KEITH JACKSON'S PNG ATTITUDE

Genia man of the match against England

BY DONALD HOOK

Will Genia continued his amazing rise through Australian rugby with a man of the match performance for the Wallabies in their 18-9 win over England at Twickenham last night.

The British media hailed the PNG-born half back as the new George Gregan, and described him as a real find for the Wallabies.

Some commentators said the 21-year-old Genia, in only his fourth Test start, provided the vital spark that allowed Australia to eventually grind England into submission.

London Telegraph rugby writer said Genia was “quick and decisive” and rated his performance an outstanding nine out of 10.

Genia provided fast and accurate service to the Wallaby backline, dummied his way from close range to score his first try in international competition, and kicked for touch with great accuracy. He also demonstrated his toughness in tackling the big English forwards.

The win over England has given the Wallabies an encouraging start to their grand slam attempt in the British Isles.

They play Ireland next weekend followed by games against Scotland and Wales.

Genia shines but Wallabies go down again

BY DONALD HOOK IN TOKYO

Despite a lively performance by scrum half Will Genia, the Wallabies lost 32-19 against the All Blacks in Tokyo last night.

It was Australia’s seventh successive rugby defeat at the hands of their trans-Tasman rivals.

The PNG-born Genia provided excellent service to the Australian backline as well as being prepared to go alone. One one occasion, he weaved his way 40 metres through the All Blacks to a position from which Matt Giteau kicked Australia’s first points.

Australia’s coach Robbie Deans played down the result even though it was the first time since 1962 that Australia has lost four times in a single season to New Zealand.

“We’re back playing rugby, which we haven’t done for two months, so that’s a good launching pad for us to push on to the UK. We’ll be better for this performance,” he said.

The Wallabies left Tokyo for London today and are now focused on a rare grand slam attempt in the British Isles.

They play England on Saturday, followed by Tests on successive weekends against Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Andy Bichel is the right man for PNG cricket

Former Australian all-rounder Andy Bichel has taken up his new role as PNG national cricket coaching director.

Bichel, 39, played 19 tests and 67 one day internationals for Australia and had an outstanding first class career taking 769 wickets at 26 and scoring 5,860 runs at 26.5 with nine centuries.

He announced his retirement from cricket  earlier this year, surrendering to a nagging shoulder injury. “I've managed to come back from injury before,” he said at the time, “but this is the first challenging test I've failed.”

No one agreed with that analysis. The veteran Queenslander had been forced to have shoulder surgery at the end of last season and it didn’t work out as well as was hoped.

Bichel was always a model of enthusiasm and determination on the cricket field, he bowled fast and was just as quick with a smile.

He played 17 seasons for Queensland starting in 1992-93 and, with 463 scalps, he became the third highest all time wicket taker in Australian domestic cricket.

Bichel took 58 Test wickets at 32.2 and hit 355 runs with a highest score of 71 in Test matches. He picked up the great Brian Lara five times in Tests and three times in one-day internationals.

His performances in one day games were outstanding. They included a 2003 World Cup match in which he skittled England by picking up 7 for 20 then rescuing a doomed run chase with 34 not out in a match-winning 73-run last wicket stand with Michael Bevan.

He’s described as a genuine competitor who puts the team first, and it’s hard to see that PNG cricket – which has heaps of latent talent that needs development – could have found a more capable leader.

Will Genia's meteoric rugby rise continues

BY DONALD HOOK

PNG-born Will Genia departed Australia at the weekend for the Wallabies tour of Japan and Europe after signing lucrative contracts that will take him through to the 2011 rugby world cup.

The 21-year old scrum half has had a meteoric rise through Australian rugby. He was virtually unknown before making his test debut off the bench in the tri-nations opener against New Zealand three months ago.

He displaced Luke Burgess in the final two tests of the series and now goes on tour as the incumbent scrum half.

No details have been released about Genia's contracts with Australian rugby and the Queensland Reds but they are believed to be worth several hundred thousand dollars.

In addition to his rugby performances, Genia also providesmusical support to his team mates. He took his guitar to New Zealand and soon had other players wanting to leaarn the instrument. At least two have now bought their own guitars and there's talk of a Wallabies band.

Genia was taught to play the guitar as a youngster in Port Moresby by his father, politician Kilroy Genia.

Melanesian leaders in Fiji for golf diplomacy

BY ILYA GRIDNEFF OF AAP

In a sign of the times, Pacific leaders from PNG, the Solomons, Tonga and Vanuatu spent this weekend in Fiji – counting numbers on the golf course.

The aim was to complete 18 holes with Fiji's top brass in the Ratu Mara Somare Cup golf challenge at the Natadola Bay championship golf course on the Coral Coast.

Commodore Frank Bainimara was not on the links but previous Fiji coup leader and former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka proved to be a formidable competitor

Keen golfer Michael Somare with a contingent of PNG politicians, government officials and business leaders flew to the Solomons where they picked up PM Derek Sikua en route to Fiji.

Sir Michael told AAP the weekend was an equivalent to a "Melanesian Ashes series". But the 22 carat gold kundu trophy worth thousands of dollars never leaves PNG regardless of the cup's outcome.

"We have a silver version of the trophy for them if they win," he said.

"The idea of the cup is to get Melanesian leaders together. It's not about politics, it's about golf."

"On the golf course you have no title, so I am not a grand chief, I am a golfer."

Most recently the so-called Melanesian Spearhead Group decided Fiji should not be expelled from the Pacific Forum and the Commonwealth.

Will Genia's meteoric rise through rugby

 BY DON HOOK

After a meteoric rise through Australian Rugby, PNG-born Will Genia is about to depart on the sport’s greatest prize – the Wallaby tour of Japan, Britain and Ireland. The 21-year-old began the year as a reserve with Queensland Reds in the Super 14 competition; he is now the top half back in the Australian squad. 

Genia was born in Port Moresby, the son of a former PNG Government Minister Kilroy Genia.  He didn’t play organised sport, let along a team sport, until he moved to Brisbane in 2000 at the age of 12.  The story goes that he only started playing rugby because fellow students at Brisbane Boys College assumed he would be a star – simply because he was an islander.

By the end of his schooldays, Genia was an Australian under-19 representative.  He caught the attention of former Wallaby coach Eddie Jones and it wasn’t very long before the present Australian coach Robbie Deans had his eyes on young Will.

