Kevin Brown knows better than most what England are up against when they face Papua New Guinea – having been knocked out twice by the fearsome Kumuls.
Brian McDermott’s men face PNG on Friday knowing they need a big win to keep their slim World Cup semi-final hopes alive.
England reignited their campaign with an emphatic 82-0 demolition of France in week two – but victory alone will not be enough.
They also need Tonga to beat Samoa 48 hours later to stand a chance of reaching the last four.
And former England half-back Brown has a stark warning for his countrymen, having failed to make it beyond half-time in either of his two meetings with PNG in 2010 and 2017.
“I’ve played against them twice, but never got past half-time because I’ve been concussed twice,” Brown said.
“In 2010, I went on tour in the Four Nations and I remember Brian Smith showing a clip of Australia against Papua New Guinea, and Darren Lockyer went to the line with three players outside of him and all four of them got wiped out. He said that’s what you’re going to face.
“I remember looking at Sean O’Loughlin and thinking, ‘It can’t be as bad as he’s making out’.
“I made a half break and got knocked out cold and remember saying after the game, I should have listened a bit more to Brian.”
Seven years later, Brown suffered a similar fate in the 2017 World Cup quarter-final – and needed a team-mate’s intervention to ensure he was taken off after technology failure inside the ground.
“Fast forward seven years, I made another break and I was looking for support and I got tackled by someone’s head in my chin and it was only the fact Scott Taylor saw the video of the concussion on social media that I got taken off at half-time,” he said.
“I can vouch for the toughness of the Papua New Guinea side.
“It is a completely different aspect of rugby league, when they put that Kumuls badge on and they turn into absolute warriors and fly into everything.
“One of the toughest players in the world at the minute in Samoa’s Spencer Leniu, they went after him and absolutely belted him.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, they’re going to hit you with everything they’ve got. They may not be as big as the past, but they are as passionate as any sporting nation in the world.”
England’s World Cup hopes were left hanging by a thread after their opening 30-12 defeat to Tonga, but the dominant win over France has given McDermott’s side renewed belief.
Their 14-try rout in Perth was the perfect response, but they must now deliver another huge performance against PNG.
McDermott has made two changes to his side, with Jez Litten and Morgan Knowles coming into the starting line-up in place of Brad O’Neill and Victor Radley.
“I thought they actually played much better than the scoreline suggested in week one. Tonga were very good as well, that’s not to be overlooked and they’re stacked with quality, but on another day we could win that game,” Brown said.
“I thought we responded brilliantly against France. We were on a hiding to nothing, we were expected to win and win comfortably, but I don’t think anybody expected us to win by 80 points, especially after that opening 20 minutes.
“I thought they held their nerve and attacked great. I thought AJ Brimson and George Williams, in particular, were sensational.
“I was more enthused by our back-rowers, Junior Nsemba and Kai Pearce-Paul, I thought they played better.
“I’m much more optimistic. We’ve given ourselves a chance. I expect Samoa and Tonga to be a sensational game, but I think we’ve got to go and play in a similar sort of fashion.
“The way the competition is structured, it’s all set up against us. Go down swinging at the very worst, and let’s hope that we can sneak in at the very best.”