Kumuls coach Jason Demetriou said his plans to give the little general and PNG Kumuls strong man Kyle Laybutt a home farewell in Port Moresby did not go as planned.
He said not all the good plans work out with the intention to allow Kyle to have his last dance in front of his beloved Port Moresby fans.
“Unfortunately, sometimes the best plans don’t always turn out so Kyle hasn’t been here,” Demetriou said.
“Initially I thought it would be great for Kyle to have a sendoff. He has been a great seven for Papua New Guinea and for the Kumuls for a long time so I felt like he did not really get to say his good bye and unfortunately, he couldn’t get here so he won’t be playing this weekend,” he added.
He said calling Kyle back from retirement from representative duty is just to give him a better send off but due to some personal reasons he could not make it.
“The main reason is to give him an opportunity to play here for one last time, I know the supporters would love that opportunity to do that but unfortunately, sometimes the best plans don’t always turn out. On the flip side I also brought in Sanny Wabo,” Demetriou said.
“Sanny Wabo for me was really difficult not to pick initially so, I was actually pretty excited to get Sanny back into the side,” he said.
The Kumuls No. 292 did 14 appearances for PNG since making his debut in 2018 before calling it time but he will be remembered as the terminator and a no-nonsense defender that carries the whole of PNG with him into the field when he puts on the PNG Kumuls red-black and gold outfit.
