Kumul programme picking up

 THE performance of the country’s national rugby league team over the weekend in a test match against Tonga was brutal and entertaining in spots. 

The Kumuls eventually won the contest 32-18 after trailing 12-6 at one stage in the first half – they conceded three tries in succession after scoring the opening try off their first set.

The effort at the Lae Rugby League ground was certainly there but from a team whose members have played the entire season in the Queensland Cup, the performance was only passable.

If the previous week’s performance in Kokopo against the Australian Prime Minister’s XIII was anything to go by the expectation was that Tonga would surely be an easier mark.

But after Sunday, it is fair to assume Papua New Guinea as a rugby league power is still some way off its perceived place in the pecking order.

The same team that played Australia the week before and managed to improve on last year’s 52-10 loss by keeping the margin down to a respectable 34-16 followed that effort with a 14-point winning margin against Tonga.

But bear in mind, the Tongan side that came up was by no means a hastily cobbled together outfit but one some National Rugby League experience. 

The last time the two countries played each other in 2009, the Kumuls handed out a 44-14 towelling to the men in red.

It can be argued that Tonga was a better side then with stars like Feleti Mateo, Richie Fa’aoso (retired) and Sam Moa while the Kumuls did not have the advantage of having played together as a team for a season. 

The Team Kumul programme was set up last year primarily to achieve results for the national side, something which fans have clamored for since rugby league became the main staple in PNG.

Apart from the main focus being on the Kumuls and the Hunters, the programme looks at junior development, regional championships (zones) and women’s league. 

The 2013 World Cup was admittedly a flop with the Adrian Lam-coached side failing to win a game or make the quarter-finals, a feat the Kumuls were able to accomplish under Bob Bennett at the 2000 edition by winning three from three and topping their group before losing 22-8 to Wales in the quarters.

David Mead will forever be remembered for the missed conversion that would have at least enabled Lam to equal former mentor Bennett.

The game has evolved since Bennett’s time and understandably, professionalism and corporate involvement in the game abroad has rapidly raised the standards and PNG has, particularly over the last two years tried to catch up, there have been hits and misses.

However, the question on everyone’s lips is: When will PNG take its place in the upper echelons of the sport? Moreover, when will they start converting those misses into something more?

Last Sunday’s international tested the Hunters-dominated Kumuls and thankfully the side came through in 

the end but there were still worrying signs with handling errors, defensive lapses and at times a lack of creativity from the halves blunting the home side’s endeavours.

They won but it was not the fluid performance one would expect from this particular group of players. 

The challenge now is for the PNGRFL, including Team Kumul programme director and national coach Mal Meninga, along with the PNG NRL and to forge a path that will see a wider pool of players to be considered. 

One must ask if the programme is heading in the right direction as far as the involvement of the best players is concerned.

Many good players missed out on selection because of the policy of picking only Hunters players which should not be the case. 

The selectors are obliged to pick the best players and not make decisions based on convenience.

In order for the Kumuls to develop into a genuine contender on the world stage, the best possible team must be picked, which means considering all available candidates. 

The Team Kumul programme has produced results and the hope is it continues to do so as public money has been used to give the sport impetus to reach higher and to achieve more.