Carol Humeu is the most capped Orchid and will make her tenth test appearance for PNG against Australia in next week’s Rugby League World Cup semi-final.
As one of the pioneer players in the re-established Port Moresby women’s rugby league competition, Carol began playing in 2011 and was selected for the Orchids’ debut RLWC appearance in 2017.
She was player of the tournament in that event and captained her country in 2018.
Over more than a decade playing rugby league in PNG’s capital, Carol has experienced changing public sentiment towards the women’s game.
“When I started playing men would throw things at us,” she recalls. “Even when we played our first ever Orchids match in 2017 in Port Moresby (against Australia), the home crowd were throwing things at us when we did our lap of honour, and we had to run off the field.”
In the lead-up to #RLWC2021, alongside teammate Belinda Gwasamun and players from other nations, Carol took part in a global photography project with Goal Click, taking analogue photos on disposable cameras of her life as a woman in rugby league in Port Moresby.
Some of her photos depict the change she has witnessed since women’s rugby league started becoming more popular and accepted. She explains:
“I photographed training with my local club, Tarangau, where we train together with the men’s team, who are very supportive of us. We train together so they can push us through training.
“Previously when women started playing rugby league, nobody wanted to support it, but this is changing. The players get more support from their family and friends these days.”
Credits : Santos PNG Orchids