Chance for hookers

By JACK AMI
PNG LNG Kumuls captain David Mead says he is looking forward to seeing hooker Tommy Butterfield get his first start in the No.9 jersey in Saturday’s international fixture against the England Knights.
Mead said the game was an opportunity for Butterfield and debutant Woods Kawage to show their wares for the national side as Kumuls vice-captain James Segeyaro will miss the first match of the series but will join the squad next week.
“We got Woods who’s debuting for us and he’s small and fast and someone who can cause problems for the big England pack,” Mead said.
“I’m looking forward to playing with Tommy and Woods.”
Saturday’s fixture at the Lae Rugby League Ground (capacity: 6000) is expected to have a full house much like July’s round 14 Q-Cup match between the SP PNG Hunters and the Norths Devils that attracted thousands.
Mead said at a training session this week that the 30-year-old Butterfield had been a consistent performer in the Q-Cup over the last decade and had more than earned his spot in the Kumuls.
Kawage, on the other hand, earned a reputation as one of the best hookers in the Digicel Cup over the last two seasons with the Enga Mioks and was rewarded with a PNG Resident U23s cap this year.
With the unavailability of Wartovo Puara Jr (injury) and Kurt Baptiste (club commitments), coach Michael Marum agreed that the new hooking pair would need to step in the breach and complement the new halves combination of Watson Boas and Edwin Ipape.
Marum was confident the side’s five debutants (Woods Kawage, Dilbert Isaac, Brandon Nima, Edwin Ipape and Zev John) would grab their opportunity over the two-game series against the Knights but more importantly allow the players to settle into the Kumuls system working with the staff and the other regular players.
Marum said Butterfield’s form for the Easts Tigers in the Q-Cup this season had been good after the Alotau-born rake had missed the first half of the year with injury.
The Tigers made the Q-Cup final losing to the Redcliffe Dolphins.
Mead said the Knights would be a quality side, not unlike the Irish and Welsh sides that played the Kumuls at the last World Cup.
“They’ve definitely got a strong side and I’ve seen them in the Super League and the Knights will have lot of big and skillful guys,” Mead said.
“We’ve got a big challenge ahead of us and there’s a lot of names in the Knights who are experienced and smart footballers but we’re looking forward to playing them.”
Mead said training had gone well for the squad and the debutants had taken well to the Kumuls system.
“We’ve got guys like Woods, Brandon, Edwin, Dilbert and Zev and it’s good to see the new guys come in and push for spots.”
“I know they’ll play with a lot of enthusiasm and energy.”
Mead said playing in Lae would be interesting for the team recounting his own experience.
“I played in Lae in 2011 in the PM’s 13 game although we did not get the result there but it was a crazy game,” Mead said of the thousands of fans that flocked to the LRLG seven years ago.