Mexico thrills The National, Tuesday April 15th, 2014 PAPUA New Guinea Kumuls prop Mark Mexico, pictured, made a winning start to life in Australia after an impressive debut for Cronulla in the New South Wales Cup. The 24 year-old last week signed a one year deal with the Sharks National Rugby League side after impressing for the PNG Hunters in the Queensland Cup. He managed 14 hit ups and 16 tackles as he played 37 minutes in Cronulla’s 38-10 victory over Manly. Reports say the Mexico put on “strong charges with the football” and was “uncompromising on defence. Mexico partnered with David Fifita and George Rose up front, with the trio giving the opposition more than they could handle on the day. The Sharks are back at home next weekend, when they take on the Newtown Jets on Saturday at Remondis Stadium. Kumuls coach Adrian Lam said programmes that have been put in place in PNG should mean that more young players can follow in Mark Mexico’s footsteps. “The way that the high performance programme is run covers all levels right down to high schools and we’ve also got AusAid stepping in there with the Papua New Guinea Rugby League now doing primary schools, educating rugby league and development,’ Lam said. “It’s certainly kicking off and we’re in a great position. “We’re at the base though and we’ve got a lot of work to do and these players going away certainly gives us a lot to push at the lower level to have them aspire.” Mexico is perhaps the best placed home-grown Papua New Guinean player since Marcus Bai to debut in the NRL. With Wellington Albert being used by the Penrith Panthers’ Under-20 side, Mexico, from Central and Enga, is more likely to be an option for Shane Flanagan as the first grade coach searches for a winning combination for his struggling club. PNG Hunters chief executive officer Brad Tassell indicated that over the course of the Q-Cup season more PNG players could be snapped up by National Rugby League
Posted on: Tue, 15 Apr 2014 03:23:28 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015