Keith Jackson & Friends: PNG ATTITUDE

Meninga begins training PNG's rugby league team

AUSTRALIA NETWORK NEWS

AUSTRALIAN RUGBY LEAGUE LEGEND Mal Meninga has begun training Papua New Guinea's national rugby league team.

Meninga signed on last month to become the Kumuls' high performance director for the next five years.

He says his first priority is to get the side ready for the 14th Rugby League World Cup to be held in England and Wales this October.

"My short term goal is to make sure the players understand what is necessary to get to the next level," he said.

"That's what we're doing at the moment, trying to build a culture, a set of values, a philosophy for the players to understand what they need to do individually and as a group."

Ben’s PNG Diary: Day 7 – Our forebears would be proud

BEN JACKSON

I SPENT TODAY WITH Jimmy, Wayne, Tyler and Rob; four young indigenous Aussies who are visiting Papua New Guinea as part of a joint Rio Tinto-AFL program, Footy Means Business.

A schoolteacher by trade, Jimmy Sebire originally took part in Footy Means Business as a player in 2010 and now manages the program for Rio Tinto as a specialist indigenous programs consultant.

“Footy Means Business is about the development of leadership skills and opportunities for aspirational young indigenous men,” Jimmy said.

Bright Australian cricket future for PNG T20 talent

BEN HOOK | Sunday Mail (SA)

SOUTH AUSTRALIA cricket boss Jamie Cox says a fact-finding mission to Papua New Guinea has him convinced the PNG national team will shock South Australian cricket this year.

And he has boldly predicted members of the Hebou Barramundis, who will play in Adelaide's new six-team Premier League from September, will make state and Big Bash League teams within three years.

Cox spent a hectic two days at Cricket PNG's base in Port Moresby working with its leading players and officials, and also took in a visit to the cricket-mad village of Hanuabada.

"I'm pleasantly surprised," Cox said after overseeing the Barramundis two-hour training session in sapping heat.

PNG develops touch footie on the international stage

BEN HARRIS | Touch Football Australia

THERE WAS PLENTY OF FLAIR and lots of smiles when Papua New Guinea played recently in the 2013 Australian National Touch League at Coffs Harbour.

This was the first time PNG had played at the NTLs and they competed in the mixed open division.

Touch football has been played in PNG for nearly 20 years.

PNG junior vice-president John Aidaboe said there was one reason for playing at Coffs Harbour.

Money & pretty sisters: PNG rugby league exposed

KELA KAPKORA SIL BOLKIN | Supported by the Phil Fitzpatrick Writing Fellowship

I PLAYED SEMI-PROFESSIONAL rugby league in Papua New Guinea for more than a decade. And I was 20 years in the game overall.

I had the privilege of playing for the Kundiawa Warriors, Port Moresby Vipers and the Brian Bell Bulldogs.

Unfortunately, despite many years of intercity football, I played in only one grand final - the SP Intercity Cup against Rabaul Gurias in 2005.

At the club level I played for close to two decades and ran on in five grand finals: four in the Port Moresby Rugby League and one in the Kundiawa Rugby League.

I hung up my boots after that Gurias-Bulldogs grand final in 2005 and all I got from PNG rugby league after two decades were scars, a broken cartilage and a farewell spiel from the commentator at the final whistle.

That was it; no money, no pay cheque; not even any statistics kept of how many games I played.

Paul Aiton wants PNG to find a new Stanley Gene

TOM COATES | Loverugbyleague.com

PAPUA NEW GUINEA hooker Paul Aiton has issued a rallying call to the people of Hull, England.

It came ahead of the Kumuls’ clashes in the Rugby League World Cup later this year.

The matches will be played at Craven Park, home to Super League outfit Hull Kingston Rovers, with which Stanley Gene built a famous career in the UK following his strong performances for PNG at the 1995 Rugby League World Cup.

Aiton hopes to utilise the PNG’s links to the city of Hull to mobilise a partisan crowd to get behind PNG at RLWC2013.

“We have the link with Stanley and Makali [Aizue] having played over there, and both players still have a great following over in Hull,” Aiton told LoveRugbyLeague.com.

“I really hope we can rally the support of the Hull KR fans at the tournament. We’re based over in Hull and I know Stanley feels a great love for the city.

“He played for Hull KR and Hull FC, and I hope we can get supporters from both sides of the divide down at Craven Park for the games.

“In return, I’d like to think that people will enjoy the way we play and the passion we show whenever we pull on the shirt of our nation.

“We play hard, we play expansive footy and we like to entertain the fans.”

Aiton also believes that RLWC2013 could help uncover the next big star from PNG, 18 years after Gene made his mark on British soil.

“Not too many players have been picked up. I’ve been involved with the Kumuls for a lot of years now and I’ve played alongside some very talented young players,” he said.

“I’m very surprised that so many haven’t been given a chance. I don’t know if they are undiscovered, or that clubs just don’t want to take the chance.

“But I definitely think we could unearth another Stanley Gene at RLWC2013. There are a lot of players who could make it over here.

“I’ve found the Super League very welcoming and I’m sure there’ll be some perfect match-ups between British clubs and PNG players looking for an opportunity.

“Stanley’s obviously enjoyed his stay, and he’s enjoyed a fantastic career with a few clubs, and I can see no reason why another PNG player can’t follow in his footsteps.

While Aiton is hoping to depend on vociferous backing from the terraces at RLWC2013, he knows for sure the Kumuls can also count on PNG’s fanatical rugby league fan base back home.

“There’ll be so many tuning into watch the games on TV, and I can tell you that the stories people hear about how fanatical the fans can be are completely true,” said Aiton.

“Rugby league is the number one sport in PNG and we want to do our nation proud at Rugby League World Cup 2013. We can’t wait for the challenge.”

Papua New Guinea face France at Craven Park on 27 October and return to the venue on 4 November when Samoa provide the opposition.

The Kumuls’ group campaign culminates on 8 November, when they travel to Headingley to take on defending champions New Zealand.

Kumuls leave the Bunnies shaken but not stirred

DANIEL LANE | Sydney Morning Herald

BOASTING A PROP NAMED Loko and a back-rower called Mexico the Papuan New Guinea Residents sounded as though they could be a bunch of tough hombres, and on Saturday the pair played their part to ensure Souths' annual return to Redfern Oval was a bone-rattling occasion.

With their co-owner Hollywood actor Russell Crowe watching proceedings from high in the stand, the Rabbitohs won the encounter 38-12 – but they suffered a few bruises along the way

Mark Mexico nailed Souths forward Dave Tyrrell when he returned the kick-off for the second quarter like a cannonball.

The Souths faithful, and there were a few thousand of them, screamed “shoulder charge” to the referee as Tyrrell was presumably asked by his team's trainer what planet he was on.

He rallied a few minutes later when he dragged three defenders across the line to allow the Rabbitohs to level the scores 12-12 after they went into the first quarter a surprising six points behind the visitors.

If any Souths player pulled his boots on thinking the trial against the Papua New Guineans was going to be a walk in a park, they were rudely enlightened by the men from Port Moresby, Lae and the Highlands.

They were subjected to some fierce hits, and it was a collective and committed effort in defence from the resident Kumuls. Time after time in the first half they repelled numerous Rabbitohs raids with scrambling defence.

Their try-saving feats were assisted, to a degree, by the Souths attack, which failed to keep the ball alive out wide when there were tries begging.

There were plenty of players trying to make things happen, including halfback Luke Keary, a former Australian rugby union schoolboy representative who starred in last year's Souths under-20 side.

His halves partner, Jason Hunt, played some clever and skilful football and sparked some exciting raids. Hooker Apisai Koroisau, who is behind Isaac Luke and Nathan Peats, was another to make the most of his opportunity in the top team.

The Papua New Guineans were as keen to impress. Enoch Maki unceremoniously up-ended George Burgess; his brother

Thomas was given a tough welcome to Souths when, as the fourth member of the Burgess clan from England to play for Souths, he was dragged down by a few defenders while making some mighty runs.

The visitors displayed some flamboyance to complement their toughness and the pick of them was their No 7, Israel Eliab, a 22-year-old with a promising future. He scored two tries in the opening 20 minutes, the most exciting of the pair a 70 metre intercept try.

They didn't get a look in from there. Souths, who played the game in a good spirit, seized control of the game on the back of tries to Jason Clark, who bagged a double, Tyrell, Ben Lowe, Aaron Gray and Bennett Leslie.

Souths 38 (Jason Clark 2, Dave Tyrrell, Ben Lowe, Chris McQueen Aaron Gray, Bennett Leslie tries; Bryson Goodwin 5 goals) beat PNG Residents 12 (Israel Elobi two tries)

Famous Kone Tigers oval is now a sex workers den

KELA KAPKORA SIL BOLKIN

THE KONE TIGERS CLUB and its oval was made famous by players like Clarrie Burke, John Kaputin, Bill O’Brien, Sean Dorney, Hugh Davis, Dadi Mahuru Toka and many other tough rugby league players.

John Kaputin played for the famous club in the days when rugby league was just starting to emerge as a national sport in Papua New Guinea and was still mostly played by white men.

