PNG Kumuls Coach Justin Holbrook has picked his strongest side to take on the Fiji Bati in the Pacific Championship Bowl final.
Holbrook is looking for aggression and versatility off the bench. Opting to bring back Nixon Putt, Liam Horne and Junior Rop back into the side.
“Junior Rop is strong and aggressive, Nixon Putt has a tireless work rate and Liam Horne has the versatility. And he can gain meters up the ruck and is also great at lock,” Holbrook said
Holbrook said he wasn’t at all disappointed with individuals in the team. But these three deserved their spot in the final side.
“I wanted to give everyone a game. Especially to the guys that came down from England. I have been impressed by Nixon Putt, Junior Rop and Liam Horne. [I} wasn’t really unhappy with any individual performance, I was just unhappy with how collectively the team played. But these players, they deserve a call up. They were pretty good in the games they played in,” Holbrook said.
PNG Kumuls Coach Justin Holbrook admitted that the team needs to discipline themselves in defense. One area of concern was PNG allowing Fiji to pick up speed off the ruck.
Edwin Ipape was poised to be a game changer for the Kumuls but it turned out to be quite different. The Coach said Ipape needed to familiarize himself with conditions and hopes this week he can make a difference.
“Edwin needed a run to be honest. He didn’t play for a month and he was on the other side of the world in different conditions, and Fiji didn’t give us any real opportunity.
“We have had a look at the video. And we have a number of areas we have to work on and improve on them and execute them this weekend,” Holbrook said.
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