| ||||||
| Team information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Kumuls | |||||
| Governing body | PNGRFL | |||||
| Region | Asia-Pacific | |||||
| Head coach | Michael Marum | |||||
| Captain | Rhyse Martin | |||||
| Most caps | Paul Aiton (16) Stanley Gene John Wilshere | |||||
| Top try-scorers | David Mead (9) Menzie Yere | |||||
| Top point-scorer | John Wilshere (104) | |||||
| Home stadium | National Football Stadium | |||||
| RLIF ranking | 6th | |||||
| Uniforms | ||||||
| ||||||
| Team results | ||||||
| First game | ||||||
 England 40–12 Papua New Guinea  (Port Moresby, PNG; 6 July 1975) | ||||||
| Biggest win | ||||||
Papua New Guinea 64–0 United States  (Port Moresby, PNG; 12 November 2017) | ||||||
| Biggest defeat | ||||||
.svg.png){kind=small} Australia 82–0 Papua New Guinea (Townsville, Australia; 7 October 2000) | ||||||
| World Cup | ||||||
| Appearances | 7 (first time in 1985–1988) | |||||
| Best result | Quarter-finals: 2000, 2017 | |||||
)
The Papua New Guinea national rugby league team represents Papua New Guinea in the sport of rugby league football.
In Papua New Guinea, Rugby League is a highly popular sport and is regarded as the country's national sport. The national side are known as the Kumuls ("birds-of-paradise" in Tok Pisin).
History
Rugby league in Papua New Guinea was first played in the late forties; it was introduced to the nation by Australian soldiers stationed there during and after the Second World War. Papua New Guinea were admitted to the game's International Federation in 1974. On 6 July 1975, at Lloyd Robson Oval, in Port Moresby the Kumuls played their first ever international. They were beaten 40-12 by England. The English team were en route to Australia and New Zealand to fulfil away fixtures during the 1975 World Cup.
They first entered the Rugby League World Cup for the 1985-88 competition, though it was not until 2000 that they won away from home. In 1987 The Kumuls stage their first full test playing tour of Britain, after playing BARLA opposition in 1979. They lost the test 42–0 at Central Park, Wigan.
On Tuesday 20 October 1987, Cumbria met Papua New Guinea before a crowd of 3,750 at the Recreation Ground, Whitehaven. Cumbria won 22–4. Four days later Papua New Guinea played a World Cup rated Test against Great Britain.
During the 1988 Great Britain Lions tour of Australasia a Test match was played at Port Moresby. Later that year Papua New Guinea played a World Cup match against Australia in Wagga Wagga, the Kangaroos recording a then international record winning margin of 62 points with a 70–8 win. Australian winger Michael O'Connor crossed for four tries and kicked seven goals for a personal points haul of 30, which could have been 44 had he not missed seven kicks at goal. In 1991 Papua New Guinea played host to a touring Great Britain, the series ended in a 1–1 draw.
On Sunday 27 October 1991, Papua New Guinea met Wales at Vetch Field, Swansea. Roared on by a fervent crowd of 11,422; Wales won by a record 68-0 margin, scoring thirteen tries. Papua New Guinea never recovered and lost all five matches in Britain, conceding 232 points in the process, and won only one of their four matches in France.
Papua New Guinea wound up their 1991 tour of Europe with a World Cup rated Test match against France, which was played on Sunday 24 November at the Stade Albert Domec, Carcassonne. Despite Papua New Guinea leading 8–4 at half-time; France defeated their visitors 28–14.
The Kumuls hosted Australia for a two test series in October 1991 (won 2-0 by the Kangaroos), and also hosted Great Britain during the 1992 Lions tour of Australasia.
Papua New Guinea travelled to England to compete in the 1995 World Cup under coach Joe Tokam and captain Adrian Lam.[1] In their group was Tonga and New Zealand, against whom they failed to win a match.
In 1996 Bob Bennett, brother of the famous Wayne Bennett, was appointed the Kumuls' coach.[2] Also, in 1996, Adrian Lam captained the 'Papua New Guinea National Rugby League Team' against the Australian Kangaroos (52-6 win to Australia). Bob Bennett coached the 2000 World Cup Kumuls team to the qualification two the pool were the kumuls made it into the top 4 teams in the world so the 2000 World Cup Kumuls team was rated the best kumuls team.
