Source: NRL

Kumuls coach Jason Demetriou and his players are targeting World Cup history by building on their domination of the Pacific Bowl to reach the semi-finals at RLWC26.

The Kumuls have won the Pacific Bowl for the last three years in succession and are now aiming to become the first Papua New Guinea team to qualify for a World Cup semi-final.

To do so, they will need to win at least two of their matches against England, Samoa and Lebanon – two of which will be at home in Port Moresby.

Papua New Guinea are in Group C, alongside Tonga and France, but do not play those teams, as teams in Pool B and Pool C play the teams in the other group, rather than those teams in their own pool.

The top two teams in a combined group table of teams from Pool B and Pool C will qualify for the semi-finals, alongside the top two teams from Pool A, which comprises Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Cook Islands.

The Kumuls will host Lebanon on October 17 and Samoa on October 24 before travelling to Wollongong to meet England on Friday, October 30.

With the Papua New Guinea Chiefs joining the NRL in 2028, the Kumuls are growing in strength and Demetriou will next season have charge of at least five members of his squad at London Broncos in a boost to PNG’s World Cup preparations.

Another four Kumuls are signed with Leigh and there are other PNG players in the Super League or Championship, prompting Demetriou to offer England a mid-season World Cup warm-up match.

“I would love a game against England in an international break,” Demetriou told ABC Pacific ahead of the arrival in London of fullback Morea Morea, five-eighth Gairo Voro, halfback Finley Glare, prop Epel Kapinias and centre Robert Mathias.

“I think the majority of our Kumuls side will be over in England, so I think that would be a great hit-out for both teams as preparation for the World Cup.”

Hooker Edwin Ipape, halfback Lachlan Lam, utility Liam Horne and forward Jacob Alick-Wiencke play for Leigh, while Kumuls captain Rhyse Martin is a member of Hull KR’s 2025 premiership winning team and prop Emmanuel Waine plays for Bradford in the Super League.

Star back Nene Macdonald and forward Jeremiah Simbiken are also expected to join new English clubs after playing this year for Salford and Castleford respectively.

All except Simbiken were members of this year’s PNG squad which retained the Pacific Bowl against Fiji and Cook Islands, but Demetriou made it clear the main focus of the tournament had been preparing for the World Cup.

Morea, Voro, Glare, winger Dudley Dotoi and 18-year-old prop Cooper Bai made their Test debuts in the Pacific Championships, and all proved themselves capable of playing at international level.

“To debut on home soil in a World Cup is a big ask for any player. Getting them involved now, around the senior players, sets us up for next year,” Demetriou said.

“The Kumuls group we have now is exciting, but what comes after that is just as thrilling. If we can develop these players correctly, PNG can be very strong on home soil in the World Cup.”

PNG are ranked No.6 in the IRL World Rankings, behind Australia, New Zealand, England, Samoa and Tonga.

However, Demetriou predicted the Kumuls would climb the rankings if they won games at the World Cup.

“We might be sitting behind those teams at the moment but the way we are building we will start knocking a few of them off soon,” he said. “The World Cup will be a great stage for us to do that.”

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