Four Nations: Australian Kangaroos vs PNG Kumuls

[DIEHARD]

Australia Kangaroos v Papua New Guinea
October 24 Parramatta Stadium Sydney, Australia

Tickets: CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS FOR THE FOUR NATIONS

KANGAROOS

TBA

PNG KUMULS

TBA

[DIEHARD]

I'm so devastated that David Mead is out injured and won't be representing PNG this year in the Four Nations.

But I am revved up for the Test Match in Sydney against PNG!

Is anyone planning to go?

[DIEHARD]

Also if you are attending the game in Sydney, please join The Roo Crew.

Look for the dedicated ROO CREW bay on Ticketek!

[TITAN PETE]

Johnathan Thurston ruled out of Four Nations

AUSTRALIAN halfback Johnathan Thurston is one of four players to be ruled out of the Kangaroos train-on squad for next month's Four Nations rugby league tournament.

Thurston's ankle injury has failed to recover in time, while Michael Jennings, Manly skipper Jamie Lyon and Gold Coast forward Mark Minichiello were also forced to withdraw after medical examinations in Sydney today.

Like Thurston, Jennings and Lyon both have ankle injuries, while Minichiello picked up a groin strain in the Titans' finals loss to the Sydney Roosters on Friday night.

The West Tigers contingent in the train-on squad were at today's gathering at Redfern Oval, but were excused from official training duties.

[Boofhead]

Full strength squad (accounting for injuries) looks like this for mine.

1. Billy Slater
2. Darius Boyd
3. Mark Gasnier
4. Matt Cooper
5. Jarryd Hayne
6. Darren Lockyer (c)
7. Scott Prince
8. David Shillington
9. Cameron Smith
10. Petero Civoniceva
11. Sam Thaiday
12. Paul Gallen
13. Greg Bird

14. Nate Myles
15. Matthew Scott
16. Luke Lewis
17. Todd Carney

[DIEHARD]

Still a devastating side even with the replacements. Hell Kangaroos are so well stocked they aren't replacements, they are equals.

I got my tickets for this match! With Greg.

[shamus]

As much as I would like to see Prince picked, I can see him missing out. I don't know why the selectors steer clear of him but they always find someone else. My feelings are that they will go witrh Pearce (depending on the weekends result). The excuse being that PNG should be a walkover so let Pearce have a run..The other option they may go with is Cronk. Which would be criminal coz the guy hasn't played for yonks...

[DIEHARD]

As much as I would like to see Prince picked, I can see him missing out. I don't know why the selectors steer clear of him but they always find someone else. My feelings are that they will go witrh Pearce (depending on the weekends result). The excuse being that PNG should be a walkover so let Pearce have a run..The other option they may go with is Cronk. Which would be criminal coz the guy hasn't played for yonks...

The Courier Mail reckons that Cronk is favourite for the Kangaroos #7! I'd hate to see Scott miss out once again. I want to see him out there in the green and gold! He has earnt it!

[DIEHARD]

Join The Roo Crew in Bay 73!

[DIEHARD]

Papua New Guinea forward David Loko earns $2.20 a day at home and is ready to take on Australians
Steve Ricketts and Dean Ritchie

PAPUA New Guinea forward David Loko earns $2.20 a day back in his Southern Highlands village where the NRL's highly paid players are idolised like rock stars.

Tomorrow week Loko, nicknamed "The Raging Bull" by the Port Moresby media, will tangle with Australia's best in a first-round Four Nations match at Parramatta Stadium.

Life on the road with the Kumuls is a world away from his village where many families go without electricity and running water, unless you count nearby streams.

Loko, who left school in year nine to support his family, had never been outside PNG before the Kumuls established a training camp in Ipswich this week ahead of a Four Nations warm-up match against a local selection at North Ipswich Reserve today.

He speaks limited English but through PNG captain Paul Aiton revealed he was nervous, but not intimidated, by the chance to play Australia.

"I don't really look up to anyone," he said. "I want to be a hero myself to people back home in PNG."

PNG teammate Rodney Pora, from Rabaul, said Loko wanted to be a role model.

"They (the Loko family) live off the land," Pora said. "They have a large family and don't get much money.

"Coming to Australia is a big change for David, but he has a positive attitude. He wants to compete with the best and prove he is someone. He loves a challenge."

In Kagua, Loko walks 10km a day to tend to the family's crops and with his parents, four brothers and two sisters earns 60 kina a day, about $A20. The Australian players each earn at least $1200 a day.

PNG shape as the easybeats of the Four Nations, with Cronulla hooker Aiton the only NRL player in the squad.

Ryan Tongia played under-20s for Gold Coast Titans this year, while Rodney Griffin (Northern Pride) and Desmond Mok (Ipswich Jets) played Queensland Cup, and Richard Kembo (Newtown) and Joseph Pombo (Canterbury) played NSW Cup.

Benjamin John played for Parks Spacemen in NSW Country and there are four players from England's lower divisions.

The other 13 players are from PNG domestic clubs.

To make matters worse the Kumuls have a rookie coach, Stanley Gene, who was thrust into the job last month after Adrian Lam resigned following upheaval in the game's administration.

