SHOCK ‘N ROAR
Nation will cheer us to victory says Aiton
® from JULIE STOTT in Melbourne PAUL AITON is convinced that Papua New Guinea can pull off a major shock by knocking England out of the World Cup. Super League star Aiton and his team will have eight million fans screaming them on back home. And the Catalans and former Leeds player admits even he is in awe of the passion on an island where rugby league is the national sport. He said: “We’ve had a lot of trouble with politics and tribal stuff, but when we play for the Kumuls everyone is behind us. It is hard for other people to understand. “PNG people just love the game – they even clap if the other team does something well, which is unreal.” England are big favourites to win Sunday’s quarter-final in Melbourne but Aiton insists his side also have their eyes on the semi-finals.
Massive
He said: “Our chances are very good, 50-50 as far as we’re concerned. We are training to win.” The Kumuls dominated their group, racking up 128 points and conceding only six in their three games.
Now the 15th-ranked team in the world are targeting the greatest win in their history and Dragons star Aiton can’t wait.
He said: “It would be massive. Coming into the tournament we didn’t want to settle for a couple of wins at home.”
Aiton, 32, will retire as an international after the World Cup to concentrate on Super League.
PNG, who have had home advantage so far, also feature former Leeds hooker James Segeyaro as well as NRL stars.