Kaputin helped win the 1960’s grand final between the Kone Tigers and DCA played at the Papuan Rugby League ground near Boroko.

In the years that followed, the Kone Tigers Oval evolved into a modern rugby league ground with a club house, high wall fencing and polished green grass in the paddock.  It was on an equal footing with the Boroko ground.

The Kone Tigers club was the glamour team and proud owner of the oval. In later years international and semi-professional inter-city cup matches were played there.

Then, on the threshold of the 21st century, the famous oval started to fall into disrepair. Wreckers were appointed to run the club and its assets. Gradually all the corrugated iron fencing was ripped down, the club house fell apart and scrub crept into the paddock.

The kleptomaniacs who managed the club saw fit to sell the oval to some Asians.

The legality of the sale has been contested in court but no one has any idea about the outcome.

Right now the once famous Kone Tigers Oval is a sex workers’ and drug addicts’ den.

It is also a public toilet used by street vendors and others who do petty business at the Waigani market. Every Tom, Dick and Harry now goes to the paddock and squats anywhere in the scrub to answer the call of nature.

The rain tree at the western end of the oval has been taken over by drug addicts. They congregate to smoke marijuana, drink ‘coffee punch’ (cheap liquor), watch pornography on mobile phones and intermittently walk to the eastern end of the oval to watch sex workers and their clients copulating (see photo).

Outside the western end of the oval is the large Waigani Market. The area between the oval and the market is used by 3,000 people every day for petty business.

While the market caters for people who sell garden produce the intervening area is used by the people who sell cordial, scones, hot dogs, Asian junk, betel nut and cigarettes.

There they do business under the scorching sun with the stench of the Waigani sewer in their nostrils.

When nature calls, they wander off to the Kone Tigers Oval. Likewise when lust calls they communicate through their mobile phones and meet up at the eastern end of the oval.

Rugby league legend Stanley Gene sets up a charity

Hull Daily Mail / UK

A RUGBY LEAGUE LEGEND has set up a charitable foundation to tackle deprivation in his native Papua New Guinea.

The Stanley Gene Foundation aims to collect donations of clothes, books, furniture and shoes to help people in PNG.

The former Hull Kingston Rovers and Hull Football Club player has already paid for electricity and running water for his local village as well as building schools.

Now he wants the donations to help equip the schools and hospitals.

Stanley said: "The people of the Hull area have been tremendous.

"For many years, I have been sending things over to Papua New Guinea but now I have decided to set up a charity and do it properly."

A container full of items has been sent over and is expected to arrive just after Christmas. Gene hopes to send another one early next year.

Stanley, who has just returned from a trip to PNG, said: "It is great to see people's smiles when they get the gifts.

"In the hospitals, there was nothing for people to do apart from listen to a radio. In some schools, there are no chairs so the kids have to learn on the floor. For people in the mountains, some of the kids don't even have any clothes," he said.

Gene currently coaches the academy team at Hull Kingston Rovers.

Toowoomba warms to 'passionate' PNG cricket team

NEV MADSEN | Toowoomba Chronicle

CRICKETERS IN THE QUEENSLAND town of Toowoomba got a special treat on Sunday when Peter Anderson and his team of Papua New Guinean cricketers turned up for their first representative game in the Garden City.

According to Mr Anderson, Toowoomba might well be seeing a bit more of the cricketers now they are playing as part of the Queensland Webb Shield series for the first time.

He said the entire team grew up in circumstances fairly unimaginable to most of us pampered Aussies and their enthusiasm was an inspiration.

And if local cricket enthusiasts get a chance to see the team in action, he recommends they take it.

"Nearly all of these players came from the same village in PNG, a third world country where 20 people will live in a little hut," Mr Anderson said.

"They're a fantastic, well-mannered and humble group of people and they have so much passion.

"They just love the game and I don't over-coach them.

"There are three or four who are easily world-class."

He said the enthusiastic group has been following a gruelling schedule and in the past week have played two 50-over games and two T-20 matches.

Marcus Bai facing K1 million lawsuit for ‘defamation’

LEAH FINERAN | Gold Coast Bulletin

AN OFF-FIELD NRL ROW has exploded in court with fiery former Gold Coast Titans chairman Paul Broughton and wife Beverly launching a $500,000 defamation suit against ex-Papua New Guinea star Marcus Bai [pictured].

The Broughtons have filed for damages in the Southport District Court and are calling for a jury trial, claiming Bai made accusations of financial misconduct through a News Limited story earlier this year.

Bai and the Broughtons formerly worked together on the PNG NRL licence bid team but Bai quit in 2009 fearing millions in government funding was being wasted on a futile bid.

Earlier this year Bai publicly called for the PNG government to launch an inquiry into allegations the PNG bid consortium, led by the Broughtons, squandered almost K8 million kina K20 million kina in government money in an attempt to clinch the next NRL licence.

The Broughtons quit in 2010 and the PNG bid team is being led by former Roosters and Cowboys player Brad Tassell.

Mr and Mrs Broughton are suing Bai for $250,000 and $240,000 in damages, claiming his comments cost them lucrative business deals and damaged their reputations.

Bai, the former Gold Coast winger who won a premiership with Melbourne, said he was "surprised" the Broughtons were suing but he would take it up with his lawyer.

In court documents, Mr Broughton, 82, said Bai's comments had led to his sudden retirement in March from his $4,166.66 a month position as honorary chairman for his beloved Titans.

However he told the media at the time he was retiring due to the club's financial problems. "I see myself as part of the system that hasn't really worked," he told the Bulletin in March.

"They need someone in there who is capable of rescuing them. I've done the best I can."

He claims he lost $87,500 as a result of ending the contract which was due to end in December 2013.

The claim also states Bai's comments cost Mr Broughton an $18,000 contract with the Central Queensland NRL licence bid team and a $60,000 sale contract for their joint travel agency, Nitto Australia trading as Events Travel, the official travel agent for the Titans.

Mr Broughton is also claiming Bai's comments will impact the sales of his forthcoming biography "based on the life of (Mr Broughton's) integrity throughout his work in rugby league and business more widely".

The documents, filed by Hickey Lawyers, claim the comments have made the Broughtons' business opportunities in PNG untenable and they no longer feel safe to travel there.

Mr Broughton could not be contacted yesterday and his lawyers declined to comment.

PNG’s Paralympians in London & ready to compete

Wikinews

WITH THE 2012 SUMMER PARALYMPICS starting this week, Papua New Guinea's Paralympic delegation has arrived in London to support the two athletes who qualified for the Games, athletics competitor Francis Kompaon [pictured] and powerlifter Timothy Harabe.

The Games are Kompaon's second, having competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics where he earned his country's first Paralympic medal when he finished second in the 100 metre event.

Harabe, only the tenth person ever to represent PNG at the Games, is making his Paralympic Games debut.

The British High Commissioner to PNG, Jackie Barson MBE, wished both athletes well.

"It is a fantastic achievement for PNG to be represented by two world class Paralympic athletes,” he said.

PNG Paralympic Committee President Bernard Chan congratulated his country's athletes, saying, "They will be great ambassadors for PNG and I hope both Francis and Timothy will inspire other athletes to train hard."

The 2012 Games will be the fourth time PNG has participated, with three other appearances in 1984, 2000 and 2008.

Other members of the Papua New Guinea 2012 Paralympic delegation include PNG Paralympic Committee President Bernard Chan; Chef de Mission Dr Kefu Ma; team manager Rosemary Mawe; Davina Chan, the president's wife; coach William McKenny; and official Jeffrey Robby.

Government steps in to solve PNG’s league fiasco

Radio New Zealand International

PAPUA NEW GUINEA’s new sports minister Justin Tkatchenko says the state of rugby league in the country is an absolute disaster and needs an overhaul.

The annual meeting of the national rugby league federation was meant to have been held last November but infighting and court battles delayed proceedings, leaving the sport in a state of limbo.

Mr Tkatchenko has met with the International Rugby League Federation and local officials in the past week to discuss a way forward.

He says the game has turned into a legal fighting match and it’s the people of PNG who are suffering.

“I think there’s some areas that we need to take control of this and one of those will be to introduce some legislation for the government to take control of the running of rugby league,” he said.

“It seems that no one can make a decision or get their act together for the people of PNG. As this is their number one sport we must make sure it works and at the moment it’s not working.”

The PNG government has injected K1 million into rugby league, which will primarily pay for next month’s clash against the Australian prime minister’s team.

Tas Batieri from the Rugby League International Federation says the governing body is supportive of the PNG government’s plans.

He says a lot needs to be done ahead of next year’s World Cup, such as drafting a new constitution.

“It’s not something that we’re going to solve overnight. It will take the best part of 15 months, I believe, to do it properly so we don’t have a repeat of the dramas we’ve had over the last three year.”

The Commander’s Cup – and the rough road to Goldie

TERRY EDWINSMITH

A STRONG RUGBY UNION CULTURE was well established in PNG prior to Independence in 1975 with the Australian Army well represented in local and area teams as well as in coaching and referee roles.

It is generally believed that rugby football came to Australia and New Zealand from the early 1880s, as elite young men returned from studying at English public schools.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the game had spread beyond the British Empire and gained acceptance worldwide.

