Bulldogs forward Kitione Kautoga and Panthers premiership winner Sunia Turuva were both ruled out of Fiji’s Pacific Championship match against Papua New Guinea.

NRL rookie of the year Turuva trained alone on Saturday during the captain’s run in Port Moresby after Bati coach Wise Kativerata disclosed he had a calf ailment.

“We have slightly changed [the line-up], as you have seen today, because Sunia has got a calf problem and Kitione has got a back problem,” Kativerata stated.

“It’s not major but we thought we would give other kids an opportunity.”

Turuva was replaced by Castleford speedster Jason Qarequare, while Kaiviti Silktails forward Sirilo Lovokuro took Kautoga’s spot on the international scene.

Due to a persistent knee injury, Storm center Justin Olam will not compete for Papua New Guinea in the Pacific Championships.

PNG coach Justin Olam declared he would not participate in the competition when the Kumuls returned to camp in Port Moresby on Sunday after taking a week off to prepare for the Test match against Fiji. Olam was conspicuously absent from the match.

“The reason I originally named him in the squad was because we knew he wouldn’t be right for the first game,” stated Holbrook.

He still can’t run on it, but we had two more weeks to observe how his knee healed after taking a week off.