Willie Minoga (born 17 September 1987) in Wapenamanda, Enga Province is a Papua New Guinean professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played for the

Barrow Raiders The Barrow Raiders are a semi-professional rugby league team in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The club was formed in 1875 as Barrow Football Club. For the 1995–96 and 1996 seasons the club was known as Barrow Braves, becoming the Ba ...

in the

Betfred Championship The Championship, known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a professional rugby league competition. It is the second-tier competition organised by the Rugby Football League, the governing body for the sport in England, ...

. He rejoined the

Papua New Guinea Hunters The Papua New Guinea Hunters (PNG Hunters) are a professional rugby league football club based in Papua New Guinea. They were formed in December 2013 and currently compete in the Queensland Rugby League, currently called the Hostplus Cup, a sec ...

at the end of 2016 after spending one season playing for the

Townsville Blackhawks The Townsville & Districts Blackhawks are an Australian semi-professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Que ...

in the same competition. A Papua New Guinean national representative, Minoga was selected in PNG's squad for the 2017 World Cup. At a very early age, he used to play for his schoolboy's rugby team while he was attending St.Paul's Lutheran Secondary School in the Minamb Valley, Enga Province in the years 2010-2012. He then joined Timin Tara, a local rugby team in the Minamb Rugby League. From there, he was directly invited by the

Lae Snax Tigers Lae Snax Tigers is a rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring ...

coach Stanley Tepend for training. He played with the

before he was selected for the

PNG Hunters The Papua New Guinea Hunters (PNG Hunters) are a professional rugby league football club based in Papua New Guinea. They were formed in December 2013 and currently compete in the Queensland Rugby League, currently called the Hostplus Cup, a se ...

. Story by: Kawaii Stan (Kepaku Warriors)

Playing career

Minoga scored the match-winning try for the PNG Hunters in the 2017 Queensland Cup Grand Final against the

Sunshine Coast Falcons The Sunshine Coast Falcons are a rugby league football team based on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Sunshine Coast. They compete in the Queensland Cup and their home ground is Sunshine Coast Stadium. The Falcons are currently affiliat ...

References

External links

Papua New Guinea Hunters profile
at Rugby League Project
2017 RLWC profile
1987 births Living people Barrow Raiders players Papua New Guinea Hunters players Papua New Guinea national rugby league team players Papua New Guinean rugby league players Rugby league centres Rugby league wingers Townsville Blackhawks players {{PapuaNewGuinea-rugbyleague-bio-stub