Papua New Guinea Pepes coach Lua Rikis is impressed with the Pepes extended squad despite their 30-59 loss against the Pacific AusSports Brisbane Wildcats.

Following their first leg of tri-series played at Sir John Guise Stadium Indoor Complex in Port Moresby, the idea was to give exposure for the new talents they recruited.

“I’m impressed with the girls’ performance in the opening match, we talked about what needed to work on and they delivered on the courts regardless of the results.”

“Whether it was those that started or those that came in as substitutes during the first match, they gave their best.”

With the second leg played and yesterday and final match today, Rikis said it was a great opportunity for their debutants in this series.

“This is an opportunity that we get to do this on home soil, so we get our girls to play against the girls from Australia…I am happy with our PNG girls because they kept up after a good run on court.”

the team had stamina on court allowing them to move at a quicker pace. With a combination of their Australian based, current Pepes and the new were able to put on a great show for the home crowd.

Rikis said a few of their players were able to attend training camps with the wildcats in the past few seasons however it was fortunate the visiting team where they came from to reach that national level.

“The Wildcats were our first choice because a few of our players have gone over and trained with them they’ve been exposed to the high performance environment.”

“It’s great having them come over to PNG and learn about where our girls come from and the challenges they go through but still show up at training…. For the Wildcats coming over to share their experience is a bonus for our local girls and that’s important,” she added.