Deans was impressed by his inventive play around the ruck, strong defence and crisp service at the breakdown.  In fact, Deans had Genia earmarked for a considerable time and only a hand injury kept him out of the Wallaby squad at the start of this year’s international season. 

Led by new skipper Rocky Elsom, the Australians leave on October 24 for Tests against New Zealand (in Tokyo), England, Ireland, Scotland. and Wales. They will be attempting to emulate the famous 1984 team that completed an undefeated grand slam of the four British home unions.

PNG’s Genia gets run-on role in rugby test

BY DONALD HOOK

PNG-born Will Genia will start at halfback for the Wallabies against the South African Springboks in Brisbane on Saturday night.  It will be his first run-on appearance at Test level.

The 21-year-old PNG-born star replaces Luke Burgess who performed poorly in Australia’s 25-32 loss to the Springboks in Perth last Saturday.

Genia came off the bench to replace Burgess with 20 minutes of the game remaining.  He quickly helped revitalise the Wallabies attack, providing fast accurate service to Australia’s chief playmaker, five-eighth Matt Giteau, resulting in two late tries.

Genia, son of a former PNG Defence Minister Kilroy Genia, spent his early years in Port Moresby before being sent at the age of 12 to Brisbane Boys College where he learned his rugby. He plays for the Queensland Reds in the Super 14 competition.

Australian coach Robbie Deans has taken a keen interest in Genia and would have included him in the Wallabies squad earlier this year except that Genia suffered a serious finger injury in a game against the ACT Brumbies in May. 

Deans says Genia has what it takes to do well at Test level. “Every experience he gets will be good for him.”

Somare threatens ban on Origin football telecasts

Sir Michael Somare has said that Papua New Guineans have “gone crazy” over the Australian Stateof Origin rugby league series, which is broadcast widely on PNG television.

He said the craze had resulted in destruction to property and loss of life. In violence linked to the game, two university students were killed at Port Moresby’s Five-Mile settlement two weeks ago after the second State of Origin encounter.

Sir Michael, who has backed a PNG team entering the Australian rugby league competition, said people had gone crazy over a game that was not played on PNG soil and not played by  Papua New Guineans.

“Many times you hear wives being bashed up, TV screens smashed, big sums of money lost through bets, but at the end of the day those players are not Papua New Guineans,” he told Parliament. “Why can’t we show the same enthusiasm and support when our own people are sweating it out in the field?”

“There is no logic at all and if I had a say, I would ban the NRL from being telecast in PNG,” he said.

Source: ‘PM: We are crazy over a game played by Aussies’, The National, 8 July 2009

PNG-born scrum half called into Wallabies squad

Don Hook

PNG-born Will Genia has been called into the Wallabies Tri Nations squad and is expected to make his Test debut off the bench against the All Blacks at Auckland's Eden Park on Saturday 18 July.

Australian coach Robbie Deans kept a promise made some weeks ago to call up the 21-year-old Queensland Reds scrum half once he recovered from a serious finger injury received in a game against the ACT Brumbies in May.

Genia replaces incoming Brumbies scrumhalf Josh Valentine in the Australia squad.

According to a report in the Canberra Times, Deans said he'd noticed Genia last year. "He's grown physically and with that he's really grown in confidence in the game.

"Against a tiring defence, a guy like him is going to be pretty challenging and we've seen that through Super Rugby."

Deans is said to have called Genia and told him he would have been in the squad for the first four internationals but for the in jury.

Genia spent his early years in Port Moresby before being sent at the age of 12 to board at Brisbane Boys College where he learned his rugby.

Genia becomes the number two scrumhalf in the Australian squad behind Luke Burgess. It's almost certain he will start his Test debut on the bench, replacing Burgess on the field during the second half.

Footnote: Rugby must run in the Genia family.  Will's younger brother Luke is halfback for the Queensland 1 team in the Australian Schools Championship being played in Sydney. 

PNG’s Winis revered footballer on western border

Richard Jones

 

PNG-born Aussie Rules coach Winis Imbi is a revered figure in Victoria's far south-west region.

As playing coach of Portland in the Western Border Football League, Imbi led the Tigers to the 2008 premiership and nine rounds into this season  Portland sits undefeated at the top of the ladder.

Imbi, 30, was born in PNG and spent the first 11 years of his life there. His mother moved the family to ortland where she had relatives.

The cold, windy winters were something of a reality check for the Papua New Guineans but they coped and Winis, in particular, thrived. He played footy in the local junior competition and by his mid-teens had caught the eye of scouts from the North Ballarat Rebels, a leading club in the TAC Cup under-18 competition.

Awarded a scholarship to St Patrick's College, Imbi moved to Ballarat. He played in the Rebels' 1997 premiership team. The side also included Adam Goodes (a Brownlow Medal star these days with the Sydney Swans) and North Melbourne's Shannon Watt.

Although overlooked in the AFL national draft despite selection in the TACCup team of the Year for '97, Imbi was eventually rookie-listed by Essendon. He made a few appearances for the Bombers in the pre-season Ansett Cup and then was cleared to North Melbourne where he had a short stint.

Injuries ended his AFL hopes so he completed a teaching degree before returning home to Portland in 2003. Since then he's won the WBFL fairest and best medal, helped the club win the flag under the coaching of former Adelaide Crows' midfielder, Brodie Atkinson, and then captained the Tigers in their 2006-2007-2008 premierships.

The hat-trick of flags was Portland's first in its 123-year history.

No longer a dashing speedster Imbi is now a stocky, bustling defender. On Saturday (June 13th) he led the Tigers to an 18.7 (115) to 15.11 (101) victory over fifth-placed North Gambier.

The Western Border Football League straddles two states. Five clubs, four of them from the City of Mount Gambier and one from Millicent, are South Australian-based. The other five clubs are from Victoria's south-west region.

With thanks to Adam McNicol and The Sunday Age

Photo: Winis Imbi [centre] leads his team off the ground

PNG athletes win gold on and off the field

From DON HOOK, a media volunteer at the Arafura Games

Papua New Guinea athletes did well at the recent Arafura Games in Darwin, winning 40 medals - eight gold, 14 silver and 18 bronze. 

Their on-field efforts were matched – some would say exceeded – by the number of friends they made off the field.

From day one, they presented as a happy, smiling, singing group of sportsmen and women.

