The General Manager of Cricket PNG, Greg Campbell, says the background and mentality of incoming head coach Dipak Patel appealed to them as much as his international experience.
The former New Zealand international was confirmed this week as the Barramundi's first ever full-time head coach.
The 55 year old is a former Central Districts and New Zealand Under 19 coach and says he's excited by the chance to work at the international level.
Greg Campbell says Patel is also able to relate to the diverse ethnic backgrounds in PNG.
"His indigenous background with his mother and father. He understands the culture here to. He will know what makes them tick and he understands it's not going to be a shock coming to PNG - I mean it's a great place to live, the culture is great. His experience is undoubtedly one of the things - he's a strong-willed character which we're looking for. He has his own ideas of where he wants to take us and we're happy to do that and I think you'll see improvement in our team and the way we want to go and play our cricket and the focus of where we want to go".
Greg Campbell says Patel will spend a few weeks in PNG getting to know the team before they fly out to Australia in September.