They were granted automatic qualification to the 2008 World Cup but were placed in a pool with the top three teams, Australia, New Zealand and England, and failed to win a match in the tournament.
PNG automatically qualified for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup having reached the quarter finals of the previous Rugby League World Cup. The 2021 tournament will take place in England.
2010 controversy
The Papua New Guinea team experienced huge difficulties leading to the 2010 Rugby League Four Nations Tournament, as politicians clashed for control over the game and the governing body, the PNGRFL, was split over issues concerning junior development, the national team and the Papua New Guinea NRL bid. This caused Adrian Lam to retire as head coach of the Kumuls in September 2010[3][4] while recently retired captain Stanley Gene, who had never coached a side before, was named his replacement.[5] The governing board were adamant that more Papua New Guinea-based players should be in the squad, and fewer Australia-based players should be picked. In early October the squad was announced for the tournament and consisted of 12 PNG-based players with captain Paul Aiton being the only NRL player.[6] Whilst the Australian team for the tournament was worth an estimated A$10 million, local newspapers calculated the Kumuls value at around A$670,000.
Despite the Australian media treating the defeat of the Papua New Guinean team as a mere formality, with the team having odds of 125–1 to win the tournament, the players and journalists at home were positive that the Kumuls could make a lasting impression in the tournament.[7] After their first up 42–0 defeat against Australia, the team's enthusiasm and crunching tackles were praised, but ball control and creativity let the team down hugely.[8] However the team faced much more criticism after their 76-12 thrashing suffered at the hands of New Zealand, with fans angry at the poor display from the players[9] and some questioning the credentials of new coach Stanley Gene.[10] Days after the match a broader look at the sport in the country occurred with one assessment concluding that rugby league was poorly managed[11] and former PNG great Marcus Bai called on clubs to supply a greater number of representative standard players especially from the New Guinea Islands region which had supplied five of this year's team.[12] The way politics had made its way into the governing of the sport was also condemned.[13]
2015 Pacific Rugby League Test
In May 2015, Papua New Guinea took on Fiji in the 2015 Melanesian Cup at Cbus Super Stadium. The International was part of a triple header which also included the Polynesian Cup, between Samoa and Tonga, and the Junior Kangaroos against the Junior Kiwis. The Kumuls never really troubled the Fijians after handling errors and poor decisions led to the Bati easily winning the inaugural Melanesian Cup by 22–10.
2016 Pacific Rugby League Test
In May 2016, Papua New Guinea took on Fiji in the 2016 Melanesian Cup at Pirtek Stadium. The International was part of a triple header which also included the Polynesian Cup, between Samoa and Tonga, and the Junior Kangaroos against the Junior Kiwis. In this year's test, the Kumuls had more experienced players and it paid off. Despite being in a similar situation with the half time score, they managed to make a miraculous comeback not many saw coming, to record their first win 24–22 on away shores since the 2000 World Cup.
2017 Pacific Rugby League Test
The PNG Kumuls won their second consecutive Pacific Cup test victory with a 32–22 victory over the Cook Islands at Campbelltown Stadium in Sydney, Australia.
2018 Pacific Rugby League Test
The PNG Kumuls won their third consecutive Ox & Palm Pacific Cup test victory with a 26–14 victory over Fiji Bati at Campbelltown Stadium in Sydney, Australia.[14]
2019 Oceania Cup and GB Lions Tour
The PNG Kumuls lost both their 2019 Oceania Cup (rugby league) test matches with a 24–6 loss to Toa Samoa[15] at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney, Australia and a 22–20 loss to Fiji Bati[16] in Christchurch, New Zealand . The Kumuls ended the season on a high defeating the Great Britain Lions 28–10 in Port Moresby.[17]
Current squad
The Papua New Guinean squad for 2019 Great Britain Lions tour on 16 November 2019. Club information are as of 12 November 2019,[18] before the match.