They enjoyed themselves. They were polite and friendly. They were enthusiastic yet fair and, above all, they were great ambassadors for their country.

One games official said that if you heard singing you could be pretty sure it was coming from a PNG team bus occupied by women bowlers.

The PNG lawn bowlers were the darlings of the games. Everyone loved them.

A New Zealand bowls official said: “The PNG girls are great characters. They love to sing and dance and they enjoy their bowls. They are very generous with gifts of pins and badges, PNG caps and even necklaces.”

The shell necklaces, dozens of them, were made in the months before the games by Walo Kirori, aged 60, who was taking part in her second Arafura Games. Originally from Daru, she now lives in Port Moresby and is a member of the Murray Barracks Lawn Bowls Club. Walo is related to WW2 veteran Ben Moide, a prominent sportsman in his day.

Another member of the Murray Barracks Club, Aloxcy Manjor, was taking part in the games for the first time. Ten years ago she was the first female to join the PNGDF and is now a senior officer. But to her fellow bowlers in Darwin she was just “one of the girls” – and a young one at that.

Major Manjor, aged 36, comes from Wewak in the East Sepik, and is a lawyer at the PNGDF HQ at Murray Barracks. She is a graduate of UPNG and studied international law in the US.

She says it was very challenging being the first female in the Army. “I believe I did well to overcome early problems and I hope I’ve been an inspiration to other females.”

Today, there are five females in the PNGDF – two lawyers, two pilots and a medical officer. Next year, it’s expected there will be an influx of women to general duties including clerical and transport positions.

One of the features of this year’s Arafura Games was the support given to PNG athletes not only from fellow team members and officials but from former PNG residents and their families living in the Northern Territory .

The biggest gathering was for the final of the men’s volleyball between Macau China and the Port Moresby Vabukori village team representing PNG.

Dozens of supporters were in the stadium well before starting time carrying PNG flags and banners, and wearing PNG caps and shirts.  By the time the game started, they were joined by at least 100 more supporters chanting Pee-En-Gee and cheering every point scored by Vabukori in its thrilling and hard fought victory 28/26, 25/21, 24/26, 25/23.

Back home in PNG, the people of Vabukori were kept informed of their team’s progress by mobile telephone and they too joined in the cheering when the final whistle was blown.

The players were told the village people were already preparing for a week of feasting, singing and dancing to celebrate the gold medal.  And they were told there’d be a great homecoming followed by Vabukori’s biggest party ever.

Retired schoolteacher Paul Morea, who was visiting his NT resident daughter as well as watching the games, described the result as a remarkable achievement for a village team taking part in international competition.

“The team has won the PNG National title five times and competed in the South Pacific Games. But this final against Macau has been our greatest success.”

Paul is a brother of the late Sevese Morea, broadcaster and one time Speaker of the PNG House of Assembly. Sevese’s son, Tarau Morea, is president of the Vabukori Volleyball Club.

The Arafura Games, held in Darwin from 9-17 May, attracted more than 2,000 athletes from some 30 countries. The games, now in their 18th year, are specifically targeted at developing athletes across the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Full results are available on the Arafura Games website here.

Photo: Kala Kila, a member of the PNG men's volleyball squad

Ballarat welcomes three PNG footballers

Richard Jones

It seems more and more budding footballers from Papua New Guinea intend to make the most of their opportunities to play Australian Rules.

Three young men are presently billeted with families in the Ballarat region and will play footy this autumn and winter with Goldfields club Bacchus Marsh in the BFL.

The boys are nineteen-year-old Ali Pinder, Zachary Rava, 25, and teenager Theo Gavari. As he's only 15, Theo will continue his schooling at St Patrick Boys College in Ballarat on a scholarship provided by the school.

All three have been billeted out, Bacchus Marsh Football and Netball Club spokesman Dion Miles said. "It has been a long and arduous process with complex negotiations through AFL Queensland and AFL Papua New Guinea, but after many meetings it was agreed the process would take place," said Miles.

The three boys arrived recently and have settled in well. Theo will play for St Pat's in the Victorian secondary schools' competition with transport for him between Ballarat and Bacchus Marsh organised by Marsh club members. He will also turn out for the Bacchus Marsh under-16s in the Ballarat League junior competition.

The trio hail from the Kimbe area of West New Britain. The relationship was kick-started back in 2004, Miles said. "One of our club members was working in PNG and was keenly involved in the local Aussie Rules organisations while living there.

"The relationship burgeoned to the extent that for the last two International Rules Cups our Bacchus Marsh club hosted the visiting PNG contingent.

"Last September on the MCG the PNG boys beat New Zealand by eight points in the International Cup grand final," he said.

PNG kicks in 500,000 kina for NRL bid

Richard Jones

The push for a National Rugby League spot for Papua New Guinea by 2012 has received another boost.

PNG Prime Minister Michael ‘The Chief’ Somare has contributed 500,000 kina ($290,000) to assist his country’s bid to have a team in the NRL within three years.

Rugby league has long been PNG's national sport. Indeed, it is the only country across the globe to adopt the code as its national game.

Two league heavyweights are backing the PNG bid. Gold Coast Titans’ chairman Paul Broughton and league great and Queensland coach Mal Meninga are supporting the initiative.

PNG Deputy Prime Minister Puka Temu says his administration has approached private enterprise to help achieve the necessary criteria for entry into the competition.

“Imagine a PNG team in the NRL. Imagine the opportunities and imagine the strengthening of the PNG-Australia relationship,” he enthused. “To have our very own NRL team would unite the whole country.”

Richard closer to story than ‘Bulletin’

Henry MacD Bodman

I am relieved that my fellow ruckman of Sydney University days (and well known PNG League aficionado) ‘Richard the Dick’ Jones has, in his recent piece, resisted entering the same state of orgasm adopted by the Gold Coast Bulletin in the matter of Amua Parika’s budding stardom.

In the article, extolling the promise of this young Papuan beanpole, the Bulletin’s sports writer referred to “the first (Rules) ‘international’ played between the Gold Coast and  Papua New Guinea in 1971.” The story goes that a former Surfers Paradise premiership player, Clive Foster, was field umpire of this ‘international’ game at the Lex Bell Oval on the Isle of Capri and remembers “most of them (PNG players) did not even wear boots and most spoke pidgin English”. He also remembers “the fact Gold Coast won easily”.

