2017

A double to Joan Kuman gave PNG a 14-6 lead at half-time over the girls from far North Queensland.

PNG proved too strong in the second half leaving their opponents scoreless.

Tries to Delilah Ahose and Elvinah Aaron helped PNG steer home to a comfortable win.

The Orchids will return to the country today.

Meantime, the final 24-player squad for the Women’s Rugby League World Cup will be named early next week.

Photo credit: PNG Orchids Facebook Page

Six men’s teams and four women’s teams will do battle from November 2^nd through to November 4^th to see who will be crowned champions for this year.

Men’s- Group A: PMSA, Talasea and Madang.

Group B: MFA, Simbu and Hoods.

The top two teams from each group will progress to the semi-finals followed by a winner-takes-all final.

Women’s- Kimbe, MFA, PMSA and Simbu.

In the women’s, the round-robin matches will be followed by a straight final, with the winner to be crowned women’s champions of the 2017 Besta FA Cup.

Pool A:

1) Vabukori, 2) Sogeri, 3) Gabagaba, 4) Wardstrip Primary

Pool B:

1) Hanuabada, 2) Sacred Heart Primary, 3) Callan Gerehu, 4) Vabukori

Unified Football Program Coordinator, Willie Vaira, said the finals will be played next weekend on Saturday the 28^th at the Sir John Guise Stadium.

The finals draw for Pool A:

Game 1: Vabukori vs Wardstrip

Games 2: Sogeri vs Gabagaba

In Pool B:

Game 1: Hanuabada vs Vabukori

Game 2: Sacred Heart vs Callan

The event at the Taurama Aquatic Centre, Port Moresby, saw 55 swimmers from the Boroko Amateur Swimming Club, Lae Amateur Swimming Club, BASC and LASC Club swimmers and three visiting swimmers from Australia come together in competition.

In the Senior Men’s division, the Dockers edged out Koboni 9.2 (56) to 7.9 (51) to win their fourth premiership.

The women’s grand final was another nail-biter with the Dockers scraping through to beat Koboni 2.1 (13) to 1.3 (9) in what was a low scoring affair.

The Men’s Reserve Grade for the Dockers weren’t as lucky, going down to Oilmin Kokofas 6.4 (40) to 4.3 (27) in their final.

Australia

The North Queensland Cowboys battled bravely right to the end were barely in the contest right from the outset against a Storm side that were clinical and relentless from the opening whistle in Cronk's final game in purple.

In the U20 men’s match that was played first, Hekari Tarangau def. Sports Tok Kone Tigers 12-4.

To the women’s final that followed after, Kroton Souths drew with PNG Waste Co/TGM Paga Panthers 6-6. Both teams were declared winners in the women’s division for 2017.

In the main game of the day, Black Swan International Royals def. Lalokau FM Hawks 38-18.

Chairman of the POMRFL, Dr James Naipao, congratulated all 14 clubs for another successful season playing in the U20 Men’s, Women’s and Men’s divisions.

Much like the Bulldogs last year, the Tigers have dominated the pre-game talk and will load the MCG with yellow and black. It's a quirk of our Victorian-focused game that the best team in the league this season is almost billed as the support act to the main thing.

It's a phenomenon that creates a certain set of problems for both teams — the pressure that comes with the hype could be overwhelming for Richmond, while Adelaide could be forgiven for feeling like the entire country is against it.

Britain's Johanna Konta arrived in China as fifth seed but was knocked out by Australia's Ashleigh Barty on Monday, while tournament second seed Simona Halep suffered defeat on Tuesday.

Ninth seed Radwanska experienced the same fate on Wednesday with Barty defeating the Pole 4-6 6-0 6-4 to progress to the quarter-finals.