Head coach of Jamaica Rugby League World Cup team Romeo Monteith said he is “good” with how the team performed at the World Cup in Birmingham, England notwithstanding the Reggae Warriors’ three lop-sided losses in the competition.

Playing in their very first Rugby League World Cup, Jamaica were beaten 48-2 by Ireland on October 16 and 68-6 by New Zealand on October 22. They concluded their maiden world cup appearance with a 74-12 drubbing at the hands of Lebanon.

Monteith, however, remains optimistic about the team’s progress and believes the team will continue to get better as it begins preparations for the next qualification process in November 2023.

Overall I’m good with the team’s performance,” he told Sportsmax.TV.

“As a coaching staff, we spoke to the players about effort and I think in each game there was plenty effort from us as a collective. Of course, the results didn’t go our way and we wanted to put more points on the board and get a win or two.”

The reality, Monteith explained, is that Jamaica’s Rugby League development is still in its infancy and it will take time and resources to bridge the gap between the Reggae Warriors and the best teams in the world.

“At the end of the day, our squad had two full-time players and the other three teams had either all full timers or at least half as full time,” he said.

“It’s extremely difficult to bridge that gap; over 80 minutes the difference in conditioning will show. What we can control is our effort, output when faced with such quality and that’s what we will continue to work on as we can control that. For the next qualification journey, I think we have enough experience and know how to put ourselves in a good position to qualify.”

He said Jamaica Rugby League will do a review of the campaign, identify areas to strengthen and implement whatever change is needed as the Reggae Warriors head into 2023.