Richard the Dick also refers to the Gold Coast Rules “bond”and a “series of internationals”. I wonder about these.

As a member of an “end of season” club trip to the Gold Coast in 1971 a game was played as Clive remembers, but the “PNG players” were a mix of club senior and reserve players - predominantly expatriates with Australian playing experience. There were also a couple of players of PNG birth – two of them on their way to the VFL grand final at the MCG – hosted by the St Kilda Football Club.

As part of the selection process carried out by the PNG A. N. F. Council, I can assure readers that those selected to be the country’s flag bearers in Melbourne during “the last week of September” were selected as much on their ability to “sell the PNG image” (in English) as their ability on the field. Both played in the Gold Coast “friendly”in football boots and would not have used pidgin as members of a predominantly Australian team.

Thus, the so called “first international” was merely a club end of year trip with a social game played by a scratch Port Moresby Club side.

The easy win to the Gold Coast is also a long way off the mark. The scratch side led all day and in 25th minute of a final 20 minute quarter (no time on) the bell was rung the moment the Gold Coast kicked a goal to “win” the game by less than six points.

On the matter of “internationals”, games against Cairns, North Queensland and Townsville were played in the mid fifties - as soon as the Papuan Australian National Football League was established. But the ”PNG sides” were selected only from the Papuan competition. Internationals?

Henry Bodman was a distinguished aerial ping ponger from the New Guinea side and also a pioneer in establishing and developing Australian Rules in PNG

Papua's Parika: from Moresby to MCG

Richard Jones

The Australian Football League's newest franchise on the Gold Coast has signed star Papua New Guinea player 17-year-old Amua Parika from Port Moresby. Parika started training this week in preparation for the 2009 TAC Cup under-18 competition.

Parika was spotted by seasoned AFL scouts when he spearheaded the PNG Mosquitoes to victory over New Zealand in last year's International Cup grand final. The International Cup is contested by 16 nations in which Australian Rules is a developing sport.

It has been a meteoric rise for the 190 cm Parika. From Moresby to the MCG, no less.

Former Melbourne AFL club captain Gary Lyon praised Parika in various segments of the Footy Classified show televised on Channel 9. And Gold Coast recruiting chief Scott Clayton said there was "plenty to like” about the athletic Papuan. "He can jump and he looks like he's going to be a reasonable size. It's now up to us to develop him. We're excited about Amua," said Clayton.

The promising young forward has something of a footy pedigree. His uncle, Navu Maha, had a run with the old South Melbourne team (the club on which the Sydney Swans is based) while his father, Amua senior, was a star with the Port Moresby Mosquitoes. Tragically, Amua senior was stabbed to death in a village fight in 1995.

The Gold Coast's newest signing says Hawthorn 100-goal full-forward Lance Franklin is his idol.

The bond between Papua New Guinea and the Gold Coast stretches back to the 1970s. From the early 70s a series of Aussie Rules 'internationals' were staged. In more recent times a number of PNG teenagers have played for Coolangatta in the AFL Queensland second division competition and two of them – John James and Donald Barry - are currently with Division One club, Aspley.

Swimming 101: no champs, no chance

Richard Jones

Former champion swimmer Max Mowen has provided me with some clues as to why we didn't see many indigenous Papua New Guinean swimmers of South Pacific or Commonwealth Games standard in the 1960s into the 1970s. He notes that until the 50-metre Sir Donald Cleland pool was built for the 1969 South Pacific Games there were just three Olympic-sized pools available in Moresby. These were at the Army facilities at Taurama and Murray Barracks and at the private Badili Club.

Toby Tovitolon's father and the father of the Mae Verave sisters from Marshall Lagoon in the Central Province were both Army men. This allowed their children could train in the pools at either Taurama or Murray Barracks. "So it pretty much restricted anyone who wasn't a private member (at Badili) or part of the Army from competitive swim training," Max recalls.

He fondly remembers the 20-metre salt water pool at Ela Beach, which was available to the general public. "We used to race there on Sunday mornings," he says. Max was a noted butterfly swimmer back in the late sixties and early seventies and now works in a managerial role for a finance company in North Sydney.

Talent scouts hunt for Kumuls players

From Richard Jones in London

The outstanding efforts of the Papua New Guinea team in rugby league's 2008 World Cup 'group of death' have not gone unnoticed by the code's talent scouts.

Writing in yesterday's The Independent, sports writer Dave Hadfield noted that Sheffield Eagles had signed a second member of the Kumuls' “much admired squad”.

The National League One club has recruited Menzie Yere, a 20-year-old who scored a try from centre against Australia during the group stage of the tournament, Hadfield writes.

“Yere who plays for the Kokopo Island Gurias in the PNG domestic competition and is the country's current Sportsman of the Year has also played at full-back and five-eighth,” he added.

“Menzie is a significant catch for us and has been one of the better players in the PNG competition for a number of years,” said Eagles coach Mark Aston.

Yere will join another Kumul at the Don Valley Stadium, with Sheffield having already signed forward Trevor Exton from Ipswich in the Queensland Cup competition.

The Kumuls played outstanding rugby league in their World Cup opener against England and were beaten, but not disgraced, in their two other matches against eventual finalists New Zealand and host nation Australia.

PNG to host ICC regional cricket trophy

Papua New Guinea will host the International Cricket Council East Asia Pacific Cricket Trophy tournament in June next year. The tournament is a qualifier for the ICC Under-19 World Cup to be held in Kenya in 2010. PNG are the current regional champions having won the last tournament in Vanuatu in 2006. After that win, PNG qualified for the World Cup in Malaysia earlier this year and was placed 12th.

“We expect very strong squads from Vanuatu, Fiji, Japan and Indonesia,” ICC regional development manager, Mathew Weisheit, said in Port Moresby to identify improvements to ovals and facilities, which will need to be brought to international standard.

Cricket PNG general manager Andrew Knott said they were proud to host this prestigious event. “This is the second time an ICC tournament has come to PNG and we are confident of putting on a very professional display,” Knott said.

“This tournament encourages community participation, an increase in young boys and girls playing cricket, so any assistance from the Government and corporate companies to be a part of this prestigious event will go a long way for our cricketers and the country in the region and the world,” he said.