Following World War I, a five nations competition commenced. In the southern hemisphere, the New Zealand Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, donated a trophy for matches between Australia and New Zealand.

Soon after, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa embraced the game.

Following World War II, the five nations competition resumed with France joining a newly constituted game with revised rules.

With such international interest in rugby, and the game played in schools, universities and military establishments worldwide, it was no surprise that the game was eventually imported into PNG.

Initially it was played by expatriates based in the armed services but local players soon found themselves drafted into the game.

As time went by and the expats went home, so the game became nationalised. Competitions between rival services spread through PNG and, at some stage, a Commander’s Cup competition was established.

So it was that in August last year, six Papua New Guinea Defence Force rugby union teams competed in the Commander’s Cup – still going strong - with more than 200 soldiers and servicemen taking to the field at Goldie River.

The teams were from first battalion Taurama Barracks, second battalion Moem Barracks, Lae’s Igam Barracks made up predominately of engineers, Murray Barracks headquarters and support battalion, a maritime team of naval officers, and a Goldie/Air Transport Squadron XV.

The road from Port Moresby to Goldie River is hard, rutted and unforgiving, the occasional crater threatening to engulf even the local community bus. The dust is like fine talcum powder.

When we arrive, the Goldie River training ground displays brilliant green grass and a playing surface as hard as a rock: excellent for running and kicking, but woe betide the person who is tackled. Limbs ache and bones crunch as they experience the granite like surface.

1RPIR vs. Navy. The game ebbs and flows. Scores remain locked for most of the match. Spectators talk amongst themselves or purchase items of food from the myriad of stalls selling drinks, fruit and other small items.

A friendly atmosphere prevails. Groups barrack for their respective teams. Occasionally self-appointed cheer leaders burst from the crowd to chant spirited war cries urging their teams on.

Meanwhile players have one eye on the ball and the other on the rock like ground, so much so that the attacking or defensive formations often break apart and the ball dribbles aimlessly in no particular direction.

Jack Kariko appointed to FIFA ethics committee

OCEANIA FOOTBALL | Box Score News

SENIOR PAPUA NEW GUINEA government official Jack Kariko has been appointed as a member of the newly-established FIFA Ethics Committee adjudicatory chamber.

Kariko’s appointment was submitted and endorsed by Papua New Guinea Football Association (PNGFA) president David Chung and confirmed by FIFA President Joseph (Sep) Blatter during the 62nd FIFA Congress in Budapest, Hungary.

"It is a great honour to be part of the game on the world stage," Kariko said.

"To have an input into its governance is special, not just for me but for the recognition of the country."

Kariko, deputy secretary of the Department of Justice and Attorney-General, joins other Papua New Guineans in holding a position with one of FIFA's range of committees.

Chung is a FIFA vice-president and chairman of the Organising Committee for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

Other Papua New Guineans on FIFA committees are John Kapi Natto (Organising Committee for the FIFA Club World Cup), Linda Wonuhali (Committee for Women's Football and the FIFA Women's World Cup) and lawyer Daniel Kakaraya (Appeal Committee).

Chung says Kariko is an ideal person for the role as he has vast experience in international law.

“His experience is important to FIFA and they need independent people to show transparency,” he says.

The 34-year-old provides legal advice on international law matters for the PNG government and his new role with the FIFA Ethics Committee will see him helping to implement the governing body's Code of Ethics.

The Ethics Committee, which is divided into an investigatory chamber and an adjudicatory chamber, is responsible for FIFA's investigation and decision-making in areas of the game such as bribery and corruption.

Kariko's other interest is rugby union and he is vice-president of the Motuan Warriors club, who take part in the Port Moresby competition.

Sheffield Eagles' Menzies Yere thinks of home

BBC | Sheffield and South Yorkshire

A CHARITY STARTED BY Papua New Guinea rugby league international, Menzies Yere [pictured], in South Yorkshire has donated rugby shirts and playing kit to his homeland.

Yere plays centre for Sheffield Eagles in the Championship.

He started personally donating used kit "back home" and as the idea spread the charity was launched in 2011.

A container with 120 complete rugby kits, 2,750 shirts, 350 balls and pairs of boots arrived in Papua New Guinea, where rugby league is a leading sport.

It is currently being distributed by the Rotary Club of Boroka throughout the country.

Before the charity was formed Yere, who came to the club in 2009, had started by buying two pairs of rugby boots every month and posting them home for players less fortunate than himself.

He also collected shirts to take back to Papua New Guinea.

Following that initiative, Kits 2 Kids was set up by Yere and Sheffield Eagles director Chris Noble.

England Rugby League player Adrian Morley was one of the people who made a donation to the scheme.

Michael Saunders of the rotary club said the donations had made an impact on children living in rural areas of Papua New Guinea, where people are predominantly subsistence farmers.

Tauna Igala of Germorubu village sent a letter to the rotary club after receiving donated equipment.

In the letter Mr Igala said: "It brings the youths together and energises them, which gives them no time to resort to illegal activities."

More cut & thrust than you’d get in a typical day

AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSION | Port Moresby

TWENTY-FIVE SENIOR KARATE INSTRUCTORS from around Papua New Guinea yesterday completed a two weeks coaching and training camp in Port Moresby.

The camp was organised by the PNG Karate Federation with funding assistance of $10,000 from the Australian Sports Outreach Program under the Pacific Sports Development Grants.

The Karate Federation – the umbrella body for karate styles, clubs and associations in the country – used the grant and the camp to equip karate instructors with intermediate and advance knowledge techniques in the art and sport of karate.

Trevor Roberts, president of the Queensland Karate Federation and a World Karate Federation referee, facilitated the course.

Australian High Commission first secretary, Tim Bryson, said he was pleased to see that the camp had achieved its objective to enhance local expertise in Karate, and thanked Karate Federation president Carl Mari and his team for putting together such a well organised program.

Heather Watson, the girl from PNG via Guernsey

NATALIE CLARKE
DAILY MAIL / London

ABOUT A WEEK INTO WIMBLEDON and the British have a new heroine and a fresh hope in Heather Watson.

On Wednesday, the 20-year-old became the first British woman to reach the third round of the championships in ten years.

But it is not just skill and grace that has endeared Heather to the public. She has a disarming charm and broad smile.

Endearingly, she believes her regular breakfast of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, with toast on the side, has helped bring her success.

So where did this young star spring from? She was born and raised on Guernsey, but her story began thousands of miles away in Papua New Guinea.

About 25 years ago, Heather’s father, Ian, met a young student called Michelle in Port Moresby.

She was from a remote village in the north of the country. The couple fell in love and decided to spend their lives together.

When Mr Watson’s four-year contract was up, they moved back to Europe and settled in Guernsey.

The young family enjoyed an enviable lifestyle. Home was a large house on the west coast and Heather was privately educated at Guernsey’s Ladies’ College.

She was ‘spotted’ playing tennis at the King’s Life sports club in the capital, St Peter Port, and quickly marked out for greatness. As it became clear she had real promise, her family decided she should train at the £25,000-a-year Bollettieri Academy in Florida.

So at the age of 12, Heather flew out to Florida. At first she boarded at the academy, but at the age of 16 she decided to get her own place.

Soon afterwards, Michelle went to America to live with her daughter.

Her father recalled: ‘I cried my eyes out at Guernsey airport, seeing them both leave, but it was what Heather wanted and it was the best thing to do.’

Heather has described her father, himself a keen tennis player, as her ‘idol’. She said recently: ‘He’s just always so calm, and he says no matter how I do, he’ll be proud of me.’

Heather is totally focused on her tennis and is not believed to have a boyfriend.

Last year, she was devastated when she crashed out of Wimbledon in the first round. But this year – so far – has been a very different story.

Biggest Olympics team named for London 2012

RADIO AUSTRALIA

PAPUA NEW GUINEA will be sending its largest Olympic team ever to the London Games next month.

Eight athletes will compete in five sports including athletics, swimming, taekwondo, judo and weightlifting.

Most of those selected are currently training overseas in preparation for the games.

The team's head of mission, Syd Yates, told Radio Australia that winning a medal would be a huge achievement for the team.

"We're looking at continued improvement and personal bests," he said.

"Look if we can get a medal it would be fantastic but I think we'll just have to wait and see."

Belden Namah could be Gold Coast Titans saviour

BY PETER BADEL
THE SUNDAY MAIL (Queensland)

BELDEN NAMAH, PAPUA NEW GUINEA'S CONTROVERSIAL deputy prime minister, has emerged as a possible white knight in Gold Coast boss Michael Searle's last-ditch plan to save the financially-stricken Titans rugby league team.

The development comes as Searle broke a two-month silence on the club's fiscal crisis yesterday, apologising to fans and revealing his and the Titans' future may hinge on securing fresh funds from a mystery backer.

Insolvency firm KordaMentha issued a creditors' report on the Titans' property arm on Friday, revealing the company, of which Searle is sole director, has operated at a loss since 2008 with debts as high as $26 million.

The report also questions whether the company traded while insolvent, an assessment Searle vehemently rejected yesterday.

Searle would not disclose the identity of any backers, but The Sunday Mail understands leading PNG political powerbroker Namah has been approached to personally fund a Titans rescue package.

