JUNIOR KUMULS CHOSEN FOR SCOTTISH ADVENTURE

Papua New Guinea will bring 15 teenagers from all over the Pacific island across the world to North Lanarkshire for the inaugural Rugby League Commonwealth Championship later this month.

After the final trial in Lae last week, the PNG selection committee decided on players best suited to the speedy Nines game that will test the Junior Kumuls against England, South Africa and Canada in Group B on Friday 27 June at Broadwood Stadium.

“We need to get away from the practice of picking players based on regions, trying to keep a balance for the four regions, to represent PNG in international competitions” said chairman Sandis Tsaka. “We have to pick players based on merit and whether they fulfil the selection criteria to give us sides that we believe will be competitive at international tournaments. This is the only way forward for PNG to improve internationally and I’m very happy the national selectors have done just that.”

The team, which goes into camp on June 15 in Port Moresby, includes one player from the PNG Hunters side making a big impact on the Queensland Cup – 17-year-old prop Stanton Albert and two Digicel Cup players in Warren Glare and Nickson Borana from Lae side, Snax Tigers.

The squad departs on June 21 for Glasgow and is scheduled to get there three days before the two-day tournament kicks off on June 27 for further training in the vastly different conditions of Scotland and on the artificial turf of Broadwood.

PNG have appointed Dennis Miall from Lae, as head coach. Miall is currently the Schoolboys Development Officer for the Lae region and Deputy Principal at Lae Secondary School.

“Dennis has been involved at this level for three years now, knows most of the players, and has set up a rugby league academy at Lae Secondary School,” explained Tsaka. “He has successfully coached schoolboys teams on International Tours to Brisbane for the last two years. We believe he deserves a chance at this level and has now been given that opportunity. We need to identify new people and more importantly people who will maintain the high standards and code of conduct we have implemented in all of our programs.”

He also has very experienced personnel on the coaching and management team, which includes Toksy Nema and former international Philip Boge as trainers and Shane Morris as Tour Manager. Team official is former Kumul coach Joe Tokam, a director on the PNGRFL Board.

PNG squad: Bill Paul, Warren Glare, Stanton Albert, Gahuna Silas, Solomon Nandepe, Josiah Jimmy, Lavax Ketauwo, Bali Las, Joel Kapia Kee, Toware Kaneke, Ereman Ken, Anderson Benford, Dickson Amea, John Ragi, Nickson Borana.

The RLCC2014 tournament at Cumbernauld’s Broadwood Stadium in North Lanarkshire is part of the Homecoming Scotland festival of events. The action starts on Friday 27 June at 1pm and finishes at 6pm. All eight teams will return the next day for the play-offs and semi-finals stage from 2pm-6pm. Entry on both days is FREE.

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PREMIER SPORTS TO SHOW COMMONWEALTH CHAMPIONSHIP



UK broadcaster Premier Sports will showcase the 2014 Rugby League Commonwealth Championship on the last weekend in June. The channel which covered the Rugby League World Cup and continues to broadcast every game of the NRL season as well as the gripping State of Origin series, will produce a 90-minute magazine programme that will feature interviews and match coverage of the inaugural Commonwealth event.



“I’m delighted to confirm Premier Sports on board as a partner of this historic competition, which will showcase the sport and the diversity of the Commonwealth in the most positive light,” said RLCC2014 Tournament Director Danny Kazandjian. “Premier Sports has always demonstrated a passion for rugby league and I’m sure that this tournament will attract a lot of interest.”



The tournament, which is a part of the Homecoming Scotland celebrations that culminate in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, features eight teams in two groups at Broadwood Stadium in North Lanarkshire. Friday 27 June will see a total of 12 group games; the second day – Saturday 28 - will see eight play-off matches leading up to the championship game.



Talks are on-going over television coverage around the world with details of such international syndication to be released in due course, along with scheduling details.



The RLCC2014 tournament features Australia, England, Scotland, Wales, South Africa, Canada, Jamaica and Papua New Guinea. Entry at Broadwood Stadium on both days is FREE.



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anyone know the England team selection..??

Well done PNG, Gold medallists and beat the Aussies in the final

[size=85England, let's not talk about that....[/size

Wonder how many other c'wealth countries could put in a team in years to come?

Australia
England
Wales
Scotland
Jamaica
Canada
PNG
Sth Africa

Fiji
Malta
New Zealand
Samoa
Singapore
Tonga
Vanuatu
Nigeria

Pretty decent 16 team comp. what needs to happen to make it a full c'wealth inclusion? I would have thought the Gold Coast games would have been a perfect opportunity to introduce it.