Former critic has change of heart about coach Marum

ENGA Mioks coach Timothy Lepa, pictured, has called on the public and the Government to give the ultimate kind of the respect to PNG SP Hunters and PNG Kumuls coach Michael Marum.
A former critic of Marum himself, Lepa has had a change of heart after assisting the Kumuls and Prime Minister’s 13 coach during the year.
Lepa said Marum deserved to be accorded for what hen had for our national rugby league team the Kumuls and PNG Hunters.
He said Marum’s achievements as a coach were unrivalled in PNG.
“I have personally seen him sacrificed his time and family time for the love of rugby league,” Lepa said.
“Marum has won the hearts and respect for many Papua New Guineans and for skeptics and naysayers out there you cannot make statements about him without knowing who he is, his background and the hard work he puts into his job,” Lepa said of fans and critics who had resorted to social media to comments on the national coach.
“He (Marum) has proven time and again that he is the man for the job. We have seen him deliver.
“People make mistakes. It’s human. No one is perfect. But this man knows what he is doing and the results speak for themselves,” Lepa said.
Lepa said fans and the rugby league fraternity would do well to trust Marum and PNGRFL to take the sport forward.”
Lepa said Marum was the reason the Kumuls were on the up as a team and he should be credited for the Kumuls success.
Lepa, whose side made this year’s Digicel Cup grand final, said in his time as assisting Marum, he had seen the professionalism, effectiveness and proficiency as a coach and manager of footballers.
“Marum has in place a long-term plan to groom our Kumuls and we should all work together as stakeholders towards developing rugby league in PNG,” he said.
“Criticisms are good for the team however constructive ideas should be put forward to help the team.”