The NRL has been notified of the development. Namah is one of PNG's richest individuals, having outlaid K30 million ($14.3 million) in his campaign to unseat Peter O'Neill as his country's prime minister in upcoming elections.

According to well-placed sources, Namah is considering an initial $2 million investment and could provide as much as $10 million to purchase a stake in the Titans.

Namah caused a political stir when he was ejected from Sydney's Star City Casino on April 16 last year after being accused of sexually harassing a male blackjack dealer in the high-rollers room.

Namah has vigorously denied any wrongdoing, with his lawyer Greg Sheppard saying the reports were "mistaken".

Football: Farina’s PNG aiming to defy the odds

FIFA.COM

PAPUA NEW GUINEA MAY BE Oceania’s largest and most populace nation, but they face a massive challenge if they are to make an impression in Oceania’s FIFA World Cup qualifiers next month.

The national team hase played just three matches since 2007, although their return to the international stage under Frank Farina suggests brighter times ahead.

The second stage of Oceania qualifiers for Brazil 2014, which commence on 1 June, could prove to be a case of too much too soon for PNG. Farina’s squad has a youthful look, and even the older crop suffer from a relative lack of significant experience at club and national team level.

A tough draw dealt to the Kapuls merely adds to what is already a momentous task. PNG will enter Group B alongside regional kings New Zealand, tournament hosts Solomon Islands, and perennial Pacific contenders Fiji. 

The other group features French-speaking trio New Caledonia, Tahiti and Vanuatu, plus Round 1 qualifiers Samoa, with the four semi-finalists advancing to the third and final stage of continental qualifying. On offer to the victor of the eight-nation Round 2, which doubles as the OFC Nations Cup, will be a berth at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil.

Football in Papua New Guinea is finally building some momentum after years of relative inactivity at international level. Leading the charge have been Port Moresby club Hekari United, who completed a stunning rise by being crowned 2010 OFC O-League champions, before competing in the FIFA Club World Cup later that same year.

The nation’s football authorities, with further international growth in mind, last year showed their intentions with the appointment of former Australia coach Frank Farina to the national team post.

Farina’s success and extensive experience with the Socceroos aside, the appointment was, in many ways, an inspired choice, with the former Club Brugge, Bari and Lille striker having spent ten years during his childhood living in the country's capital, Port Moresby.

PNG lose to NZ in soccer Olympic qualifier

NEW ZEALAND HERALD

THE NEW ZEALAND Football Ferns took a major step towards Olympic qualification with a resounding 8-0 win over Papua New Guinea in the first leg of their OFC Women's Olympic Qualifier final in Whangarei on Saturday.

New Zealand scored four goals in each half and were never threatened by PNG who set out to keep the Football Ferns at bay and take the tie back to Port Moresby on Wednesday.

But from the sixth minute, when the Whangarei-raised pair of Abby Erceg and Hannah Wilkinson combined to open the scoring in front of a 2,243 strong crowd at Toll Stadium, the home side never let up.

"There's definitely things we need to work on from the game but it's pretty hard to fault them," said New Zealand coach Tony Readings after the match.

The Football Ferns fly to Port Moresby tomorrow for the return match.

Barramundis out to play big-name opponents

RADIO NEW ZEALAND

AFTER A CHALLENGING FORTNIGHT IN DUBAI, Cricket Papua New Guinea is on the lookout for more regular top-level matches to try and take the team to the next level.

The Barramundi’s finished a very creditable eighth in the 16 team Twenty20 qualifying tournament, from which Afghanistan and Ireland earned a spot at the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka later this year.

Cricket PNG’s General Manager Greg Campbell says the Barramundi’s players had high expectations in Dubai and returned home somewhat disappointed.

“Every game we were in went down to either the last ball,” Mr Campbell said. “The Netherlands game might have got away from us a little bit but even the Afghanistan the first up they got them in the 19th over and chasing Canada, 167, we fell about five or six runs short.

“Every game the boys were right up to their necks in it and it just goes to show that cricket awareness is what Cricket PNG need - we’ve got the ability we just need more games around the world.”

Greg Campbell says they’ve already had some positive feedback with Bangladesh indicating they’re keen to play against PNG when they’re in Australia later this year.

PNG goes cold on investment in Titans

BY PETER BADEL & CHRIS GARRY
THE COURIER-MAIL (Brisbane)

THE CASH-STRAPPED TITANS ARE ON DEATH'S DOOR. The Gold Coast club face having their NRL licence revoked after the Papua New Guinea government yesterday baulked at a $20 million sell-off package to save the club.

As a Queensland consortium last night stepped up plans to buy the Gold Coast's licence, the Titans current administration were dealt a near fatal blow as PNG government ministers cooled on a sell-off proposal after a feasibility study of the embattled NRL club.

Prime minister Peter O'Neill has been briefed on the Titans' perilous financial position.

Well-placed sources said Mr O'Neill was shocked to learn of the $35 million debt crippling the Titans' empire. In the political hotbed of PNG, he is reluctant to authorise a K44 million transaction to save an Australian rugby league club whose property arm was last week ruled "prima facie" insolvent by a federal court judge.

Gold Coast majority owner Michael Searle, who initially described sell-off reports as "disrespectful and repugnant", had hoped a 25% sale of the Titans group to PNG would bring in sufficient capital to rescue the ailing club.

But unless the PNG government has a major change of heart, or Searle finds a separate rescue-package, the Titans group is facing financial ruin.

A PNG source said: "They (the government) have looked at the Titans proposal and they said the debt is too great.

"They've done their due diligence. They're extremely worried about the club's debts."

Cricket: Barramundis hold their nerve against Italy

PAPUA NEW GUINEA HELD ITS NERVE to beat Italy by 12 runs and thereby gained the seventh spot in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2012 – an excellent outcome to the series that should see the Barramundis leap up the league table of international cricketing nations.

At the Global Cricket Academy Oval 2 in Dubai, PNG batting first posted 118-9 in its 20 overs.

In reply, Italy appeared to be cruising but ended up losing by just 12 runs to end at 106-7 in its 20 overs.

Earlier Tony Ura (37) top-scored as PNG appeared to have made an under-par total. Damian Crowley (3-18) and Carl Sandri (2-18) were the key wicket-takers for Italy.

In its chase, Italy were motoring at 81-3 in the 15th over when tragedy struck. It lost a couple of wickets, and momentum, as PNG - led by man of the match Hitolo Areni (3-9) - turned the match around.

PNG 118-9, 20 overs (Tony Ura 37; Damian Crowley 4-18, Carl Sandri 2-18) defeated Italy 106-7, 20 overs (Peter Petricola 30, Damian Crowley 24; Hitolo Areni 3-9). Man of the Match: Hitolo Areni (PNG)

NRL bid team denies squandering millions of dollars

BY PETER BADEL
THE COURIER-MAIL (Brisbane)

FORMER PAPUA NEW GUINEA STAR Marcus Bai has called for a PNG government inquiry following explosive allegations the PNG bid consortium has squandered almost $4 million in an attempt to clinch the next NRL licence.

A frustrated Bai said he felt the need to speak out about PNG bid team members and Gold Coast Titans chairman Paul Broughton.

Bai, a 14-Test Kumuls great, is adamant PNG has no hope of NRL admission until at least 2022.

The former Melbourne and Gold Coast premiership-winning winger said he became so disillusioned with "empty promises" - including a purported $100,000 job offer from Broughton that never materialised - he quit in protest as a PNG bid ambassador.

Within weeks of Bai's resignation in 2009, Maroons coach Mal Meninga also severed ambassadorial ties as concerns mounted over the direction of the PNG NRL consortium under Broughton and his wife Beverly, who stood down as general manager in November 2010.

The PNG bid team is now spearheaded by former Roosters and Cowboys player Brad Tassell, appointed CEO last March.

Investigations by The Sunday Mail have revealed that the Broughton-led bid team was allocated K20 million ($8.8 million) by former PNG prime minister Sir Michael Somare to advance the country's push for NRL inclusion.

Of that money, Bai claims K8 million has been spent on a futile bid for NRL admission, including an unspecified amount on international travel for the Broughtons between Australia and PNG, hotel accommodation and six-figure salaries for PNG bid team staff.

Bai says PNG realistically has no hope of winning admission to the NRL in the near future and has called for a government probe into the bid team's spending activities.

"I am asking the (PNG) government to run an audit," he said.

"I am a proud Papua New Guinean and the PNG people should be angry like I am right now.

"The Broughtons and the bid team were given K20 million by Somare. My information is that K12 million remains in the bank; K8 million has been spent and what has been done?

"Why have people like Paul and Bev Broughton been paid good money and what have they achieved?

"This is taxpayers' money. It should go to infrastructure in PNG, education for children, helping our agriculture. PNG people need financial help to make life easier, not money being spent on Australian bid team people for flights and accommodation.

"The tree has been planted but I see no fruit growing ... I'm filthy about it."

Getting the balance right: professional sport in PNG

BY DAVID KITCHNOGE

LET ME START BY SAYING anything that brings close to 800 different tribes in our country together as a united nation is a good thing. Because of our diverse cultures, anything that causes us to find common ground is an important agent for national unity, a prerequisite for proper and harmonious nation building.

