President of the PNG Mixed and Men's Netball Association, Adam Parker was full of praise for the PNG Maleos after putting on two strong performances today at the Rita Flynn Courts.
In their first match in the Battle of the Sexes, the Maleos went down to the All Stars 30-29.
The PNG Maleos came close to causing an upset in their second match losing by just four points to the PNG Pepes with a 48-44 score line.
"In the first match, the All Stars were made up expatriates or ex Pepes players.
"I was a bit disappointed that they beat us, but it was still a good match.
"The whole idea for me from today from a development point of view was to see where we need to move, what direction we need to go and where we need to focus on."
Parker was even more impressed with his side's effort against the Pepes.
"I was absolutely stoked. To go down to the national women's team by only four points, yeah I'm really happy with that.
Parker also added there is still a lot of work to be done to further improve.
He identified fitness as the main area of focus.
"Netball is one sport you have to be ultra-fit for. Not only do you have to run up and down the court for 15 minutes, but you must have the ability plus the agility to change and twist your body to go vertically and horizontally at any one time.
"So fitness is key. The skill we've got, but fitness we don't. We have to work on that."
Parker said the PNG Maleos will now take two weeks off for a rest.
"We'll come back in November for squad training.
"We'll finalize the squads in December, have Christmas off and resume training in January of next year for the Australian Nationals."