| Pos. | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| FB | Alex Johnston (rugby league) | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| WG | Edene Gebbie | Wynnum Manly Seagulls |
| CE | David Mead |  Catalans Dragons |
| CE | Justin Olam | Melbourne Storm |
| WG | Stargroth Amean | Barrow Raiders |
| FE | Kyle Laybutt | Townsville Blackhawks |
| HB | Watson Boas | Doncaster |
| PR | Wellington Albert | Leeds Rhinos |
| HK | Wartovo Puara | Barrow Raiders |
| PR | Luke Page | Burleigh Bears |
| SR | Nixon Put | Norths Devils |
| SR | Daniel Russell (rugby league) | North Queensland Cowboys |
| LK | Rhyse Martin (captain) | Leeds Rhinos |
| HK | Edwin Ipape | Wynnum Manly Seagulls |
| WG | Garry Lo | AS Carcassonne |
| SR | Stanton Albert | PNG Hunters |
| SR | Moses Meninga | Townsville Blackhawks |
| PR | Enoch Maki | PNG Hunters |
| FB | Terry Wapi | PNG Hunters |
Notable players
- Makali Aizue
- Marcus Bai
- Ngala Lapan
- Aquila Emil
- Kungas Kuveu
- Darius Haili
- Alan Rero
- Stanley Gene
- David Mead
- John Wilshere
- James Segeyaro
- Adrian Lam
- Lachlan Lam
- Bal Numapo
- Justin Olam
- Xavier Coates
- Alex Johnston
- Neville Costigan
- Nene Macdonald
Tournament history
World Cup
| World Cup record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | L | D | ||
| 1954–1977 | Did not participate | |||||||
  1985–88 | Fourth place | 4/5 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 1989–92 | Fifth place | 5/5 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 1995 | Group stage | 6/10 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2000 | Quarter-finals | 6/16 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2008 | Group stage | 10/10 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
.svg.jpg){kind=small} 2013 | Group stage | 13/14 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
 2017 | Quarter-finals | 5/14 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2021 | Qualified | |||||||
.svg.png){kind=small} 2025 | To be determined | |||||||
| Total | 0 Titles | 32 | 8 | 23 | 1 | |||
Tri-Nations / Four Nations
| Tri-Nations / Four Nations record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | L | D | ||
| 1999–2006 | Did not participate | |||||||
| 2010 | Fourth place | 4/4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2011–2016 | Did not participate | |||||||
| Total | 0 Titles | 1/9 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
Pacific Cup
| Pacific Cup record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | L | D | ||
| 1975 | Runners-up | 2/4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1977 | Third place | 3/5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
 1986 | Did not participate | |||||||
 1986 | ||||||||
 1990 | Group stage | 5/8 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1992 | Did not participate | |||||||
 1994 | ||||||||
| 1997 | Third place | 3/6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2004 | Did not participate | |||||||
| 2006 | ||||||||
| 2009 | Champions | 1/5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 1 Title | 5/12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | ||
International record and ranking
Below is the list of Papua New Guinea's international head to head record as of 18 December 2020.[19]
IRL World Rankings | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Official Men's Rankings as of November 2019 | |||
| Rank | Change* | Team | Pts% |
| 1 |  2 | New Zealand | |
| 2 |  1 | Australia | |
| 3 | 1 | England | |
| 4 |  | Tonga | |
| 5 | | Fiji | |
| 6 | 4 | Papua New Guinea | |
| 7 | | Samoa | |
| 8 | 2 | France | |
| 9 | 1 |  Scotland | |
| 10 | 1 |  Lebanon | |
| 11 | 5 |  Greece | |
| 12 | |  Ireland | |
| 13 | 1 |  Italy | |
| 14 | 3 | Wales | |
| 15 | 4 |  Serbia | |
| 16 | 1 |  Malta | |
| 17 | 1 |  Norway | |
| 18 | 3 | United States | |
| 19 | 4 |  Poland | |
| 20 | 7 |  Jamaica | |
| 21 | 1 |  Hungary | |
| 22 | 3 |  Czech Republic | |
| 23 | 5 | Cook Islands | |
| 24 | 7 |  Turkey | |
| 25 | 1 |  Netherlands | |
| 26 | 4 |  Spain | |
| 27 | 6 | Canada | |
| 28 |  |  Nigeria | |
| 29 | 2 |  Solomon Islands | |
| 30 | 10 |  Sweden | |
| 31 | 4 |  Germany | |
| 32 | 1 |  Chile | |
| 33 | |  Ghana | |
| 34 | 16 |  Morocco | |
| 35 | 3 |  Vanuatu | |
| 36 | |  South Africa | |
| 37 | 8 |  Russia | |
| 38 | |  Cameroon | |
| 39 | 2 |  Ukraine | |
| 40 | 1 |  Colombia | |
| 41 | 4 |  Brazil | |
