Wests Tigers shine for PM's XIII in Port Moresby
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Winger Jakiya Whitfeld ran in four tries as the Australian Prime Minister's XIII overcame their Papua New Guinea counterparts 56-4 on Saturday afternoon.
Whitfeld, who spent this NRLW season with the Wests Tigers, scored a double in each half in an impressive showing which included running for over 200 metres.
While it was a comfortable win for the visitors in the end, it was a performance likely to have pleased PNG coach Ben Jeffries on the back of the Test side making it through to the World Cup semi-finals last year.
The PNG PM's XIII came up with a number of impressive goal-line stands in defence across the 70 minutes, before bringing the vocal crowd in Port Moresby to their feet with a try in the second half to Latoniya Norris.
Doubles from both Cassey Tohi-Hiku and Whitfeld gave the Australians a 18-0 lead at the break, with gusty conditions contributing to only one of the tries being converted.
Cassey Tohi-Hiku Try
Leila Kerowa came agonisingly close to getting one back for the hosts just before half-time, but spilled the ball in attempting to ground it.
Tohi-Hiku's opener came inside two minutes, but thoughts of it being a walk in the park were quickly shut down and Australia were made to work for it from that point on.
Brad Donald's side did wear their opponents down in the second half though and the game opened up, with Keisha-Leigh Coolwell, Sharks half Brooke Anderson and Jasmin Morrissey scoring in between Whitfeld's final two.
Jakiya Whitfeld Try
Eels back Abbi Church brought up the half century with her try four minutes from time, before Dragons fullback Teagan Berry continued her prolific try-scoring in 2023 with a try after the full-time siren.
Match: PNG PM XIII v AUS PM XIII
Round 2 -
home Team
PNG PM XIII
away Team
AUS PM XIII
Venue: Santos National Football Stadium, Port Moresby
Match Snapshot
- The Australia PM's XIII ran in 11 tries in the win and ran for more than double their opponents' 740 metres.
- Amid strong winds in Port Moresby only six of the 11 tries were converted.
- Eels centre Cassey Tohi-Hiku scored a first-half double.
- Leila Kerowa topped the tackle count for PNG with 19.
- After scoring 11 tries in nine NRLW games this year, Teagan Berry scored on the very last play of the game for Australia.
Play of the Game
You can't go past this moment when Latoniya Norris sold the defence on a dummy and crashed over from close range to bring up the biggest cheer of the game. As they continue to develop in the women's game, it's moments like this PNG can celebrate and gain inspiration from.
Latoniya Norris Try
