As a Yank, where no one has ever heard of League, I love the passion and commitment of these amazing rugby nations! I love that these South Pacific countries have fully embraced the game as their own! Best of luck and much respect to PNG, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands at the World Cup!
Win or lose, its a great moment in history and one that marks the ongoing change in NRL when Melanesians, Micronesians and Polynesians are now becoming a dominant force in this great game. Thank you to our melanesians brothers from Fiji for a tough game. Lets stick it to the rest of the world on behalf of our brothers in NC, SI and Vanuatu in the world cup. I will be rooting to see one pacific country in the world cup semis and yes the final would be awesome.
From teenage till young adult, I've never enjoyed such game being played by blood brothers. This game was played so well that I had to scream the all evening. Thank God for this nation and its citizens.
Not accurate brother. Kyle Laybutt is a big unit and could easy rival other second rowers in size. He’s 189 cm and just over 90 kgs. He’s a big half! Justin Olam is 177 cm and 92 kgs. I’m happy he chooses to line up in Kumul colours. He brings many advantages to the Kumuls esp a smart and lethal kicking game - it gives us the extra venom. Kumuls in the past never really had kicking arsenal.
Credit must be given to Kumuls coach Stanely Tepend for his maiden win. He obviously structured the game plan to be tight with emphasis on defense. The Fijian Batis's strength lie in their flair in open football and that was pretty much contained by the straight line impenetratable defense that was somewhat brutal....The tempo is set for the world cup and the Kumuls team will be stronger with the inclusions of those currently playing in UK .
The Consistency in attack and defense was the telling factor for the Kumuls hats off to the bench players coming they kept the momentum going.. Well done Kumuls
PNG media must play the game with us. National pride and identity is what Kumul is promoting. Our media focused on Blues and Marroon so goes the shift of our national pride. EMTV focus on the Kumul more.
I agree with you bro. The hype created for the Kumuls game in our country is nothing compared with what is generated for the blues/maroons series every year. The media here has a lot to say about it
Great win Kumuls but this is a test match after-all. My point being the Bati will have an idea of what to expect. They're already a tough side. Hopefully both teams use this as a great learning opportunity. A lot of exciting new talent coming out of the Kumuls side which is exciting. Good luck to both teams!
The boys played with pride & passion.Technically it was defence & speed that got the heavier Batis having difficulty in containing as the game went on.
We had players playing in specialist positions unlike the Fijians .our game was structured better with the Half's combination and the hooker position.they controlled the game well and we won.fiji struggled with no structured play though they had big names in the NRL with some playing out of position.thank you to the guys who put their hands up to represent PNG.Go Kumuls....
If Fiji won, what will they say? They had players playing out of position, yet still won against PNG? That was Fiji's best team at the time. For me, whether the players were out of position or not doesn't matter. They went on the field with one goal. To win. So the position one plays in doesn't matter. He was put in that position because he was the best suit at that time for that position . He had to cope to achieve the goal. Some of them are very high calibre professional NRL players
@@billwangelo9727 looks like you didn't get his point you can have all the quality players in the world if you don't have a proper play maker nothing much can be achieved. But don't worry we will have api, wakem and lovodua in upcoming world cup....Best of luck to both teams..
As a Fijian, I’m embarrassed but also knew the outcome thumbs up to PNG for thrashing our boys. Rugby League isn’t really in our blood that’s why most of us are in the back line and are inexperienced with rugby league due to transitioning from rugby union where that’s our A game. Good game my PNG Melanesian brothers!
Great comment there 👍 big respect to the Fijian 7s and 15s Rugby team. PNG is no where close with you guys on rugby union but keep up the great sportsmanship our Fijians as well. 🙏
I really love the last part of the game were both melenession team come together shoulder to shoulder and the choir was sang by fijians ..❤🇵🇬🇫🇯 Much love from PNG 🇵🇬
I just wish all my Pacific island brothers come back with a world cup win and that includes Australia and New Zealand our strongest contegent yet, as long as we keep the world cup win on this side of the Globe 🌎!! Good luck to all
Well done PNG for this tremendous win. And also on the other hand it's a good game that will boost the entire level of the game when the sides of the team has comprised of certain NRL player's.
My response to those that say Fiji players played out of position which was one main reason why they lost - If Fiji won, what will they say? They had players playing out of position, yet still won against PNG? That was Fiji's best team at the time. For me, whether the players were out of position or not doesn't matter. They went on the field with one goal. To win. So the position one plays in doesn't matter. He was put in that position because he was the best suit at that time for that position . He had to cope to achieve the goal. Some of them are very high calibre professional NRL players. Kumuls won. No excuse. Give credit when it's due.
