19 Sep 2012

Sport: PNG squad relishing tough challenge

10:18 am on 19 September 2012

Papua New Guinea is relishing the chance to test itself against some of the NRL's top players in the annual clash against the Australian Prime Minister's XIII this weekend.

The fragile political situation in the country has had a negative effect on the Kumuls team in recent years, with a permanent administration yet to be installed and international matches hard to come by.

The PNG squad is made up entirely of locally-based players from the national competition and assistant coach Michael Marun says this is a good opportunity for them.

"A lot of talent in the players involved in the local competition. We need tough games like these to assist us in preparations for the World Cup. I think there's some more games planned for the next few months but it's going to be up to the PNG Rugby League people to finalise that and probably announce it later on."