Give Juffa a fair go

THE Kumuls were given a belting by the Australian Kangaroos.
I caught a glimpse of the thrashing they got from the Kiwis.
I did not watch the rest of the match on TV … I just could not.
Since then, I have read and listened with great interest comments made by many people over the recent performance of the PNG Kumuls.
And I say shame on you all for being quick with your criticisms.
Gary Juffa hit the nail on the head when he said we were simply not prepared to take on the world.
We do not have the key and necessary ingredients or the required incentives to become competitive at the international level.
Juffa is right to say we do not have a junior development programme, including a school boys’ competition, to give us some state of preparedness.
We do not have a professional competition and we do not have the infrastructure or even international standards facilities to give our boys a fighting chance.
Let’s face it, we gave our boys water pistols and sent them to take on Australia, New Zealand and England, who were armed to the teeth with a wide array of lethal arsenal at their disposal.
We lack the basics, even at club levels.
Many rugby league clubs throughout the country do not even have junior development programmes or even simple training programmes and facilities for the players.
We do not nurture and train young men to become talented players but wait for talent to walk through the front door.
The management of our clubs are done on an ad hoc basis.
There is a lack commitment and vision to train, groom and prepare the players, not just for the championship, but also for representative duties.
We can play for the next 100 years but we will never beat anyone if we do not get these basics right.
Juffa yu trupla man. I believe you have the vision and the commitment to turn things around and make PNG a rugby league super power nation.
You have my support.
Enough of the criticisms. Let’s take the first step now.
Let us unite and overhaul the entire rugby league set-up in PNG.
And I believe Juffa is the man to lead us in this endeavour.

Dominic Kakas
Port Moresby