Ipswich Jets

Tries to Wellington Albert, Adex Wera and Israel Eliab pushed the Hunters to a 22-0 lead at half-time.

The home side hit back with two tries after the 60 minute mark with points to Dane Phillips (62m) and Mitch Carpenter (66m).

This brought the score to 22-12 in favour of the visitors.

But the Hunters had enough to take the game away, striking twice with four pointers to captain and five-eighth Ase Boas (73) and Bland Abavu (77) to seal the win.

(File picture)

This follows the announcement on Tuesday of a partnership between the Hela Wigmen Club and Ipswich Jets which will see four players from Hela, train and play with the Intrust Super Cup Club.

Ipswich Jets CEO, Jason Cubit, told Loop PNG that under the current arrangement, the Hela Wigmen management will identify and provide them with the right players.

Cubit also said they will provide them with other opportunities off the field.

The sponsorship package includes K1.2 million from Kroton Limited, a subsidiary of Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited (KPHL), includes naming rights to the team who will now be known as the Kroton Limited Hela Wigmen Rugby League Team.

This will cover affiliation fees for the 2017 Digicel Cup Competition (K500,000), the development of a club training infrastructure (K500,000) and an Ambassadorial program with the Ipswich Jets club in the Queensland, Australia (K200,000).

The Hela Provincial Government also has provided K600,000 to the Club for this year.

The Hunters sealed an 18-16 win in the last three minutes of the match in what was a thriller at the National Football Stadium in Port Moresby.

“We threw everything at PNG. They’re a very physical team and to their credit, they defended really well,” said Walker.

Captain of the Jets, Dane Phillips, added on that his team had enough chances but failed to get the job done.

“If you’re giving PNG too much ball, they’re going to score points. We just didn’t get over the line.

It was against the Hunters in Round 12 that the defending premiers ended their early-season losing streak and begin the find their form.

With the different style of footy the Walker Brothers coach, it is set to be an entertaining game.

Ipswich – who lost to the Burleigh Bears last weekend – will aim to cause an upset against the in-form Hunters, however with the inclusion of Pandia brothers might gain them some local support.

The Jets took a 12-2 lead at half-time and ran in three more tries to set up a comprehensive win on home soil.

The Hunters put themselves right back into the game in the second half when Thompson Teteh scored out wide.

Noel Zeming’s unsuccessful conversion put the score at 12-6.

The Jets responded straight away through Richard Pandia, who proved too much to handle on the wing to crash over to score his second try for the afternoon.

Both sides tested each other in the opening minutes in a tussle to get early points on the board.

After gathering up some momentum, the Jets found the try line in the 12^th minute through fullback Carlin Anderson, who flew over to score on the wing.

Anderson added the extras for his own try to put the home side out for an early 6-0 lead.

The Hunters put the pressure right back on the Jets from the kick off with a good set of six that brought them within striking range to score.

It was a grandstand finish with Townsville pressing until the end – but they could not pin back the Jets who inflated the score line with a try to Manly Sea Eagles-bound hooker Matt Parcell in the final seconds of the game.

One of only three foundation clubs to have not won the Queensland / Intrust Super Cup – the Jets claimed their first major silverware in style – despite being on the back foot early.