Jazmon Tupou-Witchman was torn between continuing to represent her mother’s Cook Islands heritage or joining the new look Tonga side but she chose to stay with the Moana and is now “etched in history”.
Tupou-Witchman, whose father and the mother of Tongan prop Pani Hopoate are cousins, was one of the stars of the Moana’s 42-24 win in Port Moresby that secured possibly the most significant sporting trophy in Cook Islands history.
The island nation has competed at the Olympic Games since 1988 without winning a medal, have achieved a bronze medal in men’s pairs bowls at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and won a gold medal in the women’s rugby league 9s at the 2023 Pacific Games.
However, the women’s Pacific Bowl is the first trophy won by Cook Islands in an elite sporting competition.
“We’re a very small nation in comparison to some of the other teams that we come against, but there’s a lot of heart, there’s a lot of passion, there’s a lot of talent within our islands and within our people, so this means a lot and we’re so happy to be able to get the job done for our little nation,” Moana captain Kiana Takairangi said.
“We were just ecstatic, you could see all the girls going off. It means a lot to us because it’s been a few very tough years, not getting any results, but to be able to come out here and get two wins back-to-back, it just means everything to us.”
After breaking a three year winning drought by beating Papua New Guinea 34-6 a week earlier, the Moana has now posted back-to-back wins for the first time. The win over the Orchids was their first against another Southern Hemisphere team since 2003.
“I think on day one when we walked into camp, or when we started to speak about what this camp would be, we said ‘at the end of it, you could be etched in history’,” new coach Ronald Griffiths said.
Griffiths, who guided the Knights to back-to-back NRLW premierships in 2022 and 2023, was credited by the players for the belief and confidence within the team which now has players like Tupou-Witchman choosing to play for the Moana.
“The important point for Jaz is that probably two weeks before the Pac Champs she was undecided whether she’d play for us or Tonga,” Griffiths said.
“I just rang her and I said, ‘well, this is what we’re doing’, and she texted me back and said, ‘I’m with you’, and she’s obviously now etched in history.”
After being eliminated by Fiji in last year’s Pacific RLWC26 qualifying tournament, Cook Islands must now wait until the standalone Women’s World Cup in 2028.
Griffiths is already preparing for that campaign with the selection of young talent such as Australian Schoolgirls centre Deleni Paitai.
The teen star came to Papua New Guinea three weeks ago to play against the Junior Orchids and stayed to represent her Cook Islands heritage in two Tests.
There is also an expectation that after finally achieving success other players with Cook Islands heritage, such as star Kiwi Ferns fullback Apii Nicholls, may want to help the Moana qualify for the next World Cup.
“When you’re competing with the bigger nations, you’ve got to have something that you’re playing for and something people believe in,” Griffiths said.
“This team’s got something now they’ve created that people believe in. They know we can go and create history.
“We’ve spoken about what we’re chasing as a charter and what we’re looking for and where we’re going to be at, over a period of time, and we’ve got a real clear plan of how we get there.
“The reality is they’re playing in a World Cup next year, a lot of those nations, and we’re not, but beyond that World Cup they’ll see what we create over the next 12 months.”
