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Gisborne: Planned outages Tue-WedCould this change revolutionise the Prime Minister's XIII clash?
Sam Kosack • October 13th, 2025 6:52 pm
SEN’s Justin Horo has called for the traditional Australia PM XIII v Papua New Guinea clash to change in order to survive on the NRL calendar.
Australia defeated PNG 28-10 in Sunday’s game, however, criticisms arose around the make-up of the Australian squad, with players selected who would regularly struggle to play first grade during the NRL season.
As the rise of Pacific Islands nations on the international scene continue to rise, and Papua New Guinea entering the NRL in 2028, concerns have been raised around the future of the fixture.
“I think it's gone past what it was initially brought in to be, and I think with the emergence of the Pacific Island teams… Papua New Guinea has actually become strong enough now,” Horo said on SEN 1170 Drive.
“I feel like it was a game to give Papua New Guinea a game (because) they love rugby league so much, and maybe 10 to 15 years ago, it was a way of filtering in the best young talent that weren't a part of the Australian outfit in preparation for test matches.
“Now, unfortunately, because over the years it's changed, you get journeymen or guys that aren't regular first graders playing… I think Papua New Guinea has gone past that.
“There are emerging nations that are having star players now play and elect teams like the Cook Islands. KL Iro would have been a lock to play for the Kiwis, in my opinion. He decided to pick the Cook Islands.
“There's more of an appetite for Papua New Guinea, with this series that's coming up with Fiji and Cook Islands, that I'm more looking forward to. I had no interest in looking forward to Papua New Guinea playing a littered team of players that had no combinations.”
Papua New Guinea will take on Fiji and the Cook Islands in the Pacific Bowl tournament for a third consecutive year.
In order to stop the PM XIII game going the same way as the City v Country fixture, Horo proposed transforming the Australian side into an Under 23 side, so as to provide opportunities for the next generation of Kangaroos talent.
“I was happy with that (idea) because the way that they've been making up the teams, it hasn't been like this in years past,” Horo said.
“We all love watching the under 19 Queensland versus New South Wales… maybe we see the progression from those players like the Coby Blacks of the world and Chevy Stewarts and all those players that maybe they've played a year or two of first grade.
“They're the sort of guys that we should be watching in this game if they keep the concept.”
Fellow SEN commentator Joel Caine was also in support of the adjustment to the selection criteria.
“I feel it'd be more meaningful to be selected in that team if it was an Australian under 23's team,” Caine said on SEN 1170 Drive.
“Then we are more likely to see more players progress from this side to (representative teams).
“It's a proper pathway.”
