We have got a long way to go : Kumuls Captain

PNG Caption, Costigan

KUMULS captain Neville Costigan is not getting ahead of himself with Papua New Guinea’s prospects at the Rugby League World Cup.

Despite winning their warm-up fixture against Scotland last Saturday by a handy 38-20 scoreline, Costigan, who last played for the Kumuls  at the 2008 World Cup, said the team was still a work in progress.

“When I first joined the squad last month the side was a bit rusty. Since then we’ve been working hard on fitness and defence and I think we’ve improved a lot but we’ve still got a long way to go,” Cositgan said.

The Hull Kingston Rovers recruit said the side had not focused much on France but were more concerned with getting their preparations right.

“We haven’t talked about France much. We know they’re big and they like to off-load a lot in tackles so that’s one of the areas we’ve been looking at in training. Defensively we just have to shut their ball carriers down.”

France, who surprisingly lost their warm-up game 22-18 to the US Tomahawks in Toulouse, are expected to struggle to make the quarter-finals, however the 28-year-old said they would not be easy prey for his men.

“I can’t wait for that game. We just want to rip in and if we do our jobs, the way we’ve been training, I’m sure we’ll get the win.”

The Kumuls, who had a rest day  yesterday, will wait until Thursday (Friday PNG time) to announce  their 17-man side to face France.

The National