This is not really about winning its about developing players for the upcoming world cup which Fiji usually do well in that tournament and PNG struggle to reach the knockout stages.. so calm down mate it's not the end of the world by winning just one tests to a team rank lower than you and everyone think you guys are world beaters....
@@jack-buckhilll5428 I'm just starting the facts as it's seems like you guys love to talk about the Fijian guys in the NRL and saying negative things about the bati team full of nrl players.. goodluck to the world cup
Calm down bro ...we got three world cup semi finals ..kumuls?? Kumuls played well on the night..no doubt about that..but world cup matters..test matches r just that, tests..so calm down
Believe the idea of hoisting those lofty bombs was to pin the fullback in the twenty and keep the two big Fijian wingers from making yardage from the line with enough time to for the chasers to set their lines.
It's sad to see that when the Kumuls play I don't see our fellow wantoks wearing PNG Kumul jerseys, painting PNG colours on their faces and waving PNG flags, screaming and shouting and going crazy on the roads. Where is the love, passion and support for our country men, who play with so much pride for their country and keep our flag fly so much higher than our politicians do? Instead, we go crazy supporting Queensland and NSW during State of Origin games. We bet, get drunk, fight and even kill each other because of some Aussies playing against each other. It's about time we become more patriotic and supportive of our Kumuls. The Media also needs to report more on our local leagues and local players instead of reporting on NRL games most of the times.
@@joysamar If PNG is PNG why do we go crazy over state of Origin. It's an Aussie game, not PNGs. We need to support our local teams, especially the Kumuls more that we support NSW and QL.
Go ................................................! Kumuls. Continue put more aggression and hit hard. This is a best team. Quick line defense and less mis tackle is the key to win. We can do it.
Toughest people??? Kumuls always choked comes the world cup...your brick wall that made in China crumbles when meeting bigger boys...so shut your hole...too much ego..too much talk.. less actions
KUMUL SA PALAI ANTAP_KUMUL EM MIPELA. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, either way we all know who is the better side in the Pacific. PNG KUMUL_KUMUL PRIDE. LET WHAT WE WEAR ON THE FIELD SPEAK OF TRUE PASSION AND PRIDE.
all these batis fans giving excuses about losing. Shut up and accept the defeat. And yes we will meet in the WC. Bring your nrl players and we'll see. We will bring our raw players all the best 👍
@@FreestyleTunx these kumuls fans acting like they've been a huge rugby force for decades when really they just started being good like 5 years ago lol, fiji been dominating rugby in the pacific from the 1950's up till now. BTW fiji have made it to the world cup semi finals 3 times in league, kumuls haven't and it's they're national sport yet now they wanna talk big? Calm down haha
@@kumulsfan8090 for a country that just got good in last 5 years as you say, we not doing too bad at always beating Fiji who has, as you said been dominating rugby since 1950 🤣 not so much dominating I saw in this game 🤣 Kumul mipla stap 🔥 plus your name says Kumuls Fan but look olsem you no wanpla fan too eh 🤷🏽♂️ anways One Nesia umi stap ❤️ Melanesia umi stap 🔥❤️
Is thirteen rugby going crazy? I saw a try with a guy using an overlap! LOL! an overlap, in thirteen! Watch out, this game is in danger of becoming entertaining (one day...In a few millenia, in another galaxy). Now I've got to go, I have to watch the paint dry on a wall.
PNG plays like they are in the World Cup final . But Fiji just play for the sake of it. Wait for the WC kumul where Fiji will throw everything they got
Imagine its your National Sports and you a Accomplished Nothing on the Big Stage 😂😂...and in Fiji 7s Rugby is Number 1....And you can ask me Have Fiji Accomplished anything 😂😂
@@Nanuyasewa thats good. Lets just see who wins the Pacific Bowl this weekend. PNG and Fiji will go head to head twice so we can see who the clear champs are.
@@kumulsfan8090 I Agree but why is it that you guys got all the NRL players who are giants compared to our boys and being in the semi finals Couple of times like you said, you guys can't even beat kumuls by margin or can't even break our forward pack who are small in size compared to all of your boys, plus most of our players in the forward are not even playing first grade NRL.
PNG seems to make big fuss about this game. Fijian players who are NRL players didn't play as tough as they used to in NRL coz the Pacific test won't pay them money. So they wanted to avoid injury for NRL where it pays them huge amount of money.
@@mathewjr Yeah but most of them PNG players are yet to get contract in the NRL, whereas the Batis have majority in the NRL, I believe that was his point, look at how Olam played, he played smart!!
@@markokuk327 I get it. Fijian players playing with fear of injuries just because they don't want to loose there contracts/big bucks. If that is so then why did they play for Fiji, they could have selected home grown players from Fiji that can play purely for their country without thinking of NRL excuses. Just my thought.
