Papua New Guinea ramp up Rugby League World Cup groundwork

Jason Demetriou will soon name an extended 40-man Papua New Guinea squad, with preparations ramping up as the 2026 Rugby League World Cup nears.

Sydney-born Demetriou has been in charge of PNG since his July 2024 appointment, and has so far overseen a couple of successful Pacific Championships campaigns.

Those have brought back-to-back triumphs in the Pacific Bowl, and though 2024 ended with the Kumuls missing out on promotion into the Pacific Cup as they lost a promotion/relegation play-off to New Zealand, their progress has been clear to see.

Now, they are preparing for a World Cup taking place in the Southern Hemisphere for the first time since 2017 – and hope to improve upon consecutive quarter-final exits.

Demetriou to name initial extended Kumuls squad

England have brought an end to PNG’s last two World Cup campaigns at the last-eight stage. The pair will again square off this time around, albeit in the group stage – with their clash taking place on October 3o in Wollongong.

Before that, Demetriou will lead his side twice on home soil, with their group games against Lebanon and Samoa both being hosted in Port Moresby.

Speaking earlier this week, the Kumuls’ head coach provided an update on his squad, saying: “Most of our players are over here (in the UK), so it’s pretty easy!

“For me, it’s just tracking. The beauty of the internet and social media these days is that it’s pretty easy to keep an eye on everyone, and track where everybody is at.

“I’ve got a player profiling format which keeps a track on how players are going, and I’m able to keep in contact with them.

“I’ve got to pick a 40-man squad by the first week of September – and it’s important the boys are playing well and that they’re healthy to put themselves in the frame for that.

“From there, we’ll narrow that down to 23 players by the end of September.

“Like I say to all the players, nothing is going to get you picked more than playing good footy, so that’s their focus at the moment.”

‘I feel like we come into camp in a good place’

At club level, Demetriou was appointed as the head coach of Championship outfit London Broncos ahead of 2026, and has so far delivered plenty of success.

The 50-year-old has already guided the Broncos to the Championship League Leaders’ Shield, and with the play-offs still to come, Monday afternoon (August 31) brings the 1895 Cup final against Widnes Vikings.

A plethora of PNG talent arrived at Plough Lane alongside him, and his duties at club level with Super League hopefuls London has not dampened his excitement for this autumn’s World Cup spectacle with the Kumuls.

He said: “We’ve been building since I took over from Justin (Holbrook) and we set ourselves some goals for the World Cup. We’re here now.

“We’ve performed really well in the Pacific Championships over the last two years and pooled together a good squad of players that have played some good footy together.

“They understand what our identity is as a team and what our strengths and weaknesses are, so I feel like we come into camp in a good place.

“Hopefully everybody gets through the season unscathed so we’re able to put the best team possible on the field.”

WATCH THE NEW LRL PODCAST!