For a lot of nations, it took terrible and forceful human tragedy that required people to stand up in unison to fight a common enemy to foster the sense of nationalism and pride. It took adversity to define their nation’s character.

But in the absence of a major calamity, sport has emerged over the years as an important agent that can foster similar national pride and camaraderie. The combative nature of sports is the one major striking similarity it has to a physical warfare. It is the element that promotes feelings of oneness and the pursuit of a common goal of victory.

It is no wonder that stories about sporting rivalries are often written using militaristic vocabulary. Hence, sport has become the modern day substitute of physical warfare and adversity to bring people together for a common goal. From this perspective, it is not hard to see why every Papua New Guinean from all four corners of our country shares the one common passion when our national teams go into battle with other teams from other countries.

Rugby league appears to be the most supported sporting code as demonstrated by the raw passion we have for our national team, the Kumuls. I know I shouted my lungs dry for our team when they played in the last rugby league world cup, and so were everyone on my street at Waigani, Port Moresby and indeed throughout the nation.

In the first game when we almost beat England, I was beaming with pride and tears freely rolled down my cheeks by default. I never forced the tears. They just came from nowhere. It was truly a rare feeling of adrenalin rush. I felt the same when Ryan Pini and Dika Toua competed at the Commonwealth Games and when Stanley Nandex head hunted his opponents with those powerful kicks.

Recognising the important uniting aspect of sports and rugby league in particular, our government has committed to building a modern stadium in Port Moresby and has put together a team to bid for the right to enter a PNG team in Australia’s National Rugby League competition.

Such a move appears to make sense from a social perspective. But how does it sit in the overall scheme of things in respect of where our national priorities lie.

We are now talking professional sport and there is much more to it than simply building a nice modern sporting stadium and entering a team in the NRL. Sport has evolved over the years to become an industry in its own right where its traditional entertainment value has been monetised.

It has become big business and, therefore, like every other business, the important precondition of a willing and able market must exist to sustain it. Without such a market, its imminent demise in the not too distant future is as sure as the going down of the rays.

PNG may offer lifeline for indebtedTitans

GOLD COAST BULLETIN

IT HAS BEEN REVEALED THAT the Papua New Guinea government has been in talks with the cash-strapped Gold Coast Titans rugby league team about buying 25% of the team.

But it seems all PNG would get in return would be a Titans trial match in PNG and the Titans’ ‘promotion’ of the logo of the bid that is trying to get a PNG team in the Australian competition.

Australian league identity Phil Gould is steering the Titans towards the sell-off package with PNG.

The Titans have had a multi-million dollar debt for the past three years and on Friday its $30 million property portfolio was the subject of liquidation proceedings in the Federal Court.

Negotiations began last year to sell off part of the Titans empire.

In October, it was revealed those talks had included PNG officials desperate to advance the country's bid for inclusion in the NRL.

At the time, the club described any suggestion that it would sell as 'disrespectful and repugnant'.

But the tune has now changed. Gould and the club’s CEO travelled to Port Moresby in January to escalate sell-off negotiations with representatives from the PNG prime minister's office.

Discussions were held at the Airways Hotel in Port Moresby.

Preliminary negotiations indicate the club is prepared to sell 25% of the group in exchange for an alliance that could see the Titans play a trial in PNG and promote the bid team's logo.

In a text message last night, Mr Gould said: "I have been conversing with PNG government and bid team officials since I travelled to PNG nearly two years ago and I have met with them on numerous occasions during that time on a whole range of issues ... I am bound by confidentiality on all other issues (involving the Titans).''

Barramundis make solid start to world cup qualifier

FANS AT DUBAI INTERNATIONAL CRICKET STADIUM witnessed an intriguing match between Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea with PNG undertaking a stupendous run chase to win on the penultimate delivery of the last over.

Hong Kong chose to bat first, and scored a commendable 131 runs for the loss of nine wickets off its 20 overs.

PNG launched its run chase confidently as openers Asad Vala and Tony Ura made an opening stand of 57, ripping apart the confidence of the fielding side right from the word go.

Despite a batting collapse, middle-order batsman Geraint Jones brought the Barramundis to within 12 runs of victory but was dismissed with just four balls remaining in the match.

PNG snuck home off the penultimate ball to record its second win of the series.

After four of the seven matches, PNG is third in its eight-team group behind Afghanistan and Canada; it had previously lost narrowly to both teams.

The Barramundis are still in with a chance of making the finals and seem set, whatever the outcome, to zip up the world international cricket rankings.

PNG cricketers ready for toughest test yet

RADIO NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL

PAPUA NEW GUINEA’S BID to qualify for the Twenty 20 Cricket World Cup begins in Dubai today with an opening match against Afghanistan.

The two teams open the 16 team qualifying tournament, from which the top two teams will advance to September’s World Cup in Sri Lanka.

Cricket PNG’s general manager, Greg Campbell, says the team is under no illusions that this will be the toughest event they’ve ever competed in.

“This will be a true benchmark of where we are,” he said.

“You know we play in the East Asia Pacific and we sort of dominate that, but we’re helping the other countries - Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa - come along and lift their standards so the EAP region can be strong.

“We’re going in their lacking experience but what these guys make up for is endeavour, hard work and their passion to represent their country and give it 100 percent.”

Greg Campbell says while they want to finish as high as possible a mid-table finish would be a good result for the Barramundi’s team.

You can follow the PNG team’s opening game on the internet here from 5pm (AEST).

I join the PNG team for the big Dubai 20/20 challenge

BY GERAINT JONES
GERAINT JONES BLOG

THE LAST FEW WEEKS have seen me clock up quite a few air miles as I took in a trip to Papua New Guinea and Australia.

I was lucky enough that my first flight to Singapore saw me get an unexpected upgrade thanks to my benefit chairman Min Patel.

He must have mentioned something to someone and when I got to the final gate I was all prepared for economy and when they scanned my ticket it all flashed red and I was pulled to one side. That meant I turned left when I got onto the plane giving me a chance to have a good snooze!

Once I got to PNG it was good to meet up with some of my new team-mates and we had a dinner which was for some sponsors and an awards night for the previous year. There were about 270 people there and that showed the level of support of cricket in PNG.

One of the sponsors on the night doubled the amount he was putting into the side, so that was great news.

I then had a couple of days back on [Queensland’s] Sunshine Coast with my family. I combined it with a bit of cricket whilst I was there. The school my sister (Mari) teaches at , there’s a tennis coach called Andrew Kratzmann and I spent an hour or so with him serving tennis balls at me, just to get me used to a few short pitched deliveries!

After the couple of days catching up with my dad and the rest of the family, I went onto Canberra to meet up with the rest of the PNG lads. Most of them had been in Melbourne playing club cricket and practicing together.

Unfortunately, we had three days of rain whilst I was in Canberra, so I flew all that way and ended up having indoor nets!

It did give me a chance to get to know everyone though and we spoke about my role in the side. As we will be playing seven games in seven days over in Dubai, I won’t be keeping wicket to start with, so I’ve been getting used to catching the ball without the gloves on.

It’s been a while since I’ve been out running around in the field. I’ve done the odd session at the end of a dead game, but the last time I did it really was on the 06/07 Ashes tour when Chris Read kept wicket whilst I played just as a batsman in Perth.

Prior to that I think it was my debut for Kent when I played just as a batsman, so it’s been a few years!

As a team, we also made a trip to the Australian War Memorial as it pays tribute to those that lost their lives during World War II and its particular importance from those of us from PNG and the significance of the Kokoda Trail.

I arrive [in Dubai] late on this evening and our first fixture is next Tuesday. That’s when we start the first of seven games against Afghanistan. It’s important we play well throughout the tournament as our funding is dependent upon where we finish.

We’ve got an outside chance of finishing in the top two places, although we’ll have to play well to challenge the likes of Ireland and Holland.

Our strength I would say is in our fielding and bowling. Most of the guys bowl a bit of something and bowl wicket to wicket, so hopefully we can cause a few upsets. We need to get off to a decent start though and you never know in Twenty 20 cricket.

High hopes for Barramundis as they train for Dubai

BY ADAM COOPER
THE AGE (MELBOURNE)

HE'S BEEN IN AUSTRALIA JUST A MONTH, but Australia's cricketing culture has rubbed off on Jack Vare, vice-captain of the Papua New Guinea side, when asked about the game in his homeland.

"It's all happening in cricket in PNG," he says, channelling his inner Bill Lawry. "Back home they say rugby is the No 1 sport, but cricket will get there … a few years ago we were ranked 25th in the world, now we're 19, so cricket is doing really well."

So well that Australia might one day look north rather than solely across the Tasman when it comes to cricket in its neighbourhood.

Although cricket has been in PNG for more than a century, after Australian and English missionaries took the sport there, it has boomed in the past few years and has lofty ambitions.

The number of youngsters playing the sport has more than doubled - to 116,000 - since 2009, while the controlling body has the dual aims of lowering its world ranking to within the top 15 and becoming the International Cricket Council's major centre in the east Asia region.

