rugby league

President of the Gaire Rugby Football League Lohia Hera, was present to receive the donation, which was for a competition held over the weekend.

The nine club competition was for under 20's and open division, with a total of nine teams participating. More than 300 players participated in the event, which was held on Saturday, October 1 at Gaire Village.

The grand final play offs will see the Under 20, A Grade and Women’s division vie for the top prize.

The women’s grand final will be played as curtain raiser to the Prime Minister’s XIII between Australia and PNG on Saturday, Sept 24 and the men’s grand finals will be played on Sunday, Sept 25.

In the women’s match, Paga Panthers will take on defending champions Royals for the top prize of

K7,000 and runner up will get K2,500.

In the U20 division, Brothers will play Souths for a top prize of K7,000 and second place will take home K2,500.

The top eight standings in the ladder have qualified for the final series.

The final two rounds of regular competition determined the minor premier spot.

After the round robin games, Kone Storms finished on top of the ladder in the A Grade division followed by Hawks, Paga Panthers, Tarangau, Royals, Hohola Flies, Kone Tigers and Brothers.

For 18 consecutive weekends, Hawks was leading the competition, which was a remarkable achievement.

Fiji led 16-8 at the break but had no answers for a PNG side that helped breathe fresh air into the international game. 

Papua New Guinea's spine proved the difference in the end with halfback Watson Boas scoring a double, his brother Ase kicking four goals and hooker Wartovo Puara Junior proving a handful whenever he touched the ball with two try assists. 

This is because the round robin games are still been played.

The tournament, aimed at scouting local talents to represent the Mendi Muruks in 2016 Digicel Cup season, kicked off on Friday at the main town oval with the grand final expected to be played today.

Organisers on the ground confirmed that with the high number of 18 teams, it has taken much longer than expected to complete the round robin matches.

Teams came from districts throughout the province including Ialibu, Pangia, Erave, Kutubu, Poroma, Nipa, Mendi and Imbongu.

The tournament kicked off today at the main town oval with the grand final on Sunday.

Teams taking part are from the districts throughout the province including Ialibu, Pangia, Erave, Kutubu, Poroma, Nipa, Mendi and Imbongu.

The tournament is aimed at scouting local talents to represent the Mendi Muruks in 2016 Digicel Cup season.

Organiser Jack Kerema said they have invited all districts to take part as they want more participation from the local talents.

Female leading development officer from ENB Grace Michael says it is always a challenge to develop this male dominant sport in the province.

Michael has been developing the sport in schools throughout the province since the program’s inception in 2014 under the League Bilong Laif program run by NRL Australia in PNG.

The program works with schools in the four regions of PNG using rugby league as a tool to support education outcomes.

Rugby league is now being introduced widely to schools throughout the region by NRL Australia in PNG under the League Bilong Laif (LBL) program.

The program works with schools in the four regions of PNG using rugby league as a tool to support education outcomes.

Development officer Kenneth Kenevi says his team of three staff has done well to bring back the interest of the sport after the Bougainville Crises.

Since the program’s inception at Bougainville in March 2015, they have had about 30 schools involved.

Digicel increased its commitment to the sport and the people of PNG after announcing last year that from 2016 Digicel Play will broadcast NRL.

People can also watch the State of Origin Series, The All Stars Match, the ANZAC test, under 20’s games, Digicel Cup and the QRL Intrust Super Cup.

Digicel will also launch a dedicated NRL page on LOOP PNG which will provide game and coverage details and up to date NRL news throughout each day.

Located in the Rigo district of the Central province, hundreds from nearby villages are expected to turn up to Kemabo village to watch what KRFL President, Lega Kikima says will be a big grand final for fans and sponsors.

In the main game in A Grade division, the Laugau Roosters will go up against the Kino Rabbitohs.

Kikima said the Roosters are highly favoured to win with their season winning record but says the Kino Rabbitohs may prove them wrong with their experienced pack.