Junior Kumuls claim hard-fought draw as PNG shows strength of depth against Australia

Fans of rugby league in Papua New Guinea were treated to a glimpse of the future as the the Junior
Kumuls highlighted an excitng day of action at the Santos National Football Stadium in Port
Moresby.

With star centre, Phillip Coates, impressive every time he had the ball in his hands, the Junior Kumuls
leapt to a 22-6 lead with fifeen minutes to go before being hauled down by a fast-finishing
Australian Schoolboys side who drew level with a try in the last 30 seconds of the game.

With a strong wind blowing, the Australian team was unable to convert the try, leaving the result as a
22 all draw.

The result highlighted the tremendous depth of talent at junior level throughout the country and was
a testament to the work being done at the NRL Bid Academy through Head Coach Joe Grima.
Grima himself was delighted with the performance of the team.

“I’m extremely proud to play a team like Australia, with most of their boys contracted to NRL clubs," Grima said. "Whilst it’s disappointing that we didn’t get the win, I feel that we are making some great progress.”

In more great news for the women’s game the Junior Orchids showed commendable courage to hold
the Australian Schoolgirls team to a 14-4 win. With a 26-0 loss in the corresponding fixture last year,
the result showed the great strides that the girls have made over the past 12 months.

Played with a drink break due to the sweltering conditions, the Australian side went into halftime
with a 10-4 lead, but could only add a single try in the second half.

In the third match the Australian PM’s XIII women’s side proved too strong for the Orchids with a
50-0 victory, before the PNG Prime Minister’s XIII took the field in front of a near capacity crowd to
take on their Australian rivals.

After an excellent start the PNG team eventually succumbed to a 42-20 defeat, but not before
thrilling the vocal crowd with two tries in the last 11 minutes of the match.

Andrew Hill, CEO PNGNRL Bid, saw the results on the day as a great example of the depth of talent
coming through at all levels.

“Coming up against Australian teams is always a real test of where we are with our player
development and I was delighted that we were able to show such passion and resilience in front of
our home fans," Hill said.

“All the sides competed well, but it was particularly inspiring to see the way that the Junior Kumuls
nearly pulled off an historic win against the Australian Schoolboys.

“It is very pleasing to see the pathways structures that we are putting in place are already beginning
to show results.

"Australian teams are always a great benchmark for the standards that you need to
reach and we strongly believe that the depth of talent that we have in this country will continue to
improve with more opportunitities to showcase the talent and potential that exists here in PNG.”