by Sylvester Gawi – EM TV, Lae
Papua New Guinea Kumuls Coach Mal Meninga is adamant his boys will give their best when they go head to head with Tonga this Sunday at the Lae Rugby League ground.
After a thrilling finish to the Australian Prime Minister’s 13 last Sunday, the Kumuls have recouped and are set to unleash their best performance against a strong Tongan outfit.
Meninga said last Sunday’s 34-16 loss to the Aussies has prepared them well to take on the Tongans, a dominating NRL team.
The Papua New Guinea Kumuls, comprising mostly of Intrust Super Cup players from the PNG Hunters, will be favourites when they take on the Tongans this Sunday.
Led by Mark Mexico, Thompson Teteh, Dion Aiye and Israel Eliab, the Kumuls are keen on defeating the Tongans on home soil.
Coach Mal Meninga says he is seeing a lot of commitment from his players during training after a hard-fought encounter with the Australian Prime Minister’s 13 last weekend.
Dion Aiye is the only player in the Kumuls camp that has had experience playing the Tongans in 2009, during the Pacific cup.
However, the Tongans are no easy defeats, with the bulk of their players from the National Rugby League in Australia.
Meninga says he is happy to have our boys playing against a strong Tongan side.
Since arriving in Lae yesterday, the Kumuls have been hard at training at the Lae Rugby League ground.
Today, the team had a day off which they used to visit patients at the Angau Memorial Hospital.
They have also visited Lae Rugby League President Russ Kaupa at his hospital bed at Angau.