The Kumuls were competitive in the 2008 World Cup but had the services of NRL stars Aiton, Neville Costigan and David Mead as well as players from other Australian clubs.

A PNG Invitation side was competitive against an Australian Prime Minister's XIII last month and Four Nations organisers are hoping the Kumuls will rise to the occasion. Today's match against Ipswich kicks off at 4.30pm.

In other matches today, Fiji play a Sydney selection at Wentworthville, while the Cook Islands meet NSW Country at Tamworth.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/

[DIEHARD]

Australian Kangaroos vs PNG Kumuls
Parramatta Stadium - Sat 24th Oct
Gates open: 12:45pm
Tonga v Samoa: 1pm
Australia v Papua New Guinea: 4pm

Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time.

[DIEHARD]

Kumuls confident of upset

Legendary Papua New Guinea coach Stanley Gene is confident his team of virtual unknowns can pull off the greatest upset in rugby league history against the Kangaroos on Sunday.

With just one current NRL player in their 24-man Four Nations squad - skipper Paul Aiton - the Kumuls are expected to be no match for Tim Sheens' side at Parramatta Stadium.

But Gene, who oversaw a competitive 30-18 loss to the Prime Minister's XIII last month after taking over from Adrian Lam, genuinely believes his men can cause a major boilover this weekend.

"My realistic expectation is the boys are going to give 200 percent, I don't want them to throw the towel in and we'll be out there challenging," Gene said on Monday.

"You never know, in the biblical story David put Goliath down because he believed in his mind how to fight, so we're ready for it."

"Papua New Guinea got independence 35 years ago and we've been learning but now is the time not to learn, it's time to challenge."

"All of them are very talented and as we say in PNG it's the land of the unexpected and come Sunday you'll expect the unexpected."

Gene, who called time on his 13-year international career after the 2008 World Cup, urged his players to make the most of their opportunity.

"For my boys I've told them just to compete, it's the only chance you can play on the big stage in a big arena where everybody is watching you," he said.

"If you play well you're life could change."

"It changed my life, I was running around in a ghetto and suddenly in 1995 I took the chance to go and play the World Cup in England and here I am after 14 years."

Aiton, who will captain his country for the first time at Test level on Sunday, believes the Kumuls have several players capable of troubling the Kangaroos.

"There's definitely a few surprise packets," Aiton, who moved to Australia from PNG when he was six-years old, said.

"I think Makali (Aizue) our front rower would go well in the NRL and our centres (Jessy Joe Parker and Menzie Yere)."

"And we have a good little half-back (Benjamin John) who might jump in to hooker, who did really well last week and I can't wait to see how they go."

"There's some good skill there. They call Menzie 'The Jukebox' because he brings out all the hits. They're all good players."

The Kumuls overcame a sluggish start to post a convincing 50-26 victory over an Ipswich Invitational side last Saturday.

Asked to identify the team's strengths, Aiton, who made his international debut in 2004 at the age of 18, replied: "Our boys are really tough and strong to be honest."

"We're not the tallest team but the boys are strong for not doing any weights, even compared to someone that has done weights they're really strong in the middle. And then out wide we've got a couple of really good centres."

While Aiton has played exclusively at hooker since making his NRL debut for the Panthers in 2006, he revealed he is likely to line-up at lock this weekend in a bid to help direct the side around the park.

"At lock I can help the halves talk a bit and put people in the right positions, so we'll see what happens when Stanley names the side but I have been covering lock too," he said.

http://www.rlfournations.com

[TITAN PETE]

Hamstrung Hayne out of Four Nations

ARL Mon, 18 Oct 2010 19:42:00
VB Kangaroos winger Jarryd Hayne has tonight been ruled out of the Four Nations tournament with a hamstring injury.

Hayne missed Kangaroos training today to have scans and tonight met with VB Kangaroos coaching and medical staff after the results revealed a partial tear to the hamstring tendon at the origin – an injury that will sideline the Eels star for at least six weeks.

A “shattered” Hayne tonight said: “I feel empty at the moment.

“It was pretty sore over the weekend but I was hoping it would be all right.

“It means everything to me to play for my country so to miss out like this, I am shattered.

“I just want to wish the boys well for the tournament and now I just have to focus on my rehab and getting ready for next season.”

A replacement player has not yet been named.

[TITAN PETE]

Hamstrung Hayne out of Four Nations

ARL Mon, 18 Oct 2010 19:42:00
VB Kangaroos winger Jarryd Hayne has tonight been ruled out of the Four Nations tournament with a hamstring injury.

Hayne missed Kangaroos training today to have scans and tonight met with VB Kangaroos coaching and medical staff after the results revealed a partial tear to the hamstring tendon at the origin ? an injury that will sideline the Eels star for at least six weeks.

A ?shattered? Hayne tonight said: ?I feel empty at the moment.

?It was pretty sore over the weekend but I was hoping it would be all right.

?It means everything to me to play for my country so to miss out like this, I am shattered.

?I just want to wish the boys well for the tournament and now I just have to focus on my rehab and getting ready for next season.?

A replacement player has not yet been named.

He didn't deserve to be there in the 1st place