Marum hails Great Britain scalp as one of Kumuls’ best

COACH Michael Marum said Saturday’s 28-10 win over the visiting Great Britain Lions was one of Papua New Guinea’s best wins in rugby league.
He attributed the win to a committed Kumuls outfit who were keen on getting a win in their final test of the year.
“To see the way the boys finished in the second half was probably one of our best games,” Marum said.
“We got stuck on our line, they (Lions) completely dominated that first 30 minutes.
“We asked for effort and the boys did not disappoint us one bit. That was a positive for us.
“So we built from there. There was only four errors in the first half so we spoke about what the jersey meant to us and who we represented. That last ten minutes, they had a lot football but we kept turning up and defending our lines.
“We’ve focused all our efforts in defence. Defence wins games.
“It was our last international match of the year and a lot of us won’t see each other for six months until we have our first international match (next year).
“I’m just proud of the way the boys stuck together all through the last three weeks, from the nines (world cup) till last week.”
Marum’s uncle Skerry Palanga was the Kumuls coach the last time they beat Great Britain – 1990.
Marum said Alex Johnston’s experience at fullback was instrumental in attack and defence.
He said the Kumuls had a strong pool players, which will allow PNG to be more competitive.