By GABRIEL KATUHO
PNG Kumuls head coach Jason Demetriou has two weeks to prepare and name his team for the first Pacific Bowl Championship match against Cook Islands Aitu on 25 October at the Santos National Football in Port Moresby.
Speaking during the PM’s XIII post-match conference on Sunday, Demetriou said he is faced with a difficult decision to name the Kumuls 20-man squad.
“That is going to be a difficult part to name the squad. We can only fit 20 in the squad, so we probably got four or five NRL and Super League quality players to come back in. That will be tough but that is how it should be,” Demetriou said.
He added that the PM’s XIII match was to give the young players a chance against some of the top players in the world and to build their confidence for the future.
Cook Islands have put up a strong side as they are yet to qualify for the World Cup and Fiji have also named a strong side for the Pacific Bowl Championship.
“We’ve got some standards we want to set and for us it’s about improving on from where we were last year, building our ranking to put ourselves in a group position for the World Cup,” Demetriou said
Demetriou stated that some of the players who are expected to join the squad are; Lachlan Lam, Edwin Ipape and Reece Martin while NRL players include Alex Johnston, Jack Laybut and Murray Fige Connors.