All this in a developing nation notable for its political instability, where many people live in extreme poverty and the majority live in rural areas in tribal societies. But that's not stopping Vare and his teammates getting ready to take on the world.

PNG's national team, the Barramundis, will this month aim to qualify for the world Twenty20 championships when they take on the ICC's leading associate members in Dubai.

Such is PNG's determination it has recruited former England wicketkeeper Geraint Jones, who was born in the country, to strengthen the side.

Vare and eight of his teammates have spent the past month in Melbourne playing club cricket and are now in Canberra, preparing for Dubai under new coach Peter Anderson, the former Queensland and South Australian wicketkeeper.

Vare, who is also a keeper and is determined not to relinquish the gloves to Jones, says a bold show in Dubai will help further grow the sport in his country and be an immense source of pride.

"It does mean a lot to the boys,'' he says. ''If we qualify we will be in the World Cup and that will be big for the country given what's happened and what's happening back home. In the cricketing history of PNG only the under-19s have qualified for a World Cup, never the national side.''

Ireland, Kenya and the Netherlands will be the teams to beat in Dubai, but PNG is confident of at least finishing in the top three in its eight-team pool, giving it a chance in the knockout phase.

Former Australian fast bowler Greg Campbell, the general manager of Cricket PNG, believes the country's love of the shortest format and the lack of attention globally will help the Barramundis.

"Twenty20 and 50-over games suits them down to the ground,'' he says. ''They're flamboyant, they're a great fielding side - some of the ovals they play club cricket on, it's a bit like playing on the moon and then going to Lord's - so they field out of their skins.

"These boys think they're going on a plane and playing in a tournament. We haven't mentioned there's a spot there in the World Cup. Teams like Ireland, they've got the pressure on them. I think it's a huge ace up our sleeve. Some of our boys, they don't know who they're up against, so that's a huge bonus for us."

Regardless of the outcome in Dubai, Campbell is amazed by the cricketing progress PNG has made in the 15 months he has been involved. It wasn't that long ago that some of Port Moresby's best ovals were places where people practised their car driving and drank. Now the city has good turf wickets and an established club competition.

PNG is also showing Australia the way. Campbell's predecessor, Bill Leane, made an inspired choice when he appointed Andy Bichel as national coach in 2010, before Bichel was last year appointed an Australian selector.

Similarly, Campbell appointed Brad Hogg as Bichel's replacement, until the wrist spinner regained favour with the Australian Twenty20 team. The group's contacts have also enticed Andrew Symonds, Michael Kasprowicz and Damien Martyn north for Twenty20 series.

Campbell likens PNG's cricketing culture to that of the Caribbean in its heyday, where even in the remote Highlands children played until dusk and everyone knows the results. But the traditional societies mean talented youngsters can be denied playing by family elders, and those who do play must be extremely devoted.

"If you're training at 9 am and blokes get there at quarter past, I've got to realise we can't berate them," he said. "There's no public transport, they probably walk five kilometres to get to training. They do put in a lot. There's a lot more effort that goes in than a lot of other countries."

Barramundis warm up for World Cup in Canberra

BY COURTNEY REES
THE CANBERRA TIMES

MEMBERS OF THE PAPUA NEW GUINEA cricket team, the Barramundis, are in Canberra preparing for the ICC World Twenty20 Cup qualifiers to be held in the United Arab Emirates from March 13-24.

Asad Vala and Jack Vare both played first grade cricket for the Canberra Ginninderra team last season but have now turned their attention to getting the Barramundis into the Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka in September-October.

To qualify for the World Cup the Barramundis, ranked 19th in the world, must make the final of the UAE tournament and new coach Peter Anderson is confident his team can ''sneak under the radar'' and surprise some of the stronger association teams.

''It is one of the biggest events in the history of PNG cricket so hopefully we will do well,'' Vare said. ''We are aiming to win the qualifying games so that we can go to the World Cup.''

Vare, who is a wicketkeeper, grew up idolising Australian keepers Ian Healy and Adam Gilchrist after first being involved in the sport as an eight-year-old in his village in the capital Port Moresby.

Cricket is the second most popular sport in PNG after rugby league but Vala believes the sport is increasing in popularity, especially after the side's strong performances to qualify for the 16-team event.

''Cricket back home is not at the standard that we want it to be so if we keep on working at cricket the standard at home is going to be higher,'' Vala said.

The Barramundis have been buoyed by the addition of former English Test player Geraint Jones.

The 35-year-old, who was a member of England's victorious Ashes team in 2005, played 34 Tests. He is eligible to play for the Barramundis as he was born in PNG and spent the first six years of his life there.

Jones has not played for England since 2006 and the wicketkeeper jumped at the chance to be part of the squad.

''First and foremost I had to find out if the guys wanted me to be part of their group. They did and it wasn't a huge decision to make, I wanted to be a part of it and the chance to go to a World Cup is every cricketer's dream,'' Jones said.

Geraint Jones is ready to deliver for PNG

BY GIDEON BROOKS
DAILY EXPRESS (UK)

AS FAR AS GERAINT JONES CAN SEE, the only downside of disappearing to the United Arab Emirates to play for Papua New Guinea next month is that his wife Jen will be left to deal with lambing season.

With 10 ewes ready to deliver, the nights over the coming month could be long ones at their eight-acre farm near Sandwich, Kent and, as he pointed out with a laugh, it is not really a one-person job.

Particularly given there are chickens and a horse to look after too.

But at 35, the prospect of adding a notable postscript to his cricket career by helping the country of his birth qualify for the ICC World T20 in Sri Lanka in September is, he believes on balance, worth it.

Even if that means an extra few quid for presents in Dubai duty free on the way home.

“The wife is not best pleased about the timing but she understands how serious I am about it and how realistic a chance they have. They are by no means a Mickey Mouse outfit,” he said.

“My understanding is that they have a group of young guys coming through who are really talented and that is starting to show in results. They are 19th in the world and rising.”

Jones, who was born to Welsh teacher parents in PNG and lived there until he was six, qualified for their T20 squad four years after playing his last match for England, in the Ashes in December 2006.

He does not remember too much about his formative years there aside from mangos growing in the back garden and houses on stilts in the water on the seafront in the capital Port Moresby.

But when contacted about the possibility of playing when his four-year exclusion period was up since his last England cap he jumped at the chance.

“It started with a chat with the guy who was running PNG cricket on the Lord’s balcony before a T20 game against Middlesex,” he said. “Right from the start I was interested.”

Whether PNG are improving enough to sneak one of the two places on offer for the main event in seven months is far from certain, but the inclusion of Kent captain and wicketkeeper Jones certainly shortens those odds.

“The likes of Ireland, Afghanistan, Scotland and Holland will be favourites but we get into that next group behind,” said Jones. “I would love to cause an upset and get pretty close.”

PNG squad confirmed for ICC World Twenty20

VOXY NEWS ENGINE

SOME OF THE VERY BEST CRICKETERS from the ICC's associate and affiliate member countries will assemble in the United Arab Emirates next month when the 16-team ICC World Twenty20 event will be staged across five venues in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.

At stake in the UAE will be the two available places in the ICC World Twenty20 championship in Sri Lanka which will be played from 18 September to 7 October.

There will be 72 matches over 12 days and the first qualifier will emerge after the 61st match while the second qualifier will be known after the 71st match.

The winner of the 72nd and final match of the tournament will complete Group B by joining Australia and West Indies while the runner-up will team up with defending champion England and former winner India in Group A.

The event will see in action two international stars of the recent past - Michael Di Venuto and Geraint Jones.

Di Venuto, who will represent Italy, has played nine ODIs for Australia in 1997 while Jones, representing Papua New Guinea, played 34 Tests, 49 ODIs and two T20Is for England between 2004 and 2006. The 35-year-old Jones can play for PNG as he was born in Kundiawa, the capital of Simbu Province.

The PNG squad is: Rarua Dikana (captain), Geraint Jones, Jack Vare-Kevere, Jason Kila, Willie Gavera, Chris Amini, John Boge Reva, Tony Ura, Assadollah Vala, Chris Kent, Mahuru Dai, Vani Vagi Morea, Joel Tom, Hitolo Areni

Aussie rugby league tour is the ultimate prize

BY ERIN SOMERVILLE
CENTRAL WESTERN DAILY / ORANGE, NSW

FOR SOME, IT HAS BEEN THE ULTIMATE grand final prize. Papua New Guinea’s Western Highland Province team were awarded a trip to Australia to test Orange’s rugby league talent after taking out the premiership of their competition last season.

The team of 25 players makes up half of the 50 people from Mount Hagen who are in Orange to strengthen the Sister City relationship.

While the highlight of the visit will be the PNG team taking on Orange Indigenous All-Stars and Orange Barbarians over the weekend, this visit is about a lot more than footy.

The team’s trainer Solomon Kiap hopes it will be a life-changing experience.

“Most of these guys are unemployed,” he said. “We want to mould them and change in such a way they can become good citizens.”

The trip will be a chance to teach the entourage how to protect themselves off the field from drugs, alcohol and sexually-transmitted diseases including AIDS.

Mr Kiap hopes the players can take the positive aspects of Australia’s culture on board during the visit and put it into practise when they return home.

“We are hoping they can watch the lifestyle of Australians and change their mindset to live better,” he said.

