Hull KR's Rhyse Martin singled out by PNG boss Jason Demetriou after Pacific Championships

Papua New Guinea head coach Jason Demetriou singled out Hull Kingston Rovers' incoming signing Rhyse Martin for praise as he assessed the Kumuls' 2024 Pacific Championships campaign.

The Kumuls - fielding Martin ahead of his arrival in England to join Rovers - lost 54-12 to a New Zealand line-up that included Peta Hiku, making his 20th appearance for the Kiwis, in a play-off at CommBank Stadium. Hiku's brilliant burst and pass set up the final try for Jamayne Isaako.

The match decided who would compete in the top tier of the competition and Papua New Guinea fell a long way short ultimately - but Demetriou was pleased with Martin's consistency of mentality.

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Speaking in his post-match press conference, asked to assess the campaign, Demetriou said: "There's a lot of talent and potential but there are levels to this game, levels where you get to. And it's not about the physicality, it's about the mental fortitude and toughness and to stay in the moment and own your role. That's a massive learning curve for some boys out there. There are some players who own their role time and time again like the skip (Martin) but there are some that don't and that was evident. Those are good lessons for us to take."

The first half had been relatively tight for a long period with the score being 10-6 to New Zealand after 37 minutes. But the Kiwis scored two quick-fire tries just before half-time - then were rampant in the second half, with Shaun Johnson ending with five try assists.

In the post-match press conference, Martin said: "We weathered the storm (in the first half). We know they've got some big bodies in the middle and they were going to be hard to handle but then when we started to get our fair share of the ball we started to make some in-roads in around the ruck. And there were disallowed tries. But we felt like we were starting to get that momentum. Then those two late tries in the first half really takes away all the good effort that we did put into that first half. And it did take the sting out of us.

"I feel like we need more games like this. We've got a group of players that are learning and working hard to be the best players they possibly can. And sometimes when you come up against the big guys you can get a bit gun-shy. A lot of these blokes look up to them as idols and have done for some time."

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