PAPUA NEW GUINEA PM’S XIII 10 AUSTRALIA PM’S XIII 60
TOM SMITH, Santos National Football Stadium, Port Moresby, Saturday

EZRA MAM grabbed a hat-trick as the Australians toyed with an inexperienced Papua New Guinea in the Prime Minister’s XIII match.

The Broncos live-wire crossed three times, centres Tom Chester and David Fifita tormented their opponents and Jaxon Purdue nabbed a double in the error-riddled affair in the Port Moresby heat.

The Aussies led 38-0 at the break before PNG struck twice late to send the home fans into raptures.

Ben Te’o – whose journeyman playing career included a South Sydney premiership, Queensland Origin appearances, Samoa caps and rugby union internationals with England and the British and Irish Lions – coached the tourists.

Te’o named a strong squad mainly made up of players from clubs who missed the NRL play-offs, headlined by big-name halves Mam and Lachlan Galvin.

In the opposite corner, PNG were led by Wellington Albert, who only drew the curtain on his playing career in 2024 after spells at Widnes, Leeds, Featherstone, Keighley and London.

Whereas in previous years the hosts’ PM’s XIII line-ups were peppered with plenty of names familiar to NRL and Super League fans, this season’s side largely featured players from the local competition.

With the PNG Chiefs set to join the NRL in 2028, there is plenty of momentum behind rugby league in this part of the world – and these players will no doubt dream of reaching that top level in the future.

Today, though, the gulf in class was apparent from the opening exchanges, when the visitors ran in four tries in the opening quarter of an hour.

Mam claimed the first points after Galvin sent Toby Couchman through a hole and the Broncos stand-off backed up in support.

Billy Walters then added his name to the scoresheet with a dart from dummy-half.

The Aussies were in again when Galvin and Mam combined to send young North Queensland star Purdue racing away untouched.

And they had number four through Nick Meaney in the left corner, courtesy of Walters, Galvin and Fifita’s neat hands.

Up 20-0 after less than 14 minutes, Australia took their foot off the gas as errors piled up in the sweltering heat, but the rout resumed as the clock ticked down to half-time.

Cowboys team-mates Purdue and Chester linked up to give Mam try number two.

Then Cronulla prop Thomas Hazelton grabbed a rare four-pointer, strolling through some tired defence.

Off the bench, Tallyn Da Silva also waltzed through, and Meaney’s fifth goal made it 38-0 at the break.

Mam completed his hat trick after the restart, chip-and-chasing for himself.

And Chester soon got in on the act, cashing in on a Galvin line break.

Purdue collected his second in strange style, stepping around the markers to cross from dummy-half untouched.

But the Port Moresby locals finally had something to cheer about when Sylvester Namo charged over from close range.

And the hosts had two in five minutes when speedster Jeremaiah Ben beat Mam to the right corner.

The victors made sure they had the last laugh, though, as Kurtis Morrin crossed at the death and Josh Curran potted the goal.

GAMESTAR: Linking up with Lachlan Galvin in the halves, brilliant Brisbane playmaker Ezra Mam scored three tries in Australia’s big win.

GAMEBREAKER: Kurtis Morrin steamed onto an Owen Pattie pass to complete the demolition job in the 79th minute.

MATCHFACTS

PAPUA NEW GUINEA
1 Sanny Wabo
2 Chris Benjamin
3 Jayden Numapo
4 Stanford Talita
5 Bruce Bawase
6 Victor Ario
7 Francis Sam
8 Jordan Pat
9 Emmanuel Alfred
10 Xavier Turi
11 Murray Conners
12 Jacob Taulani
13 Ila Alu
Subs (all used)
14 Stanza Tandoa
15 Koso Bandi
16 Doa Tapako
17 Sylvester Namo
18 Lote Kuman
19 Mondokai Waim
20 Jeremaiah Ben

Tries: Namo (68), Ben (72)
Goals: Ben 1/2

AUSTRALIA
1 Jaxon Purdue
2 Nick Meaney
3 Tom Chester
4 David Fifita
5 Braidon Burns
6 Ezra Mam
7 Lachlan Galvin
8 Toby Couchman
9 Billy Walters
10 Thomas Hazelton
11 Ryan Couchman
12 Hamish Stewart
13 Josh Curran
Subs (all used)
14 Owen Pattie
15 Jock Madden
16 Tallyn Da Silva
17 Kurtis Morrin
18 Josh Kerr
19 Alex Seyfarth
20 Jamal Fogarty

Tries: Mam (4, 33, 47), Walters (7), Purdue (10, 65), Meaney (14), Hazelton (36), Da Silva (39), Chester (50), Morrin (79)
Goals: Meaney 7/9, Fogarty 0/1, Curran 1/1

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-12, 0-16, 0-20, 0-26, 0-32, 0-38; 0-44, 0-50, 0-54, 6-54, 10-54, 10-60

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Papua New Guinea: Ila Alu; Australia: Ezra Mam

Penalty count: 2-1
Half-time: 0-38
Referee: Grant Atkins