Papua New Guinea national rugby league team

The Papua New Guinea national rugby league team, nicknamed the Kumuls, represents Papua New Guinea in international rugby league.

Papua New Guinea

Team information
Nickname	The Kumuls
Governing body	PNGRFL
Region	Asia-Pacific
Head coach	Justin Holbrook
Captain	Kyle Laybutt
Most caps	Rhyse Martin (15)
Top try-scorer	David Mead (10)
Top point-scorer	Rhyse Martin (132)
Home stadium	National Football Stadium
IRL ranking	6th
Uniforms
First colours
Team results
First game
England 40–12 Papua New Guinea (Port Moresby, PNG; 6 July 1975)
Biggest win
Papua New Guinea 64–0 United States (Port Moresby, PNG; 12 November 2017)
Biggest defeat
Australia 82–0 Papua New Guinea (Townsville, Australia; 7 October 2000)
World Cup
Appearances	7 (first time in 1985–1988)
Best result	Quarterfinals (2000, 2017, 2021 )

Rugby league is very popular in Papua New Guinea and is often considered the country's national sport.

Players

Current squad

The Papua New Guinean squad selected for the 2023 Pacific Rugby League Championships. Club information are as of 4 November 2023.
Statistics for Papua New Guinea and the players' NRL club records are drawn from the website, Rugby League Project, and include the Pacific Bowl Final on 5 November 2023.

J#	Player	Age	Position(s)	PNG Kumuls						Club	NRL		SL		PNG Hunters & Other Reps
				Dbt	M	T	G	F	P		CM	TM	CM	TM
1	Alex Johnston	28	Fullback, Wing	2019	10	3	0	0	12	South Sydney Rabbitohs	214	214	0	0	4 1 1
2	Robert Derby	21	Wing	2022	4	3	0	0	12	North Queensland Cowboys	1	1	0	0	1
3	Zac Laybutt	21	Centre	2023	3	2	5	0	18	North Queensland Cowboys	4	4	0	0	1
4	Rodrick Tai	24	Centre	2022	6	2	0	0	8	Papua New Guinea Hunters	—	0	0	0	1 34
5	Nene Macdonald	29	Wing, Centre	2013	16	9	0	0	44	Leeds Rhinos	—	98	20	22	2 2
6	Kyle Laybutt	28	Five-eighth	2019	11	2	5	0	18	Sunshine Coast Falcons	—	2	0	0	2
7	Lachlan Lam	25	Halfback, Five-eighth	2017	10	6	0	0	24	Leigh Leopards	—	31	32	32
8	Epel Kapinias	25	Prop, Second-row	2022	4	3	0	0	12	Papua New Guinea Hunters	—	0	0	0	2 50
9	Edwin Ipape	24	Hooker	2019	9	2	0	0	8	Leigh Leopards	—	0	31	31	11
10	Valentine Richard	—	Prop	2023	3	1	0	0	4	Papua New Guinea Hunters	—	0	0	0	1 4
11	Rhyse Martin	30	Second-row	2014	17	5	53	0	126	Leeds Rhinos	—	25	104	104	1
12	Daniel Russell	27	Second-row	2019	10	2	0	0	8	St. George Illawarra Dragons	3	3	0	0	1
13	Jack de Belin	32	Lock, Prop	2023	3	0	0	0	0	St. George Illawarra Dragons	205	205	0	0	3 2
14	Judah Rimbu	22	Hooker, Halfback	2023	3	0	0	0	0	Papua New Guinea Hunters	—	0	0	0	2 46
15	Liam Horne	26	Hooker	2022	3	0	0	0	0	Castleford Tigers	—	0	5	5
16	Junior Rop	29	Lock, Prop	2023	2	0	0	0	0	Papua New Guinea Hunters	—	0	0	0	2 45
17	Nixon Putt	28	Second-row	2017	13	4	0	0	16	Central Queensland Capras	—	0	0	0	2 46
18	Jacob Alick	24	Second-row, Lock	2022	7	0	0	0	0	Gold Coast Titans	5	5	0	0
19	Wellington Albert	29	Prop	2013	13	3	0	0	12	London Broncos	—	0	15	15	1 20
20	Keven Appo	24	Second-row	2022	3	0	0	0	0	Bradford Bulls	—	0	3	3	41
21	Benji Kot	26	Second-row, Centre	2023	2	1	0	0	4	Papua New Guinea Hunters	—	0	0	0	1 41
–	Justin Olam	29	Centre	2016	14	7	0	0	28	Melbourne Storm	104	104	0	0	2 21
–	Cruise Ten	22	Lock	—	0	0	0	0	0	Souths Logan Magpies	—	0	0	0	2
–	McKenzie Yei	26	Second-row, Prop	2022	4	1	0	0	4	Featherstone Rovers	—	0	1	1	35

Notes

• Age is as the date of the Pacific Bowl Final, 5 November 2023.
• Twelve members of the squad are current or former Papua New Guinea Hunters players.
• Sixteen members of the squad have played for the PNG Prime Minister's XIII.
• Alex Johnston previously played for Australia, the Australian Prime Minister's XIII, and the Indigenous All Stars.
• Nene Macdonald previously played for the NRL All Stars.
• Jack de Belin previously played for the NSW and NSW Country.