For a rugby league-mad nation, there wasn't much love for the Orchids when they first hit the scene in 2017.
Foundation player Cathy Neap, now an assistant coach of the fast-developing Papua New Guinea women's rugby league side, reckons that's all changed ahead of a Suncorp Stadium clash with Australia on Friday.
"It's incredible to see where they are now," Neap told AAP as she watched the side train on Thursday.
Neap and her teammates, mostly from rural outposts, had three months of training and two warm-up games to prepare for the 2017 World Cup.
Today most of the side are still based in PNG.
But now there is multi-million dollar private and Australian government backing of a new seven-week domestic competition, development pathways and five players with NRLW experience, headed by Parramatta enforcer Elsie Albert.
The realisation of a PNG-based NRL team by 2028 would have a direct flow-on to the expanding women's program, creating social benefit to a country human rights organisations have described as one of the worst places in the world to be a woman.
Neap said the Orchids "went from being a laughing stock, with people throwing containers and banana skins at us (to having) people on that game day supporting and cheering us".
There is still an expectation of instant success from the public, but Neap smiles that the feedback is now more constructive.
"Looking back, I think our team has made a big difference in our country," she told AAP.
"We surely are getting respect that we deserve now ... I mean, it wasn't like this back in 2017.
"We're here, we're playing the national sport of our country which obviously the men only used to play.
"We're getting that support from our male folks ... it's good for women back in the country."
The team's been affectionately dubbed Pawa Meri, which translates to "Powerful Women" in PNG's native Tok Pisin tongue.
Neap, whose wide-ranging duties include an unofficial chauffeur service for players to attend training, is the face of that.
But she says she didn't need to channel that power when first embarking on the mission.
"Because we love the sport," Neap said of bucking tradition to play rugby league.
"We didn't really care about, you know, what people thought about us.
"We were working really hard, in terms of turning a blind eye on what's happening, what people are saying, but working really hard on the field and off the field as well."
Former Jillaroos great-turned master coach Tahnee Norris has taken over from Ben Jeffries to helm an all-female coaching staff alongside long-time staffer Meg Ward and Neap.
The Orchids were beaten 50-0 by a women's Prime Minister's XIII side in Port Moresby on Sunday that featured a host of front-line Jillaroos.
They only conceded six points in the second half though and will welcome back Albert from a calf injury on Friday for her first Test in two years.
Ten of this squad have just finished the maiden PNG season while four others are playing second-tier Australian rugby league and will be keen to impress NRLW clubs on the Orchids' biggest stage yet.
"The improvement is rapid but the Australian girls are playing in the NRL now, so they are a lot more steps in front of us.
"But our girls played really, extremely well last weekend.
"A 6-0 second half is unbelievable for us against a team of professionals who play NRL and (State of) Origin."
So what's the goal on Friday, against a full-strength Jillaroos team keen to prove a point after a handful of controversial selections?
"Be courageous, trust in yourself and go out there and do your best," Neap said.
