2010 controversy

The Papua New Guinea team experienced huge difficulties leading to the 2010 Rugby League Four Nations Tournament, as politicians clashed for control over the game and the governing body, the PNGRFL, was split over issues concerning junior development, the national team and the Papua New Guinea NRL bid. This caused Adrian Lam to retire as head coach of the Kumuls in September 2010^[3][4] while recently retired captain Stanley Gene, who had never coached a side before, was named his replacement.^[5] The governing board were adamant that more Papua New Guinea-based players should be in the squad, and fewer Australia-based players should be picked. In early October the squad was announced for the tournament and consisted of 12 PNG-based players with captain Paul Aiton being the only NRL player.^[6] Whilst the Australian team for the tournament was worth an estimated A$10 million, local newspapers calculated the Kumuls value at around A$670,000.

Despite the Australian media treating the defeat of the Papua New Guinean team as a mere formality, with the team having odds of 125–1 to win the tournament, the players and journalists at home were positive that the Kumuls could make a lasting impression in the tournament.^[7] After their first up 42–0 defeat against Australia, the team's enthusiasm and crunching tackles were praised, but ball control and creativity let the team down hugely.^[8] However the team faced much more criticism after their 76-12 thrashing suffered at the hands of New Zealand, with fans angry at the poor display from the players^[9] and some questioning the credentials of new coach Stanley Gene.^[10] Days after the match a broader look at the sport in the country occurred with one assessment concluding that rugby league was poorly managed^[11] and former PNG great Marcus Bai called on clubs to supply a greater number of representative standard players especially from the New Guinea Islands region which had supplied five of this year's team.^[12] The way politics had made its way into the governing of the sport was also condemned.^[13]

2015 Pacific Rugby League Test

In May 2015, Papua New Guinea took on Fiji in the 2015 Melanesian Cup at Cbus Super Stadium. The International was part of a triple header which also included the Polynesian Cup, between Samoa and Tonga, and the Junior Kangaroos against the Junior Kiwis. The Kumuls never really troubled the Fijians after handling errors and poor decisions led to the Bati easily winning the inaugural Melanesian Cup by 22–10.

2016 Pacific Rugby League Test

In May 2016, Papua New Guinea took on Fiji in the 2016 Melanesian Cup at Pirtek Stadium. The International was part of a triple header which also included the Polynesian Cup, between Samoa and Tonga, and the Junior Kangaroos against the Junior Kiwis. In this year's test, the Kumuls had more experienced players and it paid off. Despite being in a similar situation with the half time score, they managed to make a miraculous comeback not many saw coming, to record their first win 24–22 on away shores since the 2000 World Cup.

2017 Pacific Rugby League Test

The PNG Kumuls won their second consecutive Pacific Cup test victory with a 32–22 victory over the Cook Islands at Campbelltown Stadium in Sydney, Australia.

2017 Rugby League World Cup

The PNG Kumuls won all their pool games in Port Moresby before losing to England in Melbourne in the quarter-final ^[14] of the 2017 RLWC.

2018 Pacific Rugby League Test

The PNG Kumuls won their third consecutive Ox & Palm Pacific Cup test victory with a 26–14 victory over Fiji Bati at Campbelltown Stadium in Sydney, Australia.^[15]

2019 Oceania Cup and GB Lions Tour

The PNG Kumuls lost both their 2019 Oceania Cup (rugby league) test matches with a 24–6 loss to Toa Samoa^[16] at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney, Australia and a 22–20 loss to Fiji Bati^[17] in Christchurch, New Zealand . The Kumuls ended the season on a high defeating the Great Britain Lions 28–10 in Port Moresby.^[18]

2022 Pacific Rugby League Test

The Kumuls defeated a full strength Fiji Bati 24-14 on June 25 at Campbelltown Stadium.^[19]

2022 Rugby League World Cup

The PNG Kumuls will be based in Warrington^[20] for the 2021 RLWC. The World Cup will be held between October 15 and November 19.^[21] Kumuls coach Stanley Tepend will be guided by his mentor/ Coaching Director Shane Flanagan.^[22] The PM's XIII lost to Australia PM's XIII on September 25 at Suncorp Stadium as part of both teams world cup preparations.^[23] The Kumuls bowed out in the quarterfinals after losing to hosts, England.^[24]

Current squad

The Papua New Guinean squad selected for the 2023 Pacific Rugby League Championships. Club information are as of 4 November 2023.^[25]
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.

World Cup

World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	D
1954–1977	did not participate
1985–88	Fourth place	4/5	8	2	6	0
1989–92	Fifth place	5/5	8	0	8	0
1995	Group stage	6/10	2	0	1	1
2000	Quarter-finals	6/16	4	3	1	0
2008	Group stage	10/10	3	0	3	0
2013	Group stage	13/14	3	0	3	0
2017	Quarter-finals	5/14	4	3	1	0
2021	Quarter-finals	7/16	4	3	1	0
2026	qualified
Total	0 Titles		36	11	24	1

Tri-Nations / Four Nations

Tri-Nations / Four Nations record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	D
1999–2006	did not participate
2010	Fourth place	4/4	3	0	3	0
2011–2016	did not participate
Total	0 Titles	1/9	3	0	3	0

Pacific Cup

Pacific Cup record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	D
1975	Runners-up	2/4	4	2	2	0
1977	Third place	3/5	4	2	2	0
1986	did not participate
1986
1990	Group stage	5/8	3	1	2	0
1992	did not participate
1994
1997	Third place	3/6	4	2	2	0
2004	did not participate
2006
2009	Champions	1/5	2	2	0	0
Total	1 Title	5/12	6	4	2	0