PAPUA Stanley Tepend, head coach of New Guinea Prime Minister’s XII, has picked Albert Patak, a current Agmark Rabaul Gurias fullback, to captain the team against Australia on Saturday.
Patak is presently the Gurias premiership captain in the Digicel Cup, and he was chosen ahead of other notable players in the squad such as Lae Snax Tigers leader Sydney Fred and senior players David Loko (Tigers) and Sebastian Pandia (Vipers).
When Tepend announced this, he stated that Patak is rewarded for being the Gurias’ premiership-winning captain, as well as one of the few players in the side with experience, particularly against international teams.
“Patak has been named as the captain of the Prime Minister’s XIII team because as a winning premiership captain and also one of the experience players on the side dominated by all Digicel Cup players, we feel he will lead the team this week,” Tepend stated in a press release.
Tepend also informed that SP Hunters and former Kumul Sebastian Pandia will aid Patak in his leadership capacity.
“I think both Patak and Pandia are certain players to have most field possession in the game and they have been named as the captain and vice respectively,” Tepend went on to say.
Meanwhile, Tepend expressed fear that one of his key players, Charlie Simon, might not be able to play after undergoing an MRI scan yesterday.
“We’ll decide today on the training field whether he’ll run with the team this weekend or not. “I believe the MRI scan has disqualified him, and we can push him, though I would really like him to be on the side,” Tepend added.
” Simon is a good five-eighth, which I will need, but as I already stated, we cannot risk him, and if I rush him into the team, his future will be jeopardised if he sustains the same injury in this game against Australia. All of this will be decided when we announce the team tonight,” Tepend stated.
