Rookies push senior players in men’s national team trials

NATIONAL men’s train-on-squad rookies stepped up in Saturday’s exhibition match between Team Red and Team Gold at Papua New Guinea Football Stadium in Port Moresby, according to an official.
Red coach Bob Morris, who is also the mentor of reigning National Soccer League champions Lae City, said the youngsters were keeping their more experienced teammates honest.
“The league does not separate young players from the seniors, so they have a lot of experience coming into the national train-on-squad,” he told The National on Saturday.
“The junior players don’t have their own competition so playing with the senior players in the league is where they draw their experience from.
“The message for the senior players is, the young ones are coming up.
“I think it’s great to have fresh legs in the squad because football is about pace. We respect the old ones, they are senior players but you know when your time is up, you have to call it quits and hand the reigns over to the young ones.
“We should have a lot of young players in there (squad) going forward.”
Morris said Saturday’s match saw the league’s top players competing against each other. “You can really see it in their performance,” he said.
“If each club in the NSL maintains their standards, we have to raise the bar.
“But coaches need to continue helping players reach another level.
“That is what improvement is all about.”