Peter Anderson is new PNG cricket coach

ESPN CRIC INFO

PAPUA NEW GUINEA HAS APPOINTED former Queensland and South Australia wicketkeeper Peter Anderson as its new coach to replace Brad Hogg, who resigned following his recall to the Australian T20 side.

Anderson's first-class career spanned eight years from 1986-94. He made 1,399 runs from 56 matches, averaging 17.9, and effected 172 dismissals.

Cricket PNG general manager Greg Campbell said the team was looking for a long-term coach. The big assignment ahead is the World T20 Qualifier in March.

"We're coming into a very important and exciting time for Cricket PNG right now, and needed someone will to spend vast periods of time with the team," Campbell said.

“We've been blessed in recent times to have the both Brad Hogg and Andy Bichel working with the team, but given their reputations in the cricket world, they would always have opportunities knocking at the door. With Peter, we know we're going to get 100% and the vision and attributes he brings to the team will be great for the boys."

Anderson has been coaching local clubs in Queensland over the last six years and has also been working with wicketkeepers in the ICC Pacific region.

Mr Anderson will join the PNG team in Canberra next month.

International coaching role appeals to Geraint Jones

YOURCANTERBURY.CO.UK

AN APPEARANCE FOR PAPUA NEW GUINEA next month is unlikely to be a one-off for Geraint Jones and the Kent wicketkeeper is open to the idea of coaching the national side in the future.

The 35-year-old was born in PNG and, several years after the idea was first suggested, he will make his debut in the Twenty20 World Cup qualifying tournament in Dubai.

Jones, who played 34 Test matches for England, has only been back to PNG once since leaving as a six-year-old, but is keen to share his experience beyond the event and even after the end of his playing career.

“I would like to think it’s something more regular,” he said. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to be involved a bit more and could lead to something other than just playing.

“There may be the potential of a coaching role down the line at some point, who knows.

“To be back playing international cricket is exciting and it’s a new group of players. To qualify would be an amazing achievement, but we know it’s going to be tough.”

Coach Adam hoping to tackle domestic violence

BY JUSTIN HUNTSDALE
ABC Illawarra (NSW)

ADAM EVERILL SAYS ABOUT HALF OF THE WOMEN in Papua New Guinea will experience some sort of sexual abuse in their life.

This startling statistic has motivated the musician, concert promoter and former rugby league coach to visit PNG to take what he hopes will be an effective method of reducing violence against women.

PNG loves rugby league, and the male-dominated sport is where he'll focus his attention, providing financial and material contributions to clubs on the provision they sign a code of conduct.

"We've borrowed a successful program run here in New South Wales and in Queensland and modified them slightly - [as well as signing the code] they have to go to workshops and be part of a local awareness campaign," he said.

"We want to use players in the materials we use in the workshops and school work, and we want to do a national awareness campaign too.

"The two main newspapers there are quite sympathetic to the anti-violence cause."

Adam is spending three weeks in Papua New Guinea.

Cricket match lends a hand to those in need

BY KATHRYN BENNETT
Melbourne Weekly

PAPUA NEW GUINEA CRICKET WILL GET A BOOST when the national team goes head-to-head with the Hawthorn Cricket Club for a charity match today.

Watch the game from 10am, January 29, Rathmines Road Reserve, Rathmines Road, East Hawthorn. Entry is free.

The idea came to Hawthorn coach Dan van den Hoek [pictured] when he was volunteering for an exhibition game between the under-16 Papua New Guinea and West Indies teams.

“I thought it would be a great chance to expose players to an international standard and generate more exposure for the Papua New Guinea team,” he says.

Van den Hoek approached the team manager of Papua New Guinea, Pat Khan, who happened to be a family friend. In just a few weeks, they put together a full day of cricket and fund-raising at the Ainslie Park club in Croydon, where van den Hoek was a player.

Three hundred people turned out to see the PNG side win both games. Nine cricket bags full of second-hand equipment were donated to the club.

“It also doubled as a fund-raiser for the club and we donated the money to the bushfire appeal,” says van den Hoek. “It was a great result considering we didn’t have much publicity or time before the day.”

When van den Hoek moved from Ainslie Park to Hawthorn, he decided to bring the idea with him.

He approached PNG’s team again, this time through chief executive officer Bill Leane.

“Bill was more than happy to oblige and give us the chance to raise some money again,” says van den Hoek.

The aim of the match is to promote grassroots cricket in Victoria and develop the game in Papua New Guinea. While the country’s fledgling cricketers are attracting international attention, they struggle to sustain themselves at a local level.

Papua New Guinea is currently ranked 19th in the world in One Day International matches by the International Cricket Council.

The team is rated the best ODI cricket-playing nation in the east Asia-Pacific region, while the under-19s side has qualified for the World Cup.

Van den Hoek says the team takes every opportunity to practise in attempts to improve their ranking on the ICC ODI table.

“It should be a good game,” he says. “This year I think the game will be much closer, with more players available due to the weekend fixture – rather than midweek like last year – and a great depth of talent at Hawthorn Cricket Club.”

Hogg's change of plans was prompted by PNG ‘joy’

BY PAUL BARBIERI
Sportal.com.au

AUSTRALIA'S LATEST TWENTY20 RECRUIT - and certainly its oldest - Brad Hogg was meant to be heading to the Twenty20 World Cup next September as coach of the Papua New Guinea national side.

Instead, he could be heading there as a player after his fairytale selection in the Australian side to play in two Twenty20 Internationals this summer against India was confirmed on Monday.

And he credits an enthusiastic PNG side for reinvigorating him with the “joy” that prompted his comeback.

Hogg will be turning 41 next month, with his call-up coming almost four years after he retired from all forms of the game for personal reasons in March 2008 after 15 years of playing.

But having spent time coaching the PNG national side - a group he hoped to take to the T20 World Cup - Hogg rediscovered his love of the game.

"Andy Bichel was doing the job and I was going to take over when Bichel decided to leave," Hogg explained.

"Those things have changed. But I'll stay involved in some capacity. I'll keep chatting with Greg Campbell, who's in charge."

"They're a pretty talented squad and an interesting group of people," he added.

"The enthusiasm over there for the way they go about their cricket, gave me the joy to come back and play for the Perth Scorchers."

Geraint Jones ready to turn out for PNG cricket

BY KEITH JACKSON

FORMER ENGLAND TEST CRICKET WICKETKEEPER, Geraint Jones MBE, just selected in the Papua New Guinea T20 team, was only six when his family left PNG in 1982.

His mother and father had arrived in PNG as teachers on New Year's Eve 1971, remaining until September 1982.

Geraint's dad, Emrys, who now lives on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, was deputy headmaster at Kerowagi High when Geraint (‘Jonesy’ to his mates) was born in Kundiawa Hospital in 1976.

Emrys served later as principal of Mt Hagen Park High School, finishing his 11-year stint in PNG as a senior curriculum adviser with the Education Department in Waigani.

“My own memories of PNG limited,” Geraint tell me, “but my main memory is of Port Moresby - looking out from the beach at the houses on stilts in the water, eating mangoes with my next door neighbour in the back garden, and playing soccer.”

Now Geraint, 35, is returning to play cricket for his country of birth as PNG seeks entry into the elite group of nations that will compete in the world T20 tournament in Sri Lanka later this year.

Sixteen second ranking cricketing countries will contest two available spots in the T20 in a qualifier to be held in Dubai.

Geraint has been back to PNG once since he left - with the MCC on a cricket tour in 2007.  “I suppose it has been since then that I have been in PNG's cricketing thoughts,” he says.

He first started playing cricket at Wilsonton Primary School in Toowoomba when the family went to Australia.  Geraint was aged six. “I tried to be a bowler to start with, but quickly realised that wicketkeeper was my position. I loved the involvement levels you get - and diving around!”

That “diving around” secured him 128 catches and five stumpings in Test cricket.

He’s also a hard hitting right hand bat whose 34 Test matches for England yielded a century and six fifties at an average of nearly 24.

In addition, and of particular interest to Cricket PNG right now, is his track record of 80 20/20 matches.  His debut in this form of the game was against Australia, where he opened and scored 17 at a strike rate of 136 an in a huge England win at Southampton.

“It has been a couple of year process to get to this point of me being able to play for PNG,” Geraint says.

“I was first contacted by Bill Leane (CEO of Cricket PNG) about playing and we met at Lords to talk it over. The sticking point was the amount of time I needed to spend in PNG to qualify.  But this was to play 50 over cricket. T20 has different qualification rules, which allows me to play in T20 competitions.

“As we had been in contact the option of playing in the world cup qualifier came up and I jumped at the chance.

UK test cricketer Geraint Jones to play for PNG

BY ROB FORSAITH
Nine MSN

FORMER ENGLAND WICKETKEEPER Geraint Jones will make a surprise return to the international cricket arena in March when he represents Papua New Guinea at the World Twenty20 qualifier in the UAE.

Jones was born in Kundiawa and recently approached Cricket PNG with his desire to represent his country of birth.

Jones' county side Kent, the ECB and ICC all gave their blessing, and Cricket PNG boss Greg Campbell was happy to accommodate the 35-year-old, who played 34 Tests and was awarded an MBE for his part in England's breakthrough 2005 Ashes triumph.

