SP PNG Hunters

Decorated hooker, Wartovo Puara Jr took out three major awards at the Hunters’ presentation night for his performances as the Hunters completed their seven-month stay on the Gold Coast before returning home for their off-season.

Puara, who this year became the Hunters’ most capped player, received awards for the Chairman’s Player of the Year, Best Forward and Players’ Player for his work across the Hunters’ 17 matches of this season.

Despite a challenging year for the boys, having picked up wins on the last two matches to end the season, the boys are back home just in time for Independence, but unfortunately will be spending