Lam knows what he is talking about

Letters, Normal
Source:

The National, Mondy 14th November 2011

AFTER the Kumuls defeated Fiji Bati 26-0, coach Adrian Lam was tearful and revealed his commitment to prepare the PNG for the 2013 rugby league World Cup.
He made comparisons to New Zealand who were once rated behind Australia but are now world cham­pions.
He said that it took the Kiwis six to seven years of strategic development to get to where they are now.
He said the Kumuls could do the same and become world champions if we were to start planning now.
This is not hot air as Lam is someone who has played in the highest le­vel as a player and as an administrator.
His comments echoed what ano­ther great rugby personality who has adopted PNG, Mal Meninga.
Meninga has repeatedly said PNG should concentrate on junior deve­lopment and build infrastructure.
He has stated bluntly that PNG is not ready to play in the NRL.
So what does this mean?
Where do we go from here?
Don’t we want to see our beloved Kumuls take on the world’s best and come out victorious?
If we want to see that, we have to start preparing for that day now.
The PNGRFL board must listen to Lam and show its appreciation by engaging him as the national coaching director and coach for the next five or six years to enable him to train and impart the latest coaching techniques to local coaches in a series of workshops, clinics, etc.
The first of these would have to be targeted at the Digicel Cup coaches so that we can expect improved playing strategies and techniques.
Second, we need to have a pool of talents identified and nurtured by Lam through a series of coaching camps throughout the year.
A 40-man team should be selected and attend the camps four or five times a year.
The PNGRFL has to foot the ex­penses, but in the long term, the investment will pay dividends.
Next is junior development and we must look at initiating a junior competition akin to the Toyota Cup in Australia.
All existing clubs must field an U20 team as they will be next batch of players who will move to the senior le­vel.
Similarly, the PNGRFL must acknowledge that competitions in Australia and the English Super League are the toughest in the world and create pathways for our players to play in these competitions.
We must learn from the frustrations last year that prevented Jessie Joe Parker from playing for St George Illawarra Dragons and the PNGRFL must provide guarantees and pay bonds as conditions for visas for our players.
We also need to address the state
of our playing venues.
Perhaps the PNGRFL, PNGFA and PNGRFU should look at coming together to seek the government’s support to build better facilities.
Port Moresby and Lae need sta­diums which can seat up to 30,000 people while those in Mt Hagen, Go­roka, Kokopo and Madang should cater up to 20,000 or more.
Our stadiums must have seats, toilet facilities, changing rooms for teams and match officials.
There should also be facilities for live TV broadcast and media.
I do not expect them to be built overnight but over a number of years.
However, it has to start from now.
If we listen to Lam and Meninga, the Kumuls may shed the pretenders’ tag and be real contenders.
With improved facilities and spectators and players’ behaviour, we can even host the 2017 or the 2021 World Cup. That will be the day, PNG.
 
Christopher Janjuwing
Port Moresby