"I couldn't believe it when Geraint contacted us. He is genuinely excited about coming to play and helping us achieve the dream of a World Cup spot," Campbell said.

"He has played so many games at the highest level. His talent and experience will be incredibly valuable for us."

Jones will link up with PNG, who are coached by Brad Hogg, for a training camp in Canberra in February before departing for Dubai.

PNG will be one of 16 nations competing for two spots at the World T20, which will be held in Sri Lanka this year.

The winner of the tournament will be pooled with Australia and West Indies, while the other finalist will be in a group with defending champions England and 2007 winners India.

While rugby league is the national sport of PNG, cricket has enjoyed a recent renaissance.

Hogg last year took over the coaching reins from Andy Bichel, who had helped trigger a sharp ascent up the ICC's rankings.

PNG earned promotion to the World Cricket League Division 2 last year, and will be jostling against the likes of Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland and Afghanistan for a place at this year's T20 showpiece

Paul Aiton pleased with UK rugby league

BY SIMON HATTON

PAPUA NEW GUINEA INTERNATIONAL Paul Aiton will get his first taste of derby action when his Wakefield side takes on Castleford in a pre-season rugby league friendly tomorrow.

Aiton, 26, has made the switch to the UK suburb of Belle Vue from Australia’s Cronulla over the off season, and is one of a number of new faces in the Wakefield Wildcats line-up.

"It’s been really good and everyone has been really friendly,” Aiton says.

"It’s a good bunch of blokes and there’s some good fans and some good sponsors from those I’ve met already, and they’re really inviting and very supportive.

“I’m really looking forward to be involved at the weekend. You hear it from everyone. You’re just having a chat and they’ll say, ‘You’ve got to beat Castleford’."

It's a friendly that promises to be anything but, although Aiton will get plenty of experience of derby days this season with the Wildcats guaranteed to face Castleford at least three times this campaign.

Source: Love Rugby League

Pacific the target for Aussie Rules expansion

BY JESPER FJELDSTAD

THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE has identified the South Pacific as its growth area, with the region seen as ripe for mass participation.

The AFL has intensified its efforts in the region following the success of players with Pacific heritage, such as Brisbane premiership player Mal Michael (Papua New Guinea), West Coast's Nic Naitanui (Fiji) and Power pair David Rodan and Alipate Carlile (Fiji).

The move has left previous expansion markets, most notably Ireland, in the shade. The South Pacific is also considered a more viable target than North America, which had previously been seen as a potentially fertile recruiting ground.

Initiatives in the South Pacific include:

STAGING international championships in the region.

HOLDING a draft combine (previously known as draft camp) with thorough testing of talent.

HELPING to set up football programs, and

ALERTING clubs to local talent and encouraging them to pick up players under the international scholarship scheme.

The AFL sees the South Pacific and South Africa as the main markets with potential for growth, and now views Ireland and North America as having little realistic chance of bringing a mass of players. Several clubs have also baulked at the expense of recruiting from the northern hemisphere.

The added bonus of the South Pacific is that children are already familiar with the game because of Australia's proximity.

AFL national talent manager Kevin Sheehan said the league was aiming to double its overseas numbers within the next five years, with most of the growth coming from the region.

"We're really keen to build South Africa and the South Pacific in the traditional sense, to get participation numbers up," Sheehan said. "And from that talent emerges.

"Right at the moment, we have 100,000 people playing football around the world (outside Australia) and most of those are in the southern hemisphere.

"We'd like to build that to about 200,000 in five years. If we set it up, the kids will come and play, and we're really quite ambitious about South Africa and the South Pacific. In other parts, like the US, Canada and Ireland, there might be the odd one at 20 or 21 who might switch across, but we'll never grow to be quite large in the northern hemisphere.

"But we really think there's a niche for us in the southern hemisphere to grow into a mass participation sport.

"The example of Vanuatu is quite special. They had a boy who last year made the South Pacific side and they were rapt. And off the back of him, they've now got 300 kids and adults playing footy, including women, open-age players, Aus-kickers.

"They now have regular training for various age levels. It's just marvellous to see the great spirit with which they play this new sport.

"A dozen kids have already been signed over the past couple of years.

"And the best of these boys will play for the South Pacific in the under-16 nationals next year, which will be the third year for this emerging market.

"The size of the region and the closeness to Australia - you can watch Australian television, see matches - and we're now starting to do a lot more with their promising athletes."

Source: Sunday Mail, Adelaide

Women's soccer reach highest ever ranking

Papua New Guinea’s women’s soccer team has reached its highest ever position on the FIFA Women's World Rankings.

Several teams reached their best-ever position including Papua New Guinea (52nd, up one), Spain, Mexico, Scotland and Wales.

USA remain at the top of the table but are under pressure from second-placed Germany. World champions Japan are in third place, also the highest rank they have ever achieved.

The current women’s world ranking includes 135 countries, the highest number since December 2007 when a new record was set with 150 teams.

The next FIFA world ranking will be published in March 2012.

Paul Aiton seals deal with Wakefield Trinity

PAPUA NEW GUINEA INTERNATIONAL rugby league hooker, Paul Aiton, who led his side in Four Nations 2010, has signed a two-year deal with the UK Wakefield Trinity Wildcats.

This is a useful addition to the Wakefield, who are on a recruiting spree. Aiton is this year’s 17th uptake since Richard Agar slipped on the coaching hat.  Agar said, “Paul is a tough and committed player with a real strength of character who plays the game very quick and direct.

“He's a proven performer in the NRL and on the international stage with PNG where he has shown tremendous leadership qualities as their captain. As well as playing hooker, he'll fill a number of other roles for us too. He's a very experienced and high-quality performer.”

Aiton, who has reprsented PNG since 2004, kicked off his rugby league career with the Penrith in 2006, where he scored 39 points in his 70 games. After that, he joined Cronulla-Sutherland, where he has also played 39 games.

Source: Bettor.com

Titans will not play RL home games in PNG

THE GOLD COAST TITANS rugby league club has clarified its position in relation to a Papua New Guinea connection.

The club said that whilst there have been discussions about PNG becoming aligned to the Titans in a number of different ways, the club has not entered into 'sell-off talks' with the PNG consortium and will not be transferring home games to PNG as reported in media outlets.

Titans managing director Michael Searle said the club had been approached by the PNG consortium earlier this year to seek advice on various aspects of their push to join the NRL but no formal agreement had been reached.

"The reality is some nine months ago we were approached by a PNG consortium who identified the Titans as a dynamic and successful best-practice model for PNG's aspirations of eventually entering the NRL,'' said Searle.

"They felt they could learn from our experience about successful player recruitment, performance and commercial viability whilst continuing to achieve our objectives in the community around Health, Education, Training and Employment.

"They have since put forward various proposals on the table for discussion, including talent exchange programmes, social delivery of key messages around education and employment and a potential equity investment but we have not yet determined how best we can assist PNG's goals.

"One thing is for sure, the Titans are a Gold Coast team, and will always remain that, regardless of whether we agree to any link to PNG.

"We'll definitely continue to encourage and assist any initiative to involve PNG in the NRL, however, the club's stakeholders will not be selling any of their equity in the club."

Source: Titans Press Release, 17 November

PNG to NRL what West Indies were to cricket?

THE GOLD COAST TITANS are reportedly in talks with the consortium backing Papua New Guinea's NRL bid.

Should the buy-out proceed, there could be serious implications for Gold Coast fans.

"I keep hearing that the Titans are in a lot of cash trouble. I think it's only natural that these two consortiums would try and get in bed together," NRL great Mark Geyer said on Triple M’s Grill Team.

"The big thing here is they're trying to sell off home games to PNG," replied legend Matty Johns.  "That's a really worrying sign if you're a Gold Coast fan or the Gold Coast club."

"The Gold Coast has probably been the [Australian] town hardest hit by the economic downturn - it's a boom or bust town. They're going through very difficult times.

"If you go to Port Moresby, it's borderline lawless," Matty said.  "They've got to clean that up….

"One thing I'll say is [PNG] is oil-rich, they've got a lot of money up there in Papua New Guinea.

"Building stadiums and having money won't be a problem, they'll have to pay overs for players. They will be in a position to do that.

"The big thing will be getting the country in order," he continued.

"People say 'it can never happen, they're a third world country'.  Well, let me say this," Matty said emphatically, "I believe Papua New Guinea could be for rugby league what the West Indies were to cricket during the eighties."

Source: Radio triple M, 16 November

Will Genia nominated for international honour

AUSTRALIAN SCRUM half Will Genia has been short-listed for the 2011 International Rugby Board (IRB) player of the year award. 

The PNG-born Genia is one of six players – three from New Zealand, two from Australia and one from France – being considered for Rugby’s top honour. 

Genia already has been voted Australian Rugby player of the year and he captained Australia in one of its early games in the present Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

Along with the other Australian nominee, flanker David Pocock, Genia will play in today’s World Cup third-place play-off against Wales. 

The player of the year will be named at an awards ceremony that takes place in Auckland on Monday - the day after New Zealand and France meet in the final.