Pukpuks head for Aust

 By JOHN PANGKATANA

THE Monier Papua New Guinea Pukpuks Oceania Cup campaign now begins in earnest.

A 30-man development squad has the golden opportunity to cement a spot in the national team when they embark on a two-week training camp at Bond University, on the Gold Coast, Australia, today.

The development team has been invited to attend the camp by the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) national high performance manager, Anthony Eddie.

The Australian Under-20 team are in camp there. 

Monier Pukpuks team manager Billy Rapilla yesterday confirmed the players would under-go quality training under ARU U20 high performance coaches.

Rapilla said the squad would play three trial matches against local club Nerang Bulls this Friday, then the Gold Coast Alligators (Queensland premier league) on Tuesday and the ARU U20 team on May 2, before returning on May 4.

With just under 10 weeks remaining before the Oceania Cup gets under way in Port Moresby, national selectors under head coach Allan Manning have the task of coming up with a strong 26-man team.

The camp on the Gold Coast will serve to identify a core of the players that Manning and his coaching staff are looking for to implement their proposed game patterns.

While the training camp in Queensland will give the players the opportunity to have a foot in the door, it does not guarantee them a Pukpuk jumper.

PNGRFU operations manager Sailosi Druma said there was another one-off match mooted in Queensland after this tour in June and then the Monier Pukpuks squad would be finalised to go into a training camp at the National Sports Institute in Goroka. The Oceania Cup is slated for July 1-14 in Port Moresby. 

The Monier Pukpuks development squad: Friend Kini, Keto Neheja, Mick Rau, Mike Mire, Ryan Samba, Kapua Kapua, Joshua Vakona, Gabriel Biyama, Philip Suapo, William Maniot, Emmanuel Mora, Desmond Korpok, Ezra Kautu, Ray Vagi, Butler Morris, Geti Raka, Billy Torea, Cyjoh Waingut, Libiert Suang, Kumalau Auru, Douglas Guise, Ralph Susuve, Bobby Bulmaris, Jackson Pato, Hubert Tsereha, Tisa Kautu, Albert Levi Jnr, Henry Liliket, Oswald Gela, Mara Katam and Jonah Kautu Jnr.