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Papua-New Guinea Kumuls now has a very powerful set of backs


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Following the emergence of winger Xavier Coates -- ranked as the fastest man in the NRL -- as a star of the Brisbane Broncos,, plus the return to the NRL of Nene Macdonald, the PNG national side has an abundance of superb backline talent.

Consider just the superb first choice talent in the outside backs:

David Mead (Catalans)

Alex Johnston (South Sydney), Justin Olam (Melbourne), Nene Macdonald (Cronulla), Xavier Coates (Brisbane), Edene Gebbie (South Sydney)

 

There are good outside backs reserves in the form of Stargroth Amean (Barrow) and Garry Lo (Carcassonne)

I would suggest that the first choice outside backs for PNG are clearly superior to what England can offer, and possibly close to the quality of what New Zealand would select.

 

The team can also call upon some very good halves:

Kyle Laybutt (Townsville Blackhawks), Watson Boas (Doncaster) , Asa Boas (PNG Hunters) , Lachlan Lam (Sydney Roosters),.Edwin Ipape (Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles)

 

It is in the forwards where the PNG team may struggle.  

Second rower Rhyse Martin, (Leeds), prop Wellington Albert (Leeds), hooker/five eighth Edwin Ipape (Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles), prop Luke Page (Burleigh Bears)  and hooker Kurt Baptiste (Easts Tigers, formerly Canberra and North Queensland) are talented and have had first grade NRL or Super League experience. But the pack overall, now without James Segyaro (suspended for taking performance enhancing drugs in 2019), is not fully of international standard. If that situation could be rectified, PNG Kumuls could be regularly competitive with the top tier nations. But even as  it stands, the Kumuls historic win in  2019 over Great Britain shows that the team has real potential.

 

Just in case you missed it, the highlights of the PNG Kumuls 20019 victory over Great Britain:

 

Edwin Ipape, who as hooker scored a sensational try at the end of the first half against Great Britain, comes across as a very humble man.

https://www.seaeagles.com.au/news/2020/02/12/sea-eagles-feature-edwin-ipape/

Ipape is a very able replacement for the now suspended  talent James Segyaro. Ipape played in the World Nines, and is now in the Blacktown Workers feeder team for the NRL's top flight Manly Sea Eagles. He can play hooker or five eighth.

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Great . Stronger the Pacific Islands teams become the better . We need a strong France as well . I don’t know about the other home nations future tbh . More than anything though we need a strong , set long term international calendar !

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1 hour ago, Tommygilf said:

I'm still bemused at how League 1 Doncaster half Boas tore GB apart!

PNG look to be building nicely.

His try against GB (and his little boogie afterwards) reminded me of Henderson Gill.

Its not the size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog.

They wanted it a lot more than GB, how looked tired and homesick. 

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46 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Should have been in prison from what I saw!

What did you see? 

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2 minutes ago, fighting irish said:

His try against GB (and his little boogie afterwards) reminded me of Henderson Gill.

Its not the size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog. 

True. But how can a league 1 half outclass GB?! Does that make us rubbish or him momentarily brilliant?

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1 minute ago, Tommygilf said:

True. But how can a league 1 half outclass GB?! Does that make us rubbish or him momentarily brilliant?

They wanted it more than we did. The GB lads look tired and homesick and embarrassed. 

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There's certainly another crop of talented kids coming through at many clubs in the NRL. Seems every club has at least one or two touted as something special.

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2 hours ago, Celt said:

Part time player. On tiny money. Works a day job. Trains nights. Plays weekly against very low grade opposition.

Good player or not, Tommygilf's point still stands... How did he tear the cream of 'GB' apart?

GB were very poor, bullied up front that day from what I remember. PNG had a simple game plan which suited Watson's strengths well. He's lively and fast and has an eye for the try-line.

Where he has struggled - at least in England - is in the creative passing game. He had quite a few good moments in his brief stint with Fev, but they were mostly of an individual nature. He definitely played better than his brother Ase, who only lasted 5 games, but between them they couldn't really get the attack clicking or create many openings. 

Fev moved quickly to replace Ase, and then when Chisholm became available Watson lost his place and moved to Doncaster, where he seemed to be 3rd choice half back (and usually on the bench) by the end of the season behind Rangi Chase & Matty Beharrell.

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5 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

I'm still bemused at how League 1 Doncaster half Boas tore GB apart!

PNG look to be building nicely.

Maybe the question you should be asking is why hasn’t Boas been snapped up by a Super League club instead of still playing in League 1, surely he would be a great value signing.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 20/06/2020 at 13:29, Celt said:

Or... It could be that he isn't actually very good! The fact that he ran GB ragged could simply outline how bad they were! It might not actually make him a very good player.

I disagree. The Boas brothers have done well on the international stage more than once in recent years. However Edwin Ipape, Kyle Laybutt,  and Lachlan Lam are very talented alternatives. The real problem for PNG, as I have said, remains its lack of dominating forwards, who could give the competent halves and the brilliant outside backs a chance to shine.

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On 29/06/2020 at 04:29, Manfred Mann said:

I disagree. The Boas brothers have done well on the international stage more than once in recent years. However Edwin Ipape, Kyle Laybutt,  and Lachlan Lam are very talented alternatives. The real problem for PNG, as I have said, remains its lack of dominating forwards, who could give the competent halves and the brilliant outside backs a chance to shine.

They are entering a team in the Queensland Cup U`20s next year,was meant to happen this year but for the virus, hopefully this will help them to develop more forwards to go with their exciting backs . Really important to see steady flow of talent coming from these rugby league hotspots.  I been thinking for a while now  that it would almost be worthwhile the NRL help fund an academy up there. It`s a poor country and I`m sure the would appreciate any type of investment.

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