on-field interviews, video presentations, digital content, and fan activations.

All six Santos Cup teams will wear limited edition Power Meri Round socks in their matches this weekend, marking this special themed round.

The phrase ‘Power Meri’ became strongly associated with PNG women’s rugby league following the formation of the national women’s team, the Santos PNG Orchids, to compete in the Rugby League World Cup in 2017 and the global release of a multi-award-winning documentary film about the team, Power Meri.

One year ago, a social enterprise venture inspired by the film began selling Power Meri branded t-shirts globally to raise funds for training kits for grassroots women’s rugby league teams in PNG. The first sets of training kits funded by this charitable project will be arriving in PNG in the coming weeks.

The Santos Cup is proudly supported by Santos, the Australian Government through the PacificAus Sports Program, Kumul Minerals Holdings Limited and Digicel.

Pictures: Supplied.