Marum to retain players

PAPUA New Guinea LNG Kumuls head coach Michael Marum is looking to maintain the bulk of his Rugby League World Cup Nines players for the Oceania Cup and British Lions tour.
Marum said in an interview before leaving for Sydney, Australia, yesterday that most of the players in the squad would be retained, depending on their fitness after the World Cup Nines this weekend.
He said apart from the rentention of the squad, more forwards would be called up to join the camp before next month’s test matches against Fiji in Auckland, New Zealand, and the Lions in Port Moresby.
“Their availability will depend on how they go this weekend, factors like injuries and suspensions are some of the things we will consider before we announce the final 20-man squad for the test matches,” Marum said.
He also confirmed that players that were not part of the nines squad were given training programmes to maintain their fitness.
“We have a number of players doing their own training at home, they have been given programmes and I am communicating with them to make sure they are keeping fit.
“When they join the squad after the World Cup Nines, their fitness has to be on par with the players from the nines. We don’t want half of the team dragging behind in terms of fitness.”
Meanwhile, the inaugural Rugby League World Cup Nines will be held at Bankwest Stadium on Friday and Saturday.
According Marum, the Kumuls will break camp after the nines on Oct 20 and will have a week off before resuming camp on Oct 28 leading up to their test matches.