The Santos Cup, Papua New Guinea’s national women’s rugby league competition, will celebrate this week the Inaugural Power Meri Round, recognizing the significant contributions of women to rugby league in Papua New Guinea through the Power Meri Round. Round 4 on August 24th and 25th, the Santos Cup will feature Power Meri Round matches in Port Moresby, Goroka, and Minj, among other various activities, events, and digital content honouring women in the sport. PNG women are making significant contributions to PNG’s national sport in roles such as players, coaches, trainers, physiotherapists, match officials, media personnel, administrators, and executives. The Santos Cup includes women in positions like head coach, trainer, team manager, team doctor, match officials, and 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,” said Santos Cup Competition Lead, Ms. Urith Toa. “We introduced Power Meri Round as the first themed round of the Santos Cup to recognize and celebrate the contributions 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 honour some of the Power Meri in PNG rugby league through 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 to mark this special themed round. The Santos Cup invites supporters nationwide to participate in Power Meri Round can involve: Attending a Santos Cup Power Meri Round match: Central Dabaris vs. East New Britain Agmark Gurias at Santos National Football Stadium at 1:15 PM on Saturday, August 24, a doubleheader with SP PNG Hunters vs. Western Clydesdales; Goroka Lahanis vs. Port Moresby Vipers at National Sports Institute, Goroka at 2 PM on Sunday, August 25; Mt. Hagen Eagles vs. Lae Snax Tigers at John Amban Oval, Minj at 2 PM on Saturday, August 24. Visiting the Santos Cup Facebook page to send a video shout-out to your favorite Power Meri for a chance to be featured in the official Santos Cup Power Meri Round video. Getting a photo with your favorite Power Meri at the Power Meri Round photo booth at the Santos National Football Stadium in Port Moresby on Saturday. Posting on social media with the hashtag #PowerMeri. Buying a Power Meri t-shirt that supports grassroots women’s rugby league teams in PNG: Power Meri T-shirt. The term ‘Power Meri’ became closely associated with PNG women’s rugby league after the formation of the national women’s team, the Santos PNG Orchids, for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup and the release of the award-winning documentary film, Power Meri. A year ago, a social enterprise 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 project will arrive in PNG soon. The Santos Cup is proudly supported by Santos, the Australian Government through the PacificAus Sports Program, Kumul Minerals Holdings Limited, and Digicel.