Just seen highlights. The noise from the crowd was spine tingling. Great stuff

Great performance by PNG and good to see such a vocal and enthusiastic crowd.

Am i right in thinking that PNG is the only place in the world where it is the National sport?

Spear chucking.

Yes. Which is why it's great to see them do well, such a passionate bunch.

The entire PNG backline, plus the Albert brothers Wellington and Stanton, plus the hookers (all 4), were fantastic. PNG could beat England.

Isn't it time that Super League clubs started offering lucrative contracts to PNG players?

Ruddy loved this game.

Ms. Terrorista V2. who knows knack all about RL and isn't really that bothered was just blown away by the sheer physicality of The Kumuls and the passion of the crowd.

Anyone who cannot see the point of the World Cup, and I'm looking at you, Australian gormclops on the Australia vs. England, after the games we've seen today doesn't deserve to ever watch a game again.

They looked good today Wellington Albert looks decent but they wouldn't beat England same as Samoa Tonga and Fiji they fade as the game goes on against the decent sides as proved today in the NZ game

PNG was an Australian protectorate till 1975 and their entire public service sector was basically from Queensland. They still send all their kids from wealthy families to school in Queensland and fly to Queensland if they need first world healthcare.
In short, most of their borrowed western culture is pure Queensland (shudder) - which means Rugby League is their game.
PNG has a population of 8 million, which means it has double or triple the population of the rest of the South Pacific Islands put together, and their economy is also close to double the rest of the Pacific Islands.
They are a very poor country still, but their economy is growing at a rapid rate from a very low base. The new stadium, opened just this year, is an example of how they are growing and expanding. Just six months ago they didn't have a stadium good enough to host these games.

you'll find that the Kumuls being Melanesian will generally have bigger motors than the Polynesians, seem to be better built for endurance

Warrington are in for Kurt Baptiste

He's hardly some unknown from the Hunters.

Yeah, I enjoyed the highlights too. PNG played some cracking footy.

Id love to see PNG get an NRL side, especially when the Sydney teams are struggling for crowds and atmosphere, PNG would show them up

I agree. The Hunters need a few more big corporate sponsors and then they would be able to play in the NRL.

If PNG got an NRL side (which would be the Hunters) half the team would quickly be bought by other NRL clubs. Of the Kumuls' five outside backs, (I think three being former Hunters), four are already signed with an NRL club, and the fifth just signed with Castleford. Other former Hunters players are with other Queensland Cup teams. But PNG has 8 million people, and most of the nations' boys love playing rugby league, so the Hunters' replacements for the pillaged players would do nicely and increase the number of PNG's professional players available to be selected for the Kumuls.

Justin Olam, Kato Ottio, Ase Boas, Watson Boas, Stanton Albert, Wellington Albert, Willie Minoga and Enock Maki all look like they could do a good job in Super League.

Ireland have a lot of Super League players in their squad and are stronger than Wales. It will be good to see how the PNG players do against Ireland and whether they can dominate them physically as they did with Wales.

That’s the game I’m looking forward to seeing (Eire v PNG)

Really!!

Yep.
A bit like darts but with longer stems and no flights.

No one should underestimate the importance of rugby league in PNG. There are 22 disparate provinces each with its own tribes and clans and over 800 different languages spoken in the country. The government's main job is to pull all this together and rugby league is the main unifying factor. It means so much to people and they are passionate about it in a way that just isn't the case in, say, England. The rugby league world should do everything it can to help PNG rugby develop - it would be good for the game and great for the country

Indeed

The progress in PNG is already remarkable.
It's less than 7 years since they formed a national comp.
They started rolling out a schools based comp only 3 years ago.
The Hunters entered the Qld cup 3 years ago, and won it for the first time on their 3rd attempt.
The new modern stadium only opened this year and the Hunters relocated from the old German capitol of Kokopo to Port Moresby this year.
Just a few weeks ago their national women's side had their first game in the leadup to the women's WC.

There is talk of PNG sides entering the qld under 18s and under 20s comps, which seems the next logical step, as well as school sides playing in the school knockout comps.

The progress they have made since the last WC is there for all to see, and you can see that all the things they are now doing and plan to do in the near future will mean that the progress will continue for the next 4 years at least.

If they continue to grow as they have, I can see them really being a threat to the big 3 by the time we head to North America.....

I was at the match in Port Moresby and also saw Scotland v Tonga in Cairns. I have to say that I'm wetting myself at the thought of PNG v Tonga - they'd feel the earth shaking on the M62. It could happen in this World Cup but, if I've read the fixture format for the quarters correctly, England v PNG in Melbourne looks very likely. Ouch!!

Good on you for making the effort.
If more people get to the games in Moresby the tourist industry there will take off, and that will be great for the game and for PNG.