The Australian PM's XIII overcame scenes of chaos, which saw players running from the field to escape a fan invasion, to seal a 34-16 victory against Papua New Guinea on Saturday. The match was brought to an abrupt halt midway through the first half when thousands of Papua New Guineans began pouring on to the field, sending the Aussies rushing back to the sidelines as almost half of the 14,007 fans in attendance rushed on to the playing surface.
"At first I was a bit scared," Jake Trbojevic said. "But they just love their footy – they just wanted to shake our hands. At first everyone was a bit worried trying to run off the field but it was harmless." The match was stopped for almost 10 minutes before officials and police managed to escort the thousands of fans back to their seats. "I didn't know what was going on with all the fans running on the field. A lot of commotion and the coppers were on the field and the next minute people were spread everywhere. It was pretty scary. That's just part of it. They enjoy their footy. They just wanted to get on the field and touch you," Trbojevic said. It is believed the stampede was sparked by a group of fans who believed the light tower in one corner of the field was about to collapse. "I was pretty scared to be honest," Zac Lomax said.
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