World cup trip a boon for PNG

Papua New Guinea may have lost its three qualifying matches in the rugby league world cup but its visit to Australia for the championship has been anything but disappointing. Not only has the side won plaudits for its style and tenacity of play but it now looks like winning a ride into the Australian national competition, with prime minister Kevin Rudd agreeing to establish a Port Moresby-based team.

In a stirring pre-game speech before PNG played Australia last night, PNG prime minister Michael Somare said his Government had committed $20 million to the project. He also revealed details of a recent meeting with Mr Rudd at which the Australian PM pledged his Government's assistance for the project.

"You'll be very pleased to know that Kevin Rudd, my brother from Australia, has spoken and Mr Rudd has agreed that the Australian Government will support us with the upgrade of sporting facilities," Somare said. "You can rest assured we will have the facilities required for us to have a team, a professional team, that people can devote their time to, who will represent our country.

"It is very important for you to know the prime minister, the high commissioner to Canberra and everyone back in PNG, we are all with you."

It is likely any PNG-based NRL team would play at least three seasons in the Queensland Cup competition before being admitted to the premiership.

Source: ‘PNG has support of Rudd’ by Dan Koch, The Australian, 10 November 2008

Kumuls trounced by NZ in world cup

The Papua New Guinea Kumuls were comprehensively defeated by New Zealand 48-6 in yesterday’s rugby league world cup match on the Gold Coast. The Kumuls now need to defeat Australia – which would be an extraordinary upset - to reach the semi-finals of the competition.

Despite making a shaky start to the second half, when PNG came back with a try by teenage winger David Moore, New Zealand scored nine tries to one and made. New Zealand had won its previous 10 matches in a row against PNG since the Kumuls’ only win, 24-22 in Port Moresby, in 1986.

Moulding the Kumuls was a tough task

From Richard Jones in London

A number of Papua New Guinea's rugby league players were reduced to tears this week when they met former Melbourne Storm winger Marcus Bai. Regarded as close to a 'God' by PNG aficionados of the sport. Bai is a much larger character these days compared to his glory days when he played on the wing for the Storm.

Kumuls' coach Adrian Lam said the waterworks were more "tears of joy" when Bai introduced himself to the Kumuls at training. "We welcomed him with open arms. Some of my players regard him as close to a God --- even though he's more the shape of a backrower than a winger these days," Lam said, with a smile.

Former Brisbane Broncos and Australian Test prop Gorden Tallis said he also saw some tears in the eyes of Kumuls' players. "When they walked out onto the surface at the Gold Coast's Skilled Park a few of them were teary-eyed," said Tallis. "They said they felt humbled to be on the same grass graced by a star like Scott Prince - something as a player you take for granted."

Lam conceded he'd been handed a tough task, moulding the 24-strong Kumuls squad into a cohesive unit. "Many of them have never travelled overseas before and there are a few who can't read or write. And some of them can't speak English. So it's an experience for them, especially playing in a World Cup."

Lam said even though the Kumuls went down to England by just 10 points in their opening fixture last weekend, they needed to continue with their intensity against the New Zealand Kiwis on Saturday. "We've got to back up our performance. There's no doubt the bigger Kiwis will try and bully my boys. They are obviously disappointed with their last result (a 30-6 flogging from Australia).

"So we will have to try and keep our composure and hope that the bounce of a the ball and the referee's calls go our way," the PNG coach said.

NBC helps boost Moresby rugby league

My former employer, I was the first director of policy and planning there in the seventies, the PNG National Broadcasting Corporation, is seeking to boost the chances of a PNG team competing in Australia’s National Rugby League competition by ensuring Port Moresby has a sporting stadium of international standard. This is one of the criteria the NRL mandates to allow new teams into what is one of the world’s toughest sporting contests.

The concept of having a team in the NRL has been raised by PNG Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare and the NBC, through its new television station, the National Television Service (NTS), has been the first organisation to help the Papua Rugby League upgrade its current playing ground with a K10,000 donation to conduct a feasibility study.

“The intention of Sir Michael is to put a team into the NRL and, in order for that to happen, we have to put our plans together and have the figures and facts correct before the groundwork begins for a new stadium,” said PRL chairman Solomon Ravu, who believes the partnership PRL has with NBC will go a long way to make that concept a reality.

Kumuls qualified to join NRL: Meninga

Australian rugby league legend Mal Meninga has told officials that the Kumuls are the game's sleeping giant and the Melbourne Age reports the PNG national team could continue its charge to gain a place in the NRL competition in the clash with New Zealand at the weekend.

The Age says that PNG's bold display against England in it's World Cup opener surprised many people, but not Meninga, “who believes the flamboyant Kumuls should be taken seriously and considered down the track for a place in the NRL”.

And in an article headlined ‘Kumuls gunning for Kiwis’ the Herald-Sun says that “New Zealand's ordinary Cup debut against favourites Australia gives [the Kumuls] hope of qualifying for the finals from the pool of death provided they can reproduce their committed effort.”

Meanwhile, RICHARD JONES writes from London: New Zealand selectors have made three changes to the side that will face the Papua New Guinea Kumuls on the Gold Coast on Saturday night. Crushed 30-6 by Australia in their opening rugby league World Cup fixture last weekend, the Kiwis retained under fire Wigan scrum half Thomas Leuluai. However New Zealand coach Stephen Kearney dumped Dene Halatau while centre Krisnan Inu comes in for the suspended Steve Matai. Also into the Kiwi side is hooker Isaac Luke and second rower David Fa'alogo. Luke and Fa'alogo are expected to start Saturday's game on the interchange for New Zealand.

Leuluai was heavily criticised for his poor performance against the Kangaroos' Jonathan Thurston. The Aussie playmaker starred in the big win over the Kiwis less than 48 hours after the violent killing of his uncle. Kiwi coach Kearney has kept faith with Leuluai for the crucial clash against the Kiwis, opting to give the former Auckland Warriors playmaker another chance on the big stage.

‘Papuans’ worthy opponents: England

From Richard Jones in London

England rugby league captain Jamie Peacock obliquely praised Papua New Guinea's first game performance at the 2008 World Cup in comments published in Monday's London press. While insisting the Lions would improve on their come-from-behind 32-22 win over the Kumuls, Peacock said the PNG players had proved dour opponents.

"They were worthy opposition but I have to say the World Cup is not won in the first game. We know there are areas where we need to improve vastly and I think we're used to that in (England's) Super League. Improving on your performance from the week before is vital in our games at home."

