"The whole country will be behind him": Johnston's PNG welcome

Papua New Guinea coach Michael Marum has told the nation’s NRL stars that they will never have experienced support as fanatical as the Kumuls will boast during their three home pool games in the Rugby League World Cup.

PNG

The Kumuls host Wales on October 28, Ireland on November 5 and USA on November 12 and Marum said a player such as South Sydney fullback Alex Johnston, the NRL’s leading tryscorer, could expect to receive superstar treatment from the fans.

“He has got a lot of family in PNG and everyone will want to see him up here in the colours,” Marum said. “When he puts the jumper on he will be representing seven million people because the whole country will be behind him.”

While the nucleus of the Kumuls squad will be drawn from the PNG Hunters team who secured the Queensland Cup minor premiership last weekend, the likes of Kyle Laybutt, David Mead, Nene McDonald, James Segayaro, Ray Thompson and Kurt Baptiste have also put their hand up for the World Cup.

“We have got some of our boys in the NRL who haven’t played up here for a long time or haven’t played in front of a big crowd at home, especially when everyone is going to be cheering them on,” Marum said.

“There could be only 15,000 or 20,000 people in the ground but there will be another 20,000 or 30,000 waiting outside to get in because the stadium won’t cater for everyone so the noise from the 15,000 fans will probably be like 50,000 people cheering for the team.”

After qualifying for the quarter finals of the 2000 World Cup, the Kumuls failed to win a game at either the 2008 or 2013 tournaments but steps have since been taken to build the depth of quality players in Papua New Guinea.

The admission of the PNG Hunters to the Queensland Cup has enabled Marum, the coach, and other officials to introduce a professional approach to the game, and the franchise may next year also have an Under 20s team.

“Rugby League is our national sport up here so whatever place you go to people talk about rugby league,” Marum said.

“It unites people together and on the Sunday when we play everyone stops and talks about the game. After that they carry on with their lives. It is very important up here.

“The past few years we haven’t been doing well but last weekend [the Hunters] had 12,000 people there at the ground, including the Prime Minister and other parliamentarians.”

The World Cup is set to be the biggest sporting event held in Papua New Guinea and Marum said the home support would help the Kumuls in their quest to finish top of their pool and secure a quarter-final berth, which is likely to be against England in Melbourne or Australia in Darwin.

“We hosted the FIFA Under 20s Women’s World Cup last year and that was good but this is our main sport so everyone will turn out to support the team,” he said.

“The support of the fans up here will definitely boost the morale of the players.”

Individual ticket prices for each game:

30 PGK for seats in the North and South Grandstands
50 PGK for seats in the Eastern Grandstand
80 PGK for seats in the Wings of the Western Grandstand; and
120 PGK for seats in the covered Western Grandstand

Tickets will go on general sale at 10.00am (local) this Thursday 24 August 2017 via the tournament’s official website: RLWC2017.com or from one of eight Tiket Mastas Outlets in Port Moresby;

Brian Bell – Plaza, Turumu Street, Boroko, NCD (Mon-Sun, 8.00am – 5.00pm)
Brian Bell – Home Centre Gordons, Kennedy Road, Gordons (Mon-Sun, 8.00am – 5.00pm)
Brian Bell – Vision City, Waigani Drive, NCD (Mon-Sun, 9.00am – 9.00pm)
Stop n Shop – Rainbow, Goro - Kaega Road, Rainbow (Mon-Sun, 7.30am – 7.30pm)
Stop n Shop – Waigani, North Waigani, Pipit Street (Mon-Sun, 8.00am – 8.00pm)
Big Rooster – Erima, Along Hubert Murray Highway, Erima (Mon-Sun, 8.00am – 8.00pm)
Big Rooster – Koki (Mon-Sun, 10.00am – 8.00pm)
Cool Stuff – Waterfront Harbour City (Mon-Sun, 9.00am – 8.00pm)

The RLWC2017 will be contested from 27 October to 2 December and features 14 nations playing 28 matches in 13 cities across Australia, New Zealand and in PNG.

For tournament information and ticket details, RLWC2017.com

By Brad Walter | @BradWalterSport
Chief Correspondent, RLWC2017