Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | Papua New Guinea | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby league | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Halfback | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby union | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: [1] As of 25 November 2023 |
Benjamin John is a Papua New Guinean rugby league and rugby union footballer who has played in the 2000s and 2010s. He has played representative rugby league (RL) for Papua New Guinea and at club level for the Parkes Spacemen and Bathurst St Patrick's, as a halfback, and representative rugby union (RU) at rugby union sevens for Papua New Guinea.
John played rugby league in the SP Inter-City Cup before switching to rugby union sevens and playing for Papua New Guinea on the Sevens World Series.
In 2010 John returned to rugby league and moved to Australia, playing for the Parkes Spacemen in the Group 11 Rugby League competition. [2]
John first represented Papua New Guinea in rugby league in 2007 against France. In 2010 he was selected in the team that competed in the Four Nations, playing in all three matches. [1]
In 2014 he played for Bathurst St Patrick's in the Group 10 Rugby League competition. [3]
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes rugby, football, footy or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 m (74 yd) wide and 112–122 m (122–133 yd) long with H shaped posts at both ends. It is one of the two codes of rugby football, the other being rugby union. It originated in 1895 in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, as the result of a split from the Rugby Football Union (RFU) over the issue of payments to players. The rules of the game governed by the new Northern Rugby Football Union progressively changed from those of the RFU with the specific aim of producing a faster and more entertaining game to appeal to spectators, on whose income the new organisation and its members depended.
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It promotes and runs the sport, organises international matches for the England national team, and educates and trains players and officials.
The Papua New Guinea national rugby league team represents Papua New Guinea in the sport of rugby league football.
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The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. Previously known as the Rugby League Imperial Board, the International Rugby League Board and latterly the Rugby League International Federation, the IRL is responsible for the Laws of the Game, the development, organisation and governance of rugby leagues internationally, and for the sport's major international tournaments; most notably the Rugby League World Cup.
The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fifteen teams, thirteen of which are based in Queensland, with one based in New South Wales and one in Central Province, Papua New Guinea.
The culture of Papua New Guinea is many-sided and complex. It is estimated that more than 7000 different cultural groups exist in Papua New Guinea, and most groups have their own language. Because of this diversity, in which they take pride, many different styles of cultural expression have emerged; each group has created its own expressive forms in art, dance, weaponry, costumes, singing, music, architecture and much more. To unify the nation, the language Tok Pisin, once called Neo-Melanesian has evolved as the lingua franca — the medium through which diverse language groups are able to communicate with one another in Parliament, in the news media, and elsewhere. People typically live in villages or dispersed hamlets which rely on the subsistence farming of yams and taro. The principal livestock in traditional Papua New Guinea is the oceanic pig.
Rugby league is a popular team sport in Papua New Guinea, and is the national sport. Papua New Guinea has a reputation for being the most passionate supporter of the game in the world.
Oxford Cavaliers Rugby League Football Club is the first amateur rugby league club formed in Oxford in the summer era.
William Carne is a former Australian rugby footballer who played rugby league for the Brisbane Broncos from 1990 to 1996, as well as representing both Queensland and Australia and rugby union for the Queensland Reds. An attacking player with dangerous speed, he played at wing and fullback.
Group 10 is a rugby league competition in the Central West area of New South Wales, under the auspices of the New South Wales Rugby League. It had been under the control of Country Rugby League but that changed after the NSWRL agreed to a new constitution and the CRL voted to wind up its affairs immediately. The decisions was made on 19 October 2019 and the merger means that the aim of a unified administration of the sport in NSW was achieved over a year ahead of time.
Group 11 is a rugby league competition in the surrounding areas of Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia. The competition is played in four grades, these being First-Grade, Reserve-Grade, Under 19s and Ladies League Tag.
Paul Aiton is a Papua New Guinean former professional rugby league footballer who is the current head-coach of the PNG Hunters in the Queensland Cup and assistant-coach of the PNG Kumuls.
Maurie Fa'asavalu is a former professional rugby union and rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He has played representative level rugby union (RU) for Samoa, and at club level for Taula Apia Rugby Union, Harlequins and Oyonnax, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Great Britain and England, and at club level for St. Helens. He was selected for the Great Britain national rugby league team squad in 2007, after living in England for 4 years. He returned to rugby union in October 2010, having signed for Harlequins for the 2010–11 English Premiership season. He then transferred to Oyonnax in France. More recently he has joined West Park St Helens as player/ coach.
A national sports team is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport.
Sport in Papua New Guinea is an important part of the national culture. Rugby league is the most popular sport in Papua New Guinea.
Sport in Oceania varies from country to country. The most popular playing sport for men in Australia is Australian rules football, while for women is netball. Australian rules football is the most popular sport in terms of spectatorship and television ratings. Rugby union is the most popular sport among New Zealanders, while in Papua New Guinea rugby league is the most popular. While, Cricket is the most popular overall sport in Oceania.
The 2017 Rugby League World Cup was the fifteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup tournament and took place in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea between 27 October and 2 December 2017. The tournament featured the national teams of 14 Rugby League International Federation member countries who qualified through either standing in the previous tournament or a series of qualification play-off matches. In the final, defending champions Australia, playing in their 14th consecutive final, defeated England at Brisbane's Lang Park.
Ryan Tongia is a professional rugby league and rugby union footballer. He is currently based out of Hawke's bay in New Zealand. Tongia is of Papua New Guinean, Chinese and German descent, but was born and raised in Australia. His position is right or left wing, or fullback. He is a Papua New Guinea rugby league international. Tongia was not an age grade star growing up, but through hard work and determination he worked his way to the pros. He got his first real taste of professional rugby league at the Cronulla Sharks NRL before moving to Wakefield Trinity in the Super League. Tongia changed to Rugby Union in 2013. He played for the Otago Highlanders in New Zealand in 2015 and 2016. He has also played for Hawke's Bay and Southland in the NPC known as Mitre 10 cup previously. | Tongia also spent time in Europe playing for Avignon Bayonne SUA in French Top 14 & Pro-D2 respectively.
Willie Minoga in Wapenamanda, Enga Province is a Papua New Guinean professional rugby league footballer who played for the Barrow Raiders in the Betfred Championship. He rejoined the Papua New Guinea Hunters at the end of 2016 after spending one season playing for the Townsville Blackhawks in the same competition. A Papua New Guinean national representative, Minoga was selected in PNG's squad for the 2017 World Cup.