PNG daring to dream at 2013 Rugby League World Cup

Slain,am with you. I ahve never seen David Mead kicking goals in NRL and how comes the coach apointed him to do all goal kickings for the Kumuls? He the coach should have noticed when he missed all 3 kick in the game against Scotland (frendly). The Kumuls have players who can kick in the likes of E.Eliab,Dion Aiye,Mark Mexico and couple of other players. I prefer for this game against Samoa the coach sould apoint a rigth kicker who can kick goals forte Kumuls. Go the Kumuls we're all behind you,smash them..

Patience is wat we need at this moment..... No matter whatever happens, the kumuls are still the best.....bring it on!!!!..

Good point. In that team which took the field Jessie Joe and Israel Eliab whom they continue to use in the centres - can kick goals. Eliab is from Port Moresby Vipers the team that beat Agmark Gurias in the preliminary final and later Goroka Lahanis in the grand final. While Ray Thompson at five-eighth did some good things against Eliab has statistics this year with the highest number of 40/20 during the Digicel Cup competition makes him a potent weapon at five-eighth if Thompson is shifted to halfback. I guess Michael Marum as Agmark Gurias coach and the go-to man for Adrian Lam and Mal Meninga for information on the local players in the squad needs to call those of us in PNG who watched more local games than him as his would have been more Gurais games than other teams in the competition and we would tell him that Eliab is being wasted in the centres. Yes it is very disappointing that the Scotland game exposed one of their deficiencies one of which was the goal kicking and the coaching staff chose to ignore it. If there's anybody to blame it's not Mead - but the coaching staff. Hopefully the result against Samoa willl correct this disappointment but if it doesn't the rugby league mad nation of PNG is not going to let them forget. .

I do not know what is Adrian Lam doing with David Mead kicking goals...surely there other players in the team who can kick goals.....DAVID MEAD DOES NOT KICK GOALS!!!!!!!

THE PAPUA NEW GUINEA SUCK BIG TIME.....THIS QUESTION GOES TO ADRIAN LAM...SINCE WHEN AND WHERE DOES DAVID MEAD KICK GOALS....THERE ARE BETTER AND COMPETENT GOAL KCIKERS IN THE TIME BUT YOU HAVE LET THE NATION DOWN BY ENSURING THAT DAVID MEAD CONTINUES TO KICK WHEN HE MISSED ALL GOALS IN GAME AGAINTS SCOTLAND AND NOW ALL GOALS AGAINST FRANCE....WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE 20 METERS OUT RIGHT IN FRONT MISSED GOAL WHICH COST US THE GAME???

Credibility in all points said. Being a real competitor for Kumuls to be one in the World Cup & QRL. Expect the unexpected, what is normally tagged. With you Kumuls.

PNG is always the tournament entertainers of the tournament. Watch carefully how they play. We hope our players will be picked up by Super league and NRL after the tournament.

With PNG having a side in the QLD cup, I reckon that in 5 to 10 years time, the Kumuls will be able to match it with the ''big three" They are my second team in this world cup. Pity that Segeyaro is out. He would have lit up the tournament. GO KUMULS!

Realist, that's my prédiction for the Kumuls fate, too. And Rabit you could be correct to a certain degree. Soccer is more popular here among the costals. And RL is more of a 'tribal affair' but that does not give you the reason to sway away from mission. We may not dominate the foward pack, but maybe we can produce more Adrian Lams and Bais, Segeyaros, Meads, and who knows..Just sayin'.

Please don't make any mention of North Queensland Cowboys because if you wind the clock back they included PNG as a base where they would be getting their players from to strenghten their bid to get into the NRL. Some effort was made to keep the link going with Cowboys sending up a team to play a resident side from PNG in the early stages and some development programs were hatched and then - they switched off - and that died a natural death. Of course the Port Moresby Vipers didn't last in the Queensland Cup but that was at the height of the Super League - ARL wrestle over control over the game and Port Moresby were accommodated because they sided with the ARL. This is different the Government is behind it and a united effort from the corporate sector is sending out positive signals. At least give it a chance to succeed instead of knocking it well before the football is being kicked. What is important John - since you wrote the piece - and could have access to Queensland Rugby League to clarify a statement they released after the announcement in Port Moresby as we are starting to get conflicting information coming through from them and what the guys driving the franchise initiative released.

The Kumuls to shutout France in their opener. PNG then on to edge Samoa in a belter before being outclassed by the reigning champs NZ in their final pool fixture. The Kumuls to avenge their controversial 2008 loss to England by shocking the Poms in the quarter final matchup. Then a match away from the big prize with a semi final showdown with the mighty Kangaroos. Roarers, you heard it here first 'expect the unexpected' from the proud and courageous PNG Kumuls. Dreaming, nuhh, BRING IT ON!