Trailing 12-6 after 28 minutes the fired-up Kumuls stung England with three tries before half-time to lead 16-12 at the break. St Helens winger Ade Gardner added to his first-half try and Leeds winger Lee Smith completed a hat-trick on debut as the Lions took advantage of a tiring Kumuls' outfit.

Papua New Guinea's lack of match fitness was commented on by sports writers in London's Sunday papers. Ed Hughes, writing in the Sunday Times, said ‘the Papuans’ tired in the final 15 minutes. The habit of referring to the Kumuls as 'the Papuans' is common among English sports writers covering this World Cup.

Papua New Guinea's next pool game is against New Zealand at the Gold Coast this Saturday.

Game shows Kumuls worthy of NRL berth

Papua New Guinea has emerged as a force in world rugby league after a scintillating display of champagne football in the World Cup against the English Lions in Townsville.

And the Kumul's powerful and skilled performance showed why PNG should be invited into the Australian rugby league competition, which they would adorn like the colours of their national flag grace their guernseys and their  play. This is a first rate team, with a fluidity and creativity in style that is very exciting to watch.  They would add 2,000 to the gate wherever they played in Australia.

Although England won 32-22, this was a match that – but for a couple of controversial refereeing decisions and a few unforced errors – the Kumuls could have taken.

Trailing the Kumuls 12-16 at half-time after leading early, England faced the possibility of an embarrassing defeat. But the Kumuls were unable to maintain the same intensity in the second half, and were not assisted by the run of the ball.

PNG coach Adrian Lam - and what magic he has worked on this team - criticised several decisions by referee Shayne Hayne, including a disallowed try for a forward pass: “That was devastating. It would have put us 10 points ahead if we had got the conversion. That was a real hurt but we hung in there. A couple more decisions going our way and it's game on.''

An emotional Lam is confident the Kumuls can cause an upset over the Kangaroos or Kiwis. “Tonight we showed we are a young, courageous and spirited side and I couldn't be prouder of the way the guys played,'' Lam said. “Tonight was a little bit about getting some respect back from the world of rugby league.”

An AAP reporter at the match commented: “World Cup contenders England were expected to make easy work of the underdog Kumuls, but they were made to fight all the way before securing the win. Despite the loss, PNG will be buoyed by their opening effort, having really threatened one of the top rated teams in the tournament.”

While the Kumuls head to the Gold Coast to face the Kiwis at Skilled Stadium next Saturday, Australian rugby league administrators should head to the board room to work out how the Kumuls can be injected into the national rugby league competition. Last night they showed they're ready - and we should be ready to invite them. It would do wonders for the game in Australia and in PNG, the only nation where rugby league is lauded as the national sport.

Time for the NRL to get as creative in the smoked filled rooms as the Kumuls showed they are on the field. A correspondent to this blog has called them warriors - they are indeed Warriors, with a capital W, and a great tribute to the sporting prowess of Papua New Guineans.

Visa problems maroon PNG players

From Richard Jones in London

In a blow to the Papua New Guinea rugby league team’s preparations for the World Cup, half of its squad was marooned in Port Moresby this week because of visa issues, flying in the face of the Australian Government’s commitment earlier this year to resolve one of the major problems that have been bedevilling the PNG-Australia relationship.

Papua New Guinea coach Adrian Lam has predicted a finals finish for England in rugby league's World Cup, which kicks off in Australia tonight. In London's The Times, arguably the world's most famous newspaper, former Wigan Warriors' scrum half Lam said England had a great chance of winning the Cup.

"I think England has a great chance of not only reaching the final but also of winning the whole thing," he said. "The English game has been chipping away and personally I think the brand of football in the Super League is more watchable than (Australia's) NRL. England intend to play to those strengths. If they can do that, maybe the era of Australian dominance will be ended. Certainly the game needs it," said the PNG coach.

Australia has won the World Cup final on every occasion it has been contested since 1975. Great Britain beat the Aussies in France in 1972 - the last time the Kangaroos have been beaten in the final.

Lam's team faces England in Townsville on Sunday in a game which will be televised live into the United Kingdom on Sky Sports 2. Previewing the match for The Times from Townsville, Christopher Irvine said half the Papua New Guinea squad had been marooned in Port Moresby last week because of visa problems.

"But a combination of (England) Super League veterans, NRL young guns and indigenous PNG players determined to thrust themselves onto the global stage will make the Kumuls no pushovers," he said. "Stanley Gene burst onto the scene at the 1995 World Cup and the Hull Kingston Rovers loose forward of indeterminate age - he is 'officially' 34 --- has been part and parcel of the British game since then."

"Professional players get around 60 pounds a match in PNG, which compares with the annual weekly wage there of 5-6 pounds," Lam told Irvine. The PNG coach added that the clash with England "was more than just a game" for his players. "It's the chance to showcase their talents and possibly command a good wage overseas. That's what Stanley did, and there are more Stanleys waiting in the wings."

The PNG coach singled out England forward Gareth Hock's temperament as something which England coach Tony Smith (an Australian) would have to watch. Lam pinpointed Hock's talent during his time at Wigan, but Hock was suspended in July for five club matches for grabbing a referee's arm. "He was wild when we were both at Wigan and he's no doubt wild now," said Lam "He was someone I felt had a huge future, but there can be a bit of ill-discipline with him."

How tonight's teams line up -- England: P. Wellens, A. Gardner, M. Gleeson, K. Senior, L. Smith, K. Pryce, R. Burrow; J. Peacock (capt), J. Roby, J. Graham. G. Hock, G. Ellis, K. Sinfield. Interchange: A. Morley, M. Fa'asavalu, D. McGuire, D. Wilkin.

Papua New Guinea: J. Wilshere (capt), G. Kepa, J.J. Parker, T. Maori, D. Moore, R. Griffin, K. Peters; M. Alzue, P. Alton, T. Exton, N. Costigan, J. Nightingale, S. Gene. Interchange from: R. Pora, G. Moni, J. Chan, C. Wabo, N. Kolo, A. Kui, M. Yere,

Referee: S. Hayne (Australia).

England league team wary of Kumuls

From Richard Jones in London

Papua New Guinea has been handed a tough assignment in this weekend's first round fixture in the 2008 rugby league World Cup. The Kumuls have been matched up against England in Townsville for their World Cup opener.

