Papua New Guinea have romped to victory against Fiji with a number of Super League players shining, including stars from Hull KR and Leigh Leopards.
The Kumuls, who are coached by London Broncos head coach Jason Demetriou, ran out 50-18 winners in Port Moresby as they put on a show in front of their adoring fans to top the Pacific Bowl group.
Papua New Guinea took a 30-6 lead into the break and despite Fiji improving in the second half, the Kumuls still won that exchange thanks to a 79th minute penalty from Rhyse Martin as the Hull KR star took his points tally to 22 for the match, having scored 16 last week against the Cook Islands.
Despite Martin’s impressive performance that saw him kick nine from nine and score a try, it was Leigh Leopards’ Edwin Ipape who has grabbed the headlines once again, just a week after Demetriou claimed that the hooker would “walk into the NRL”.
Leigh Leopards man shines as PNG win Pacific Bowl
Former Super League Man of Steel Jackson Hastings is the latest to sing Ipape’s praised with Hastings posting on social media about the Leigh hooker’s showing, labelling the Leopards man as “unbelievable out of nine”.
Ipape made a whopping 59 metres from just five runs when he ran from dummy-half, whilst he ended up making a total of 118 from just seven runs total as a lengthy break added to his stats.
It was Hull KR’s Martin who topped the tackle count whilst Salford Red Devils’ Nene Macdonald was also among the eight try scorers.
For Fiji, Castleford’s new signing Semi Valemei scored and made a whopping 151 metres but his late try came solely as a consolation.
In truth, the game was over inside 26 minutes as PNG scored 30 points in a 16-minute period with Morea Morea’s opening try on ten minutes quickly followed by scores by Ipape, Macdonald, Martin and Cooper Bai.
With no Pacific Bowl final this year, it means PNG have now claimed the title for the third year in a row with this win.
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Watch all the highlights as the PNG Kumuls take on Fiji Bati! 🇵🇬 🇫🇯 pic.twitter.com/DlKphqJgoC
— NRL (@NRL) November 1, 2025