Exactly PNG Rabbit, and you point out why I have worries about this bid. It only lasted 1 year in the past, you point out where exactly rugby league is played at geogrpahically within PNG. And I would prefer insted of all those travel costs, money was spent on local rugby league facilities eg better junior ovals, more semi-pro 1st division more money for players, this bid has a super rugby style energy to it. And super rugby ruined Australian rugby, and a domestic comp was neglegted. The size thing is seems to be true, in the forwards especially. In the back eg the Marcus Bai types perfect,but the forwards are a worry. I have read about PNG sevens rugby getting some good results, there alot of promise there, or in rugby league 9's. But in 13's you need more size, but PNG in sevens rugby has the ability Fiji style to be world beaters with the right investment, and be very competitive in 9's rugby league as that advances. The soccer aspect thanks for the that PNG Rabbit I had no idea about it's popularity, alot of talent there too in soccer, as PNG people are fast, and ave good endurance levels, and co-ordination.

Too right Johnno. We in PNG hear of the "news" of PNG entering the QRL competition, shrug our shoulders and move on. It's not as if we have we have never been there, done that, trialled that and failed that. About 15 years ago, the Port Moresby Vipers was in the QRL competition only for one season. You have pointed out some of the major forces against such ill-conceived ideas. The whole concept of entering the QRL was conceived by an Australian RL "consultant" after his failed "NRL" bid attempt last year by getting another "sportless and visionless" local Minister for Sports (another Aussy) and politicians to support them in this saga. There is a big hype about rugby league-mad-PNG but the real fact is fans such as myself have been driven away from the sport we love so much since a certain region of this nation became dominant in the code attracting its uncivilised tribal warlike spectator violence into rugby league. The fact is that Papua New Guineans are not built physiquely for rugby league. Apart from weight differences, some of our forwards are even smaller than some half three-quarters in the NRL. Most PNG play soccer. Trying to get rugby league off in provinces such as East and West Sepik, Oro, Milne Bay, Gulf, Western Province, West New Britain, Bougainville and Manus have flopped because there is no interest or drive. RL is played in Morobe and probably Madang which have road links to the highlands region but generally people from those two provinces play and families go to watch soccer on weekends. Rugby League is played at a civilised level only in East New Britain which may be why it hosts the nominated venue for the proposed PNG team entry into the QRL. It is a venue isolated on an island away from the "mob" behaviour of certain region of the PNG mainland. Getting a PNG team into the QRL was hailed a "success story" mainly by the Aussy consultant and his Aussy compatriot Minister for Sports. We in PNG who played and grew up with the sport and have the advantage of naturally possessing ingrained sports attitude and mentality know its just an ambitious hype. Our real hero who is trying his hardest against what what I see as the impossible, and who has his heart in developing PNG RL players is Adrian Lam. Adrian is obsessed and passionate about PNG Rugby League advancing to another level. We open our national anthem with the line .... "Oh arise all you sons of this Land......". We hope one day, someone will be uttering, "Arise Sir Adrian"!

With a QLD Cup team, lifting the rest of the PNG local comp up to a second tier standard and increasing the number of professional PNG players in NRL & SL clubs - I can see PNG starting to match it with the big guns soon enough.

I've watched a highlights reel of the "jukebox", absolutely awesome. A Q cup team aligned with the Cowbies makes too much sense, I hope it pans out that way, for a few years at least. A lot of small steps is the best way forward. Talk of NRL inclusion is very optimistic at this stage, and would probably do more to damage confidence than help it. No, plant the seed, nurture it and allow it to develop at it's own pace, it will come time to bloom and we can enjoy the beauty. Cheers.

Truly the peoples team. If anyone has a few minutes spare, I recommended searching up Menzie Yere's highlight reels on Youtube. Very skilled and highly entertaining player.

This is the way forward....PNG is like the West Indies is o Cricket worl wide....they definately bring the fans to the games! Cant wait to see them in actio in the Worl Cup and the Queensland Cup.

If PNG win just one game at this world cup, i would call that successful. The PNG Kumals have only just started their journey. Being accepted into the Q-Cup is a bigger achievement at the moment. They need 4-5 years to build now on top of that to really become a force in World Cups. Mind you, they are everyone's second team and never can their courage be questioned. Good Luck Kumals.

There should be greater pathways for players from PNG and other remote areas and their inclusion into the Queensland Cup certainly helps, but it's not all we can do. As part of our region and withs it's large affinity for the game, Australian Rugby League should be taking more responsibility to try and get PNG RL to a higher level, even if it's outside their current scope of responsibility. It could be something as simple as overseeing the training of new administrators, referees and coaches to establishing an academy under the North Queensland Cowboys supervision or inclusion into a national second division alongside the current big clubs and potential expansion teams.

Good idea but I hope the money is there. Part of me thinks the money could be better spent upgrading local facilities, and improving the PNG 1st division there. And from there the English super league, french 1st divsion and catalan dragons, and NRL, and Japan/French/Super rugby OZ, rugby union handpick the best players there. Save on travel costs, and also allow more clubs to develop and widen the talent pool. And commercially gonna be hard to fill the stadiums. It's one thing to fill the stadium, but another if tickers sell for virtually nothing, or no corporate boxes to sell, gonna be tough to reach the KPI'S. You'd give Billy Pulver a heart attack worrying about how this PNG team gonna achieve it's KPI'S lol. Let alone play smart creative running rugby lol.