Rugged forward Adrian Morley, the England vice-captain, was asked for his thoughts on the match - and an overview of the World Cup - by reporters for London's Metro paper, one of two free morning giveaways in the UK capital. "Papua New Guinea should be a relatively easy opener for England, shouldn't they," Morley was asked. "No, not at all," replied England's enforcer. "We will have to be at the top of our game and can't afford to be complacent. We don't know much about them and will have to give them our fullest respect or else we could come unstuck.

"We also have to remember they will be more used to the hot, humid conditions although hopefully we will have acclimatised by then. But if you start looking ahead to the other teams down the line you will run into difficulties," said Morley.

The prop forward or second rower played for the Sydney Roosters for five years in Australia's NRL. Currently he's on the Warrington Wolves' roster in England and has also played with the Leeds Rhinos and Bradford Bulls. To simulate the north Queensland climate Morley said the England players had completed conditioning in heat chambers in preparation for Townsville.

"I think we will be very well prepared," Morley said. "People adapt in different ways. No one is the same, so it's difficult to judge how each individual will come to terms with the changes to their body," the big forward added.

Morley said he'd enjoyed watching August's Olympic Games from Beijing. "The success of British athletes made me enormously proud and I especially enjoyed taking money off my Aussie teammates when we won more medals overall than they did."

Adrian Lam, Kumuls & the RL World Cup

The Rugby League World Cup is nigh and the Papua New Guinea Kumuls – facing daunting appointments with England (Saturday 25 October), New Zealand (Saturday 1 November) and Australia (Sunday 9 November) – say they're ready to fly. Gimanama Crowdy spoke with PNG coach Adrian Lam [left] about the Kumuls prospects.

Gima - How do you rank the PNG Kumuls amongst the other Pacific teams?

Adrian - We’ve improved so much over the past two years as a playing nation; it’s incredible. We’re as good as any, which is a credit to our local SP Cup competition that our 24-man World Cup squad has more resident players than anyone in the world.

G - Why are Australia, New Zealand and England in the same pool?

A – We were told that they didn't want anyone else to be in that pool apart from PNG because there wouldn't be blow out scores. We argued that the pool was unfair but since then we’ve accepted it and have knuckled down to prove everyone wrong that the pool is far from decided on who will go through.

G – How will you stay alive in this 'Pool of Death'?

A - We need to have an undying belief in each other. And we must be fully committed to the team. We need to have an uncompromising attack and defence and maintain the PNG fighting power till the end of the game.

G – How would you summarise the calibre of the local and overseas players in the PNG team?

A - I think the squad will be very competitive. It has a good mixture of internationals and resident players. Last year I created the ‘PNG Origin' game, played once a year, where we pick an international team from outside PNG and fly them to PNG for the game. The first time this game was played in 2007, the internationals won 29-28 after it was all locked up at fulltime 28 all.

G - What would you like to say to Papua New Guineans living in Australia?

A – We’re excited to see you and very happy you’re getting behind the team. Get out to all our games and scream the house down. I know a lot of family of myself and all the players are going so it should be unbelievable.

G - Finally, what thoughts do you have about the development of PNG rugby league?

A – I’m right behind the PNG juniors and the new development programs set up to advance our future stars. We have the largest and fastest growing schoolboy numbers in the world and I feel that’s where can improve in the future.

The Kumuls games will be played in Townsville (England and Australia) and on the Gold Coast (New Zealand). Before the first game against England there’ll be a Meet the Kumuls dinner in Townsville on Tuesday 21 October – organised by the local PNG wantok community. Tickets are $60 per head or $500 for a table of ten. Contact this blog if you’re interested.

PNG team mooted for ARL berth

PNG rugby league officials have been in Sydney this week lobbying for a PNG club team to compete in the Australian competition in 2014. Now that’s a fair way off, but what a boost it would be to the only nation where rugby league is considered the national game.

Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific island Affairs, Duncan Kerr [left], said talk of a PNG club in the NRL was a positive sign of new found Australian PNG relations. “Sport brings people and nations together,” he said. “Personally, I think it would be an exciting and positive step and it could only further strengthen the friendship between our two countries.”

My old mate, ABC Pacific correspondent, Sean Dorney [right], a tenacious halfback who captained the PNG rugby league side around PNG’s Independence in 1975, observed it was about time the NRL took PNG seriously. “There really is a wealth of untapped league talent in PNG,” he said.

While Australian Rugby league officials welcomed the proposal, they said there was no immediate expansion strategy. That’s a shame since officials from most Sydney teams are quick to admit there are too many clubs in the harbour city and the sooner the game is further decentralised the better.

And could there be a more creative - and exciting - move than to bring a PNG team into the contest?

Thanks to Paul Oates for tipping me off about this story on the Ex Kiap website.

Boxing: Martin Beni put PNG on the map

Richard E Jones

The PNG House of Assembly rose early on 26 September 1974. Chief Minister Michael Somare shelved his plans and drove the short distance to Port Moresby’s Sir Hubert Murray stadium to see PNG boxing hero Martin Beni contest an international bout. The 23-year-old motor mechanic from Waima village matched against Colin Cassidy, the Australian lightweight champion.

Fight promoter Phil Harris had worked feverishly leading up to the big night. His loudspeaker van touring Moresby’s suburbs and neighbouring villages urging people to support Beni in his most important bout. On fight night 9000 patrons turned up.

Beni started the fight without apparent nerves and set a brisk pace. By the third round, though, Cassidy was on song. Three stinging rights from the Australian had ‘The Chief’ Somare squirming in his ringside seat. Towards the end of the third, Beni took a Cassidy uppercut before landing a right to the body and a shot that started a Cassidy nosebleed. The hometown fans sensed an improvement. Beni was now consistently landing overhand lefts and rights to Cassidy’s head.

The Australian looked wobbly as the fifth began and ran into a battery of Beni punches but summoned a last burst of energy mid-round. He trapped Beni in the corner and landed a flurry of body punches. Then Beni landed five chopping rights on the Australian’s jaw. Cassidy slumped to the canvas, clinging to the ring’s bottom rope. The roar of the crowd drowned out the sound of the bell.

A savage 60 seconds awaited the Aussie lightweight champion in the sixth. Beni’s short arm blows hammered Cassidy but this time there was no bell to save him. He crumpled forward on his knees and his head fell to the canvas. The referee counted him out as the crowd roared its delight. Beni was on his way to a Commonwealth ranking in pro boxing.

