Intrust Super Cup

The Dolphins are in great form and have won their past five games, including a two-point thriller against Easts Tigers last weekend.

Previously they had been flying under the radar but that victory pushed them up to second spot on the Intrust Super Cup ladder at the expense of the Hunters, who lost their Anzac Day clash against Burleigh in what was a two-point defeat.

The Hunters found themselves in trouble right from the kick off when a miscommunication in their own try line forced a line dropout.

The Hunters struggled to get out of their own half and were forced to mostly defend in the opening minutes. It wasn't long before the Bears cracked open the defence to find the try line through Kurtis Rowe in the 10th minute. Jamal Fogarty added the extras to put the score out to 6-0. Fogarty increased the score to 8-0 after a dangerous tackle by Adam Korave in the Hunters half in the 17th minute.

Marum said after the game that Blackhawks are a quality side and it was a narrow win.

The coach admitted that they did too many errors in the second half but they were lucky to win the game by one point.

“We just have to go back to the recorded videos and see where we went wrong and we can polish up in those areas.

“We’ve won five out of six games but we still got a lot of work to do,” Marum said.

The coach added that with former Hunter Willie Minoga on the Blackhawks side, their focus was on everyone out there and not just on Minoga.

SP Hunters Coach Micheal Marum announced their names adding they are potential leaders that the management has confidence in to lead the team.

“I want to thank the coaching staff for the confidence in me and Adam to lead the boys for this season. I know it’s a big task but I believe in the boys for cooperation,” Zeming said.

He said being under the leadership of Coach Micheal Marum and former captain Israel Eliab in the past two years has given him a bit of courage to lead.

Hunters ended four weeks of pre-season training and will be off for two weeks festive holiday.

They will return to camp in Port Moresby in the first week of January to continue their pre-season training leading up to the start of the 2016 Queensland Intrust Cup season.

Before they left, the players spent Saturday morning helping to feed hundreds of street kids in Port Moresby at the Street kids Christmas Feast event as part of their community initiative.

In previous encounters, East Tigers have beaten the Hunters twice and drew one.

The Tigers are also coming off a big 56-22 win over the Central Queensland Capras last weekend and will be looking to dish out the same treatment to the Hunters in front of their home crowd.

This will be the Hunters final home game in the Intrust Cup competition.

But the Hunters were just as impressive last week beating first placed Townsville Blackhawks in a nail biting 28-26 match.

Coach Michael Marum says preparations are going well for Sunday with a good feeling in the camp.

Coach Michael Marum was pleased with his players for holding out a fast finishing star-studded Townsville Blackhawks side, 28-26.

Tigers are an equally strong side which has a vast amount of experience. They missed out on the premiership last year, taking home the runners-up flag.

The last time the two teams met, at the Tap Out Energy Stadium, Tigers ran out victors 14-8.

The Tigers are coming off a comprehensive 56-22 victory over Central Queensland Capras last round with three players collecting doubles in their 10 tries to 4 whitewash of the opposition.

Coach Michael Marum has retained his players from last weekend’s mammoth  win against CQ Capras 68-4 in Kokopo as they prepare for this weekend.

Hunters will be chasing their ninth consecutive win in order to consolidate the second spot on the Intrust Super Cup points table.

Hunters are on 26 points while Dolphins are ninth on the ladder with 14 points.

The game at the Dolphins Oval is set for kick-off at 1.40pm.

Coach Michael Marum has made a slight change to his starting line-up promoting Brandy Peter from the bench in place of Kato Ottio who has been ruled out due to injury.

Marum has also brought in Warren Clare into the side naming him on the bench.

The PNG side is currently in fourth spot on 22 points behind second-placed Wynnum Manly Seagulls and Ipswich Jets while Tweed Heads hold ninth spot.

These include the police, security, Games Organising Committee staff and volunteers, PNGRFL officers, visiting Magpies, match officials, Queensland Rugby League, corporates and the media.

The Intrust Super Cup Round 14 game took place on the weekend at the newly rebuilt Sir John Guise stadium and was doubled up as a test event for the Pacific Games next month.

A statement released by PNGRFL said the chairman Sandis Tsaka and interim CEO Shane Morris were grateful that everyone involved in ensuring the success of the night had put in a great team effort.