Mead happy with effort

Sports

By ISAAC LIRI
KUMULS captain David Mead became the first Papua New Guinea player to score a hat-trick of tries in a World Cup beating Stanley Gene’s record of two tries in the tournament.
The 28-year old who played his 12th test for PNG on Saturday commended his team mates especially his forward pack for laying the foundation for their 50-6 win and allowing him to grab three tries at the National Football Stadium in Port Moresby.
“Scoring three tries was great but it was all because of the hardwork our forwards did and the defence our forwards put for the opposition down in their own end to make a big difference for the back three to bring the ball back quick,” Mead said.
“I think it was a team effort in defence and it just opened the holes up for me to get opportunities and for the other players to score tries.”
Mead said their win had boosted their confidence looking forward to their next two games against Ireland and USA and topping Pool C was an achievable goal.
But Mead remained grounded saying the side still had areas to improve on.
“Ball security at the back end of the second half there, I thought if we controlled the ball a little better we could’ve put some more points on.”
While leading 26-0 at halftime Mead said the message from head coach Michael Marum was to continue on with the momentum.
“Michael (Marum) said it was a great start in the first half and said we had to put on another 40 minutes and to make sure we started positively.
“He said to think like it was nil all in the second half and pretty much continue what we were doing in the first half, running hard, getting numbers in tackles and just playing tough,” Mead said.