Papua New Guinea national rugby league team

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 staged their first full test playing tour of Britain, after playing BARLA opposition in 1979. The 1987 Tour had The Kumuls play both BARLA and for the first Professional opposition.

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 Test which was also a World Cup match against Great Britain. They lost the test 42–0 at Central Park, Wigan.

During the 1988 Great Britain Lions tour of Australasia a Test match was played at Port Moresby which like the match at Wigan in 1987 was a World Cup match. Which they also lost 42-22. 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 1990 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.

2017 Rugby League World Cup

The PNG Kumuls won all their pool games in Port Moresby before losing to England in Melbourne in the quarter-final ^[14] of the 2017 RLWC.

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.^[15]

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^[16] at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney, Australia and a 22–20 loss to Fiji Bati^[17] in Christchurch, New Zealand . The Kumuls ended the season on a high defeating the Great Britain Lions 28–10 in Port Moresby.^[18]

2022 Pacific Rugby League Test

The Kumuls defeated a full strength Fiji Bati 24-14 on June 25 at Campbelltown Stadium.^[19]

2022 Rugby League World Cup

The PNG Kumuls will be based in Warrington^[20] for the 2021 RLWC. The World Cup will be held between October 15 and November 19.^[21] Kumuls coach Stanley Tepend will be guided by his mentor/ Coaching Director Shane Flanagan.^[22] The PM's XIII lost to Australia PM's XIII on September 25 at Suncorp Stadium as part of both teams world cup preparations.^[23] The Kumuls bowed out in the quarterfinals after losing to hosts, England.^[24]

Current squad

The Papua New Guinean squad selected for the 2023 Pacific Rugby League Championships. Club information are as of 4 November 2023.^[25]
Statistics for Papua New Guinea and the players' NRL club records are drawn from the website, Rugby League Project, and include the Pacific Bowl Final on 5 November 2023.

J#	Player	Age	Position(s)	PNG Kumuls						Club	NRL		SL		PNG Hunters & Other Reps
				Dbt	M	T	G	F	P		CM	TM	CM	TM
1	Alex Johnston	28	Fullback, Wing	2019	10	3	0	0	12	South Sydney Rabbitohs	214	214	0	0	4 1 1
2	Robert Derby	21	Wing	2022	4	3	0	0	12	North Queensland Cowboys	1	1	0	0	1
3	Zac Laybutt	21	Centre	2023	3	2	5	0	18	North Queensland Cowboys	4	4	0	0	1
4	Rodrick Tai	24	Centre	2022	6	2	0	0	8	Papua New Guinea Hunters	—	0	0	0	1 34
5	Nene Macdonald	29	Wing, Centre	2013	16	9	0	0	44	Leeds Rhinos	—	98	20	22	2 2
6	Kyle Laybutt	28	Five-eighth	2019	11	2	5	0	18	Sunshine Coast Falcons	—	2	0	0	2
7	Lachlan Lam	25	Halfback, Five-eighth	2017	10	6	0	0	24	Leigh Leopards	—	31	32	32
8	Epel Kapinias	25	Prop, Second-row	2022	4	3	0	0	12	Papua New Guinea Hunters	—	0	0	0	2 50
9	Edwin Ipape	24	Hooker	2019	9	2	0	0	8	Leigh Leopards	—	0	31	31	11
10	Valentine Richard	—	Prop	2023	3	1	0	0	4	Papua New Guinea Hunters	—	0	0	0	1 4
11	Rhyse Martin	30	Second-row	2014	17	5	53	0	126	Leeds Rhinos	—	25	104	104	1
12	Daniel Russell	27	Second-row	2019	10	2	0	0	8	St. George Illawarra Dragons	3	3	0	0	1
13	Jack de Belin	32	Lock, Prop	2023	3	0	0	0	0	St. George Illawarra Dragons	205	205	0	0	3 2
14	Judah Rimbu	22	Hooker, Halfback	2023	3	0	0	0	0	Papua New Guinea Hunters	—	0	0	0	2 46
15	Liam Horne	26	Hooker	2022	3	0	0	0	0	Castleford Tigers	—	0	5	5
16	Junior Rop	29	Lock, Prop	2023	2	0	0	0	0	Papua New Guinea Hunters	—	0	0	0	2 45
17	Nixon Putt	28	Second-row	2017	13	4	0	0	16	Central Queensland Capras	—	0	0	0	2 46
18	Jacob Alick	24	Second-row, Lock	2022	7	0	0	0	0	Gold Coast Titans	5	5	0	0
19	Wellington Albert	29	Prop	2013	13	3	0	0	12	London Broncos	—	0	15	15	1 20
20	Keven Appo	24	Second-row	2022	3	0	0	0	0	Bradford Bulls	—	0	3	3	41
21	Benji Kot	26	Second-row, Centre	2023	2	1	0	0	4	Papua New Guinea Hunters	—	0	0	0	1 41
–	Justin Olam	29	Centre	2016	14	7	0	0	28	Melbourne Storm	104	104	0	0	2 21
–	Cruise Ten	22	Lock	—	0	0	0	0	0	Souths Logan Magpies	—	0	0	0	2
–	McKenzie Yei	26	Second-row, Prop	2022	4	1	0	0	4	Featherstone Rovers	—	0	1	1	35

Notes

• Age is as the date of the Pacific Bowl Final, 5 November 2023.
• Twelve members of the squad are current or former Papua New Guinea Hunters players.
• Sixteen members of the squad have played for the PNG Prime Minister's XIII.
• Alex Johnston previously played for Australia, the Australian Prime Minister's XIII, and the Indigenous All Stars.
• Nene Macdonald previously played for the NRL All Stars.
• Jack de Belin previously played for the NSW and NSW Country.

Below is the list of Papua New Guinea's international head-to-head record as of 5 November 2023.^[26]

Country	Matches	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win percentage	For	Aga	Diff
Australia	10	0	0	10	0%	62	528	–466
Australian Aboriginies	3	0	0	3	0%	40	118	–78
Cook Islands	7	7	0	0	100%	270	94	+176
England	5	0	0	5	0%	56	190	–134
Fiji	15	10	0	5	66.67%	353	251	+102
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	12	2	0	10	16.67%	269	396	–127
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	9	7	1	1	77.78%	322	179	+143
United States	1	1	0	0	100%	64	0	+64
Wales	5	2	0	3	40.00%	104	146	–42
Total	115	39	2	74	33.91%	2263	3423	–1160

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
2013	Group stage	13/14	3	0	3	0
2017	Quarter-finals	5/14	4	3	1	0
2021	Quarter-finals	7/16	4	3	1	0
2026	qualified
Total	0 Titles		36	11	24	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

• 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/19 schoolboys side.

• Rugby league in Papua New Guinea
• World Cup

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Papua New Guinea national rugby league team.

• PNGRFL at the Wayback Machine (archived 17 November 2017)
• Papua New Guinea national rugby league team on Facebook