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Nene Macdonald Lifeblood in Kumuls Camp

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Nene Macdonald

Nene Macdonald has been described as a leader in the Kumuls camp by Coach Justin Holbrook. The Kumuls finisher racked up to 214 run meters the highest in the match, five tackle breaks and two line breaks yesterday against the Cook Islands, a gutsy show of leadership.

Four try hero Nene Macdonald was out of football for an extended period. Due to paternity leave and recently severed ties with his club the Leeds Rhions. But amidst the controversy he was selected for the PM’s XIII challenge and ultimately to the Kumuls and yesterday scored four tries against the Cook Islands.

Kumuls Coach Justin Holbrook said Nene seemingly is like the lifeblood of the team. He says Nene has been a leader in camp and has much to offer. Holbrook couldn’t pass the opportunity to have Nene on the team and his decision has been rewarded with Nenes performance on Sunday.

“Nene loves playing for the Kumuls you know. The minute he steps into camp he is one of the leaders. He gets everyone together, he makes sure there is a good environment.

“I keep reminding him train hard and play well. He just loves being back home in PNG with everyone like that. It makes for a good environment.

The PNG Kumuls have put themselves as favorites on home soil for the Pacific Championships Bowl Challenge with a convincing win over Cook Islands 46-10, but they will face their toughest opponent the Fiji Bati.

PNG is currently ranked 6th, while Fiji is ranked 7th according to International Rugby League rankings. Fiji take on the Cook Islands this weekend. While PNG will be on bye and face Melanesian rivals Fiji on the 29th of October 2023.

Despite Cook Islands best efforts in the second half, PNG managed to dominate the score board. Coach Justin Holbrook said they overcame the challenge of Cook Islands but he feels the biggest challenge they face is Fiji.

“We had a big lead obviously and it was tough conditions, and we were good enough to come out with a win.

“Some of these players hadn’t played footy in a while and it’s great to have a hit out and we really enjoyed it.

“Yes we have to be more consistent, Fiji obviously is a stronger side and we know that we had discussed that as a team, it’s just the first game but we will work hard on finishing the game a lot better,” Holbrook said.

With Edwin Ipape, Rhys Martin and Wellington Albert yet to arrive in Port Moresby Holbrook will be making some tough calls to the lineup.

“It will be a tough decision for me in a couple of weeks’ time against Fiji. Knowing the quality of the depth of players we have in our camp. Ultimately that’s what we want. To have a big pool of players to choose from,” Holbrook said.

PNG ran in nine tries in a dominant performance against a woeful Cook Islands side, that were battered early on. Managing to pick up their game in the second half to score two tries.

PNG managed to capitalize on the Cook Islanders poor defensive effort, with winger Nene Macdonald scouring four, while Zac Lybutt on debut, bagged himself two tries. Epel Kapinias, Valentine Richard and Robert Derby each scored a try as well.

Zack Laybutt with the boot managed to convert 5 from 10 conversion attempts.

Kumuls Coach, Justin Holbrook, was impressed with the team’s performance. The Kumuls led 30 – 0 at halftime but struggled to maintain their barnstorming effort in the first half. The Cooks managed to take advantage of the Kumuls downtime scoring two tries to Esom Ioka and Steven Masters.

The game ended with PNG coming out winners 46 to 10.

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Passion to Represent PNG

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PM's XIII

It’s about passion and putting your body on the line. That pretty much summed up what senior player Nene Macdonald and Prop Forward Valentine Culligan had to say about today’s PM’s XIII match.

Both players are part of an underdog PNG Prime Ministers XIII en route for a showdown with a star studded Australian PM’s XIII side that are favorites to dominate the match.

With overwhelming odds against them they look to the basics in rugby league and the passion they share to represent PNG in the sport of rugby league.

Nene Macdonald first represented PNG in 2013 and this time around, he is one of the senior players that are pushing the debutants to give their all against the Aussies.

Nene Macdonald

A senior player no doubt he will be pivotal in attack and defense. He says the same passion that he had years ago is present in the debutants and knows they can give a good challenge to their opponents.

“I remember putting on the jersey in 2013 and coming out to the crowd. The atmosphere was great seeing everyone in the crowd cheering, a very emotional moment and very proud moment for me and my family,” Macdonald said.

The passion that PNG has is always ambient around the team. Especially in the presence of former Kumul players, most of which, are part of the Coaching staff. Former Kumuls like Paul Aiton and John Wilshere among others, continue to strengthen the next crop of Kumuls to come.

“For us the passion has been our strongest weapon for the fight. I will always be proud of being a Papua New Guinean. It’s been almost five years since I came back to PNG and it’s great to be back.

“Putting past players into the team as staff, they know what it’s like to put that jersey on. I think for us when you put that Kumul Jersey on. It’s a bit different than playing for another country. We work so hard and it’s a big dream for many young Papua New Guineans playing for the national team,” Macdonald added

PNG’s Prime Minister’s XIII side in training.

It will be tough and the PNG boys are up against the might of Australia’s PM’s XIII. It can be intimidating but Prop forward Valentine Culligan is up for the cause. Players like Tino Fa’asuamaleaui pose the biggest threat in the forwards, but Valentine is not shaken, and is ready for the battle.

He added that they have to keep it simple and bring on the aggression. He is ready to go all out in this encounter.

“We will be keeping it simple. We have to run hard and tackle hard and keep the errors to a minimum. It will be tough but like I said, I’ll put my body on the line to try my best and keep giving my best.”

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