So, just 12 months before independence from Australia was proclaimed, Martin Beni had put PNG on the sporting world map.

[With thanks to Mike Ryan and staff at Australia’s old Fighter magazine]

Richard Jones’ full account of this historic moment in PNG sport will be published in the next issue of Una Voce, the magazine of the PNG Association of Australia.

Keating takes over athletics in Qld

David Keating OAM (ASOPA 1961-62) has been elected to the prominent office of chairman of Queensland Athletics, capping an outstanding career as an athlete and in athletics administration. The organisation David chairs started as the Queensland Amateur Athletic Association way back in 1894 and in addition to its development role, its job is to ensure Queensland is well represented at Olympic and Commonwealth Games. Bill Welbourne (ASOPA 1962-63), a distinguished athlete himself, congratulated David, adding: ¨I always tried to avoid the administration, so good luck.”

Bill himself is now back in training. He ran a record in the 300 metres hurdles at the Pan Pacific Masters 18 months ago and is thinking of one last hurrah at the World Masters in Sydney next year. “But age is catching up,” says Bill, “and I sustained a bruised heel last weekend at the Nathan track. I’m limping, so it will put me out for the rest of the season. Oh well, it’s back to golf!”

Smokin' Joe's Moresby encounter

Richard Jones

The Muhammad Ali movie Ali starring Will Smith rekindled some old PNG boxing memories for me. There will be sports nuts among our ASOPA membership - that straggly line of greybeards who tottered down Brisbane streets to board the riverboat three months ago - for whom this piece might spark some recall.

In the mid 1970s Muhammad Ali's greatest opponent Smokin’ Joe Frazier and entourage visited Port Moresby. They were in town for a few days and Joe went a few exhibition rounds at Sir Hubert Murray Stadium. His opponent that night was James ‘Digger’ Annand, a noted rugby league player for DCA.

The fit, blond Annand towered over the former world heavyweight champion who was of stocky build but with enormous thighs (he had to have specially tailored boxing shorts).

Digger poked out long, left leads as the ex-champ bobbed and weaved. Mercifully Joe didn't throw the famous left hook which sent Ali sprawling to the canvas in their first bout: the 1971 world championship at Madison Square Garden.

The Moresby stadium was packed on that balmy evening more than three decades ago. As the ring announcer, I recall a number of Papua New Guineans bursting from their grandstand seats, pushing through the security cordon and throwing a few choice words Frazier's way from ringside. "Joe Fraz-ee-yah. You not in the same class as Muhammad Ali,'' was the refrain before the interlopers were hustled away. Frazier might have been a great fighter, but for the PNG boxing fans, Ali was their man.

Winning swimming was tough in PNG

Richard Jones

PNG produced many fine athletes during the 1960s and 70s, but few swimmers of note. Unlike disciplines such as track and field, weight lifting, the football codes, softball, boxing and even lawn bowls where leading competitors mushroomed, the ranks of top class swimmers were decidedly slender.

Prime among those late sixties aquatic competitors who did excel in the pool were breaststroker Toby Tovitolon, freestyler Oala Moi and the Mae Verave sisters from Marshall Lagoon in the Central District. Tovitolon captained the PNG swim team at Moresby’s South Pacific Games in 1969.

Since then there have been a number of outstanding swimmers representing PNG at international meets, not least Ryan Pini who won gold in the 100m butterfly at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006.

It was always a surprise to me that PNG didn’t produce more local swimmers of note. On any given day in the country’s coastal areas, scores of children of all ages could be found leaping in and out of the sea.

But pool swimming demands real discipline. Countless hours of training. It’s a demanding sport and, as I wrote in a Post-Courier feature in December 1976, perhaps the required strict training regimen discouraged many potential PNG swim stars.

Dedicated coaches can train youngsters in basic stroke skills and techniques, even for something as demanding as butterfly swimming. Once those techniques have been mastered thousands of laps need to be swum so that fitness and durability can be built up. The long, hard training grind might have been just too much for many aspiring PNG teenagers.

Reflections on the ‘75 Guam games

Richard Jones

The 1975 South Pacific Games were held in and around Agana, the capital city of Guam in the American-controlled island chain of Micronesia. A last gasp gold medal from the women’s softball team took PNG’s gold medal tally to 22 but the top two nations were New Caledonia and Tahiti with totals of 102 and 94 medals, respectively.

Top individual performers for PNG were distance runner John Kokinai, who garnered three gold medals and a silver, and swimmer Charlie Martin, who finished with no fewer than eight medals. In boxing, Western Samoa and American Samoa took home the lion’s share of the 11 gold medals on offer, but PNG boxers did well with two gold and two silver.

Edward Seeto (flyweight), Sibona Oka (featherweight) and Geoffrey Hui (lightweight) won gold medals for Papua New Guinea in the weightlifting. The golf also proved to be a bonanza for the PNG team. Dick Smith – not to be confused with the retail electronics wizard - won the individual archery gold for PNG. The PNG men’s doubles combination won gold in the tennis, a competition which was hard hit because of wet weather.

Edited extract of a fuller account of the 1975 Guam Games, which can be found in the December edition of the PNG Association of Australia’s ‘Una Voce’ magazine.

Photo: Dick and I enjoy the sunshine as 'Lady Brisbane' approaches the Story Bridge in the fair capital of the Sunshine State.

The hard men of the Papuan rugby league

Richard Jones

Joe Morris was a front row forward from Moresby rugby league days. He’s responded to an article I wrote for Les Everett’s www.australianrules.com.au website in the following terms about some of the great rugby league players who played in Port Moresby in the sixties:

Digger Annand’s given name was James and he now owns a bottle shop in Newcastle. I was a member of the DCA side that won in 1966. Barry Kenny, also in the side, later played for Queensland. Mark Harris, a bruiser from Konedobu, ended up playing for Easts, then NSW and Australia. So there were some greats that played in that comp.

John Kaputin [pictured, now Sir John and secretary-general of the Brussels-based African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States] was a great player a nice bloke too. He helped us in a riot one Friday night I’ll never forget. We were playing Konedobu and John was playing. We flattened one of the Kone players and the crowd erupted and were storming the fence around the field. John jumped the fence got hold of the loudspeaker and gained control. It wasn’t nice. We had heaps of SP beer in the club that night.