Inspiration and sacrifice: Gwasamun putting it all on the line for NRLW dream

Orchids star Belinda Gwasamun is willing to make the biggest of sacrifices in her bid follow the footsteps of her role model Elsie Albert and play in the NRLW.

Gwasamun knows the level of commitment it will take for her to achieve her dream of becoming the next PNG-pathways player to reach the NRLW and has already made the decision to relocate to Australia in order to play in the highest level of competition possible, moving away her family.

Helping in her quest however is that fact Gwasamun – who hails from Mt Hagen – has the full support and backing of her family to pursue her dreams, with mother Janet and father Samuel helping take care of young son Hayden, who turned six in October.

Her husband Brandon Nima is a fellow athlete who has represented their country as part of the Prime Minister’s XIII squad and is a regular with the PNG Hunters, and fully understands what work it will take for her to achieve her best on the field.

“To be a mum and play football at the same time, it's not always easy,” Gwasamun said in the lead up to PNG’s promotion-relegation game against Fetu Samoa on Sunday.

“To be a mum, it comes with a lot of responsibility, as well as playing and being a footy player.

“You have to sacrifice something, you have responsibilities. I have to sacrifice my family time, especially my time with my child to move down to Australia and play.

“It's been very hard for me.

“But since I have a supportive family and partner, they help me get through it, I’ve got nothing to worry about.

“To see my son and to be with him, yes, sometimes I feel like I want to go back to PNG, but then I have a dream, to get an NRLW contract.

“I'm sacrificing my family time and my time with my kid; all this to chase my dream in Australia.

“My son is always proud of me.

“(When he was younger) he would see someone with a ball and say, ‘that's my mum, she plays rugby league.

“When he went to school and spoke with his teacher who would ask, ‘where is your mum?’, he would say ‘my mum went to play rugby league’.

“When I played local league in Mt Hagen, I would usually take him with me to the field and when we went to play, he would always be running up and down the sideline.

“Once when no one was watching, he ran into the field, so the ref had to stop the game and then they had to take him out so we could restart the game and start playing again.

“The first time he watched both his mum and dad play live for PNG was PMs last month, that was his first time watching me play and his dad play for PNG.

“It was a special day, a very special day.”

In her national captain, Gwasamun has a player to look up to, after making her NRLW debut with St George Illawarra Dragons in 2020.

“In rugby league, I see Elsie as my role model because she is first PNG woman to go out from playing in PNG into the NRLW,” Gwasamun said.

“We didn’t have a good pathway yet in PNG and she paved the way for us, not only for me but for other women who want to play rugby league, the young girls that are coming up.

“I still see her as my role model because she like to show us that there's opportunity, we can go out there and we can play and we can get a contract.”

In her career so far, Gwasamun has collected a number of accolades and has been a mainstay of the Orchids lineup since her debut in 2019 and scored a try in PNG’s historic victory over England in Port Moresby that same year. She has also collected player of the match honours after starring in her side’s Rugby League World Cup and Pacific Championship wins over the past few seasons.

This year, the centre shared player of the tournament honours at the Harvey Norman National Women’s Championship and was part of the Wentworthville Magpies squad who took out the NSW Harvey Norman Women’s Premiership minor premiership.

One of two PNG-based players alongside Gloria Kaupa who moved to Sydney join with the Wentworthville Magpies this past season as part of the PNGRFL’s PONI (players of national interest) program, this is one of the pathway and development programs in place to help PNG women secure the goal of securing an elusive NRLW contract, while Roswita Kapo also relocated to Australia for a period to play.

Despite it being well known that rugby league is like a second religion in PNG, women have traditionally faced hurdles to play, with current assistant coach Cathy Neap sharing her experiences of having rocks and rubbish thrown at the players when they were preparing for their historic inaugural World Cup appearance in 2017.

For Gwasamun, having the support of family has been big factor in helping her develop as a player, but at a national level, the PNGRFL’s partnership with Queensland Rugby League and has been helping to put in pathways to help grow opportunities for female players.