"Back home when we play in front of our own fans, just to see the fans, the crowd get behind us, singing the national anthem... it makes me cry every time."
asserted
me → play → anthem
Edwin Ipape gets emotional when travelling with his Papua New Guinea team-mates to the national stadium.
asserted
Ipape → get → stadium
Children, so mad about rugby league that they will fashion a ball out of anything they can find, run alongside the team bus, eager to catch a glimpse of their heroes.
asserted
they → fashion → heroes
Players are mobbed wherever they go.
asserted
they → mob → ?
The buzz around rugby league in Papua New Guinea can sometimes be daunting for visiting teams.
asserted
buzz → visit → teams
In the past, passion has boiled over to the point where police have fired tear gas into the crowds.
asserted
police → boil → crowds
But the national game – and in particular its men's national team, the Kumuls – is also a powerful symbol of unity in a land that can be torn apart by tribal fighting and where more than 800 different languages and dialects are spoken.
asserted
languages → tear → fighting
When the PNG fans are at their best and noisiest, a 15,000 crowd can sound like twice that number and is so loud that the players on the field cannot hear each other.
asserted
players → sound → other
They will be at full volume this month when the island's capital Port Moresby is the venue for four Rugby League World Cup matches, as PNG co-hosts the tournament with Australia and New Zealand.
asserted
PNG → co → Australia
"People in Papua New Guinea probably don't know who the prime minister is, but they know all the NRL [National Rugby League] players," joked Elsie Albert, a prop who plays for PNG's women's side – the Orchids – and for Parramatta Eels in Australia's NRL Women's Premiership.
asserted
who → know → Premiership
So, how has an island perched off Australia's northern tip become so obsessed with the sport?
asserted
island → perch → sport
The seeds were sown by Australian miners in the 1930s, who introduced the game, one with deep roots in New South Wales and Queensland, to the local population.
asserted
who → sow → population
It took hold as the devotion spread.
asserted
devotion → take → hold
The ferocious physicality of rugby league sat easily with the Papuans, who had long fought battles without a ball on their soil.
asserted
who → sit → soil
Only the Cook Islands can lay similar claims to an all-out obsession with the game in terms of national importance.
uncertain
Islands → lay → importance
Sometimes that fervour spills over, with violence souring matches in their domestic league,, external something the authorities are keen to stamp out.
asserted
authorities → spill → league
In the past, tear gas was needed to quell over-excited crowds, such as when Great Britain came to tour in 1992.
asserted
Britain → need → 1992
Villages will settle around a television set to watch rugby league, whether it is the NRL or Super League.
asserted
it → settle → league
There are thousands of would-be Edwin Ipapes across the island, running about on bits of grass, on gravel, on the scrawniest patch of clear land somewhere, anywhere they can get the ball out and play.
asserted
they → be → ball
The games can be rough, bordering on brutal.
asserted
games → border → ?
"If you're lucky enough, you play with a rugby league ball," Ipape recalled of his childhood, growing up in Mount Hagen, in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea.
asserted
Ipape → play → Guinea
"Otherwise, you play with containers, you put stuff in it, fill it up and then make it like a ball and whatever...
asserted
it → play → ball
whatever we can get our hands on, we may pretend that it was our rugby ball.
uncertain
it → get → hands
"I remember saving up my lunch money to buy myself one of those American footballs and using it as a rugby ball so we could play."
uncertain
we → remember → ball
The Highlands of Papua New Guinea were a testing place to grow up - there is a long history of brutal tribal rivalries.
asserted
Highlands → grow → rivalries
Today, violence in those parts of the country has escalated - as access to increasingly sophisticated weaponry has brought deadly consequences.
asserted
access → escalate → consequences
Ipape, though, only ever had eyes for rugby league.
asserted
Ipape → have → league
Larsen Marape and Menzie Yere were the heroes of his youth: the faces on the posters adorning his walls in Mount Hagen.
asserted
Marape → adorn → Hagen
The sport not only brings unity to the country - for those who make it to the top, it also offers a chance to cross the globe.
asserted
it → bring → globe
Ipape, 27, has played for his country, and travelled worldwide.
asserted
Ipape → play → country
The hooker now plays in Super League for Leigh Leopards.
asserted
hooker → play → Leopards
The 'Birds of Paradise' - as Kumuls translates - have been life-transforming.
asserted
Kumuls → translate → Paradise
"Rugby league has given me pretty much everything," he said.
asserted
he → give → everything
"It's instilled discipline and it's taught me a lot of lessons about life.
asserted
it → instill → life
I've welled up with tears a few times on our way to the stadium in Papua New Guinea, just looking at the young kids running alongside the bus.
asserted
I → well → bus
"I'm so blessed and privileged to be in the position to represent my country.
asserted
I → bless → country
It's a dream I'm living right now."
asserted
I → live → ?
For any young hopeful looking to become the next Ipape, the first goal is to play for a village, then a province.
asserted
goal → look → village
Then it is the PNG Hunters, who play in Australia's Queensland Cup.
asserted
who → play → Cup
While much of their initial recruitment has been high-profile, such as Samoa half-back Jarome Luai, compatriot Brian To'o, and New Zealand international Joey Manu, Papuan players have also been sought to bolster the ranks.
asserted
players → seek → ranks
…and 45 more, not listed.
The Aporia