| 42 | | .svg.png){kind=small} Belgium | |
| 43 | 4 |  Denmark | |
| 44 | 4 |  Bulgaria | |
| 45 | 4 |  Latvia | |
| *Change from July 2019 | |||
| Country | Matches | Won | Drawn | Lost | Win percentage | For | Aga | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0% | 62 | 258 | –196 |
){kind=small} Australian Aboriginies | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0% | 22 | 90 | –68 |
| Cook Islands | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 192 | 68 | +124 |
| England | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0% | 50 | 144 | –94 |
| Fiji | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 66.67% | 281 | 182 | +99 |
| France | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 28.57% | 249 | 281 | –32 |
| Great Britain | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 22.22% | 146 | 298 | –152 |
| Ireland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 14 | 6 | +8 |
| New Zealand | 18 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 5.55% | 226 | 812 | –586 |
 New Zealand Maori | 11 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 18.18% | 255 | 350 | –95 |
| New Zealand XIII | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0% | 24 | 42 | –18 |
| Samoa | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0% | 10 | 62 | –52 |
| Scotland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 38 | 20 | +18 |
| South Africa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 16 | 0 | +16 |
| Tonga | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 85.71% | 288 | 141 | +147 |
| United States | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 64 | 0 | +64 |
| Wales | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 25.00% | 68 | 146 | –78 |
| Total | 104 | 33 | 2 | 69 | 31.73% | 2005 | 2900 | –895 |
Other Papua New Guinean teams
- PNG Prime Minister's XIII - Development side consisting of players from the Papua New Guinea National Rugby League competition. In recent years, players from the National Rugby League, Intrust Super Cup, English Super League and English Championship have also been selected to play the Australian PM's XIII.
- PNG President XIII - PNGRFL 'select' usually playing another development side like Junior Kangaroos or New Zealand A. Rarely used to play national sides.
- PNG Residents- Papua New Guinea development side made up of solely local players. Regularly playing matches with the Junior Kangaroos, New Zealand Māoris and even national sides.
- Papua New Guinea Kundus - Papua New Guinea Junior U/18 schoolboys side.
Participated tournaments
- Rugby League World Cup
- Rugby League Four Nations (2010 tournament)
- Pacific Cup
- World Sevens
- Super League World Nines (1996,1997)
- Rugby league nines at the 2015 Pacific Games
- Rugby league nines at the 2019 Pacific Games
- Cabramatta International Nines
See also
References
- ^ Hadfield, Dave (1995-10-08). "Island gods high in a dream world". The Independent. independent.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
- ^ Hadfield, David (1996-09-14). "Eagles to share United's roost". Independent, The. UK: independent.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-07-19.
- ^ Sydney Morning Herald - Adrian Lam Quits As PNG Coach
- ^ The Australian - Lam Quits As PNG Coach
- ^ Four Nations Official Website - Stanley Gene Returns As Kumuls Coach
- ^ Sydney Morning Herald - PNG Squad Announced
- ^ The National - PNG Out Of Their Depth?
- ^ The National - Kumuls Need More Work Before NRL
- ^ Facebook - Kumuls v Kiwis
- ^ The National - Disgraceful Display By Kumuls
- ^ The National - Rugby League Poorly Managed
- ^ The National - Marcus Bai Challenges Agmark Gurias
- ^ Weekend Post Courier - Politics In Rugby Archived 2008-06-05 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/nrl/big-men-power-samoa-to-victory-over-png/news-story/4ead75275214ffd3ed29685c5ad9acac
- ^ https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/06/22/big-guns-fire-as-samoa-outlast-brave-kumuls/
- ^ https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/11/09/fiji-edge-png-in-razzle-dazzle-thriller-in-christchurch/
- ^ https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/11/16/spotlight-intensifies-on-bennett-as-kumuls-put-lions-to-the-sword/
- ^ https://postcourier.com.pg/alex-johnston-named-in-kumuls-squad-to-face-fiji-and-great-britain/
- ^ "Papua New Guinea head to head". rugbyleagueplanet. Retrieved 18 December 2020.