Mead injured – The National

By JACK AMI
PAPUA New Guinea Kumuls captain David Mead will miss Saturday’s rugby league test against the Cook Islands in Sydney.
Mead, who plays for the Brisbane Broncos, sustained sternum and ankle injuries last month and has been playing with painkillers, according to his coach Wayne Bennett, who notified the PNG Rugby Football League over the weekend.
Mead’s loss is a blow as the 28-year-old featured prominently in last year’s 24-22 win over Fiji in terms of his leadership and his all-round game.
PNGRFL chairman Sandis Tsaka clarified that while Mead would be unavailable for this weekend’s test he would definitely be penciled in for PNG’s World Cup squad.
Kumuls coach Michael Marum, who flew to Sydney with the team yesterday, is expected to name his captain by Wednesday.
Brothers Ase Boas, 28, and Watson Boas, 23, continue their partnership in the halves for the national team with the elder Boas a candidate for the captaincy. The Kumuls squad is predominantly made of SP Hunters players with 10 current players and two former players in Sunshine Coast Falcons flyer Justin Olam and Redcliffe Dolphins centre Thompson Teteh.
In-form St George Illawarra winger Nene Macdonald reprises his role in the centres while Hunters custodian Stargroth Amean dons the No.1 jersey for the first time after playing on the wing in last year’s Pacific test. The debutants in the team include Hunters backrower Nixon Put and exciting Ipswich Jets winger Richard Pandia.
Burleigh Bears prop Luke Page, Easts Tigers hooker Tommy Butterfield and NSW Cup duo Rod Griffin and Rhyse Martin – who both play for the Canterbury Bulldogs – are the other inclusions in the 18-man squad.
Butterfield, 29, last played for a PNG team in 2007, and finally gets his chance after a decade of consistency in the Queensland Cup. It is worth noting that injuries to Kurt Baptiste (Canberra Raiders) and James Segeyaro (Cronulla Sharks) played a part in seeing the Milne Bay man get the call up.
Raiders signing Kato Ottio, who only returned to action for the Mounties in the NSW Cup this weekend after a prolonged stint on the sideline recovering from major knee surgery, was not considered for the weekend test but remains a genuine contender to make the World Cup squad in October. Marum added that despite missing Mead and not considering the UK-based talent, the Kumuls squad was one of the best they had put out. PNG Kumuls: 1. Stargroth Amean 2. Justin Olam 3. Nene McDonald 4. Thompson Teteh 5. Adex Wera 6. Ase Boas 7. Watson Boas 8. Henry Wan 9. Warovo Puara 10. Luke Page 11. Ryhse Martin 12. Rod Griffin 13. Stanton Albert; Reserves: 14. Tommy Butterfield 15. Wellington Albert 16. Willie Minoga 17. Nixon Put 18. Richard Pandia.