Twenty two year old Penrith Panthers hooker James Segeyaro has been named in the Kumul Gold team to take on the Kumul Red team in Port Moresby on Sunday September 22.
Paul Aiton from Wakefield Trinity in the England Super League is the other notable overseas player to be named in Kumul Reds side.
David Mead, Tyson Martin, Nene MacDonald, Ray Thompson, Jason Chan, Neville Costigan, Menzie Yere, Rhys Martin and Mark Mexico were not included in either team due to their non availability.
PNG Rugby Football League chairman Don Fox revealed this yesterday when announcing the teams for the trial match in 11 days.
“The two teams are made up of local and overseas players, who are available, but does not include a number of players still taking part in finals or recovering from injuries,” Fox said.
“They will also be considered for selection for the upcoming PMX111 match and the final squad for the World Cup”.
He said those players who won’t take part in the trial match will still be considered for selection in the final World Cup Squad.
Head Coach Adrian Lam was excited about the trial. “Momentum is building up,” Lam said.
I watched the last two finals games in Port Moresby and a lot of the boys are in great form and it’s obvious the lessons from the camps have been learnt and taken on board.
“I am genuinely excited about the options we have all over the park and the strength and depth in the players available. It is going to make final selection extremely difficult and some great players are going to miss out but we can only select 22. It’s a great position to be in as a coach,” Lam said.
2013 Digicel Cup winners Port Moresby Vipers have 10 players named.
Team Kumul RED is: 1. Adex Wera 2. Gary Loh 3. Francis Paniu 4. Willie Minoga 5. George Benson 6. Roger Laka 7. Noel Zemming 8. Esau Siune 9. Wartovo Paura Jr 10. Petero Sunivalu 11. Sebastian Pandia 12. Larsen Marabe 13. Paul Aiton 14. Lawrence Tu’u 15. Elijah Riyong 16. Bernard Tatsim 17. Adam Korave
Team Kumul GOLD is: 1.Josiah Abavu 2. Thompson Teteh 3. Jason Tali 4. Israel Eliab 5. Tiger Emery 6. Jessie-Joe Nandye 7. Ase Boas 8. Joe Bruno 9. Charlie Wabo 10. Enoch Maki 11. Richard Kambo 12. Dion Aiye 13. David Loko 14. Mogi Wei 15. Wellington Albert 16, James Segeyaro 17. Gonzela Urakusie
Tickets for the match are: Outer stands Adult @ K20, outer stand child @ K10, Main Grandstand adult @ K100 Main Grandstand Child @ K50 and will be sold from 9am on game day at Lloyd Robson.
Team manager Mathew Natusch revealed last night that Michael Marum will be coach of the Gold side while Nigel Hukula takes charge of the Reds.
“Both are Team Kumul assistant coaches so this will allow Mal and Adrian to sit back and assess all players including the two coaches. Michael and Nigel have been working with Mal and Adrian for a while now and they know the plans in place and what is expected of the players,” Natusch said.
He said the teams assemble in Port Moresby next Wednesday (September 19) and will go into separate camps the following day to prepare for this showdown.
The PM X111 side will be named after the trial match on Sunday September 22 to take on the Australian PM X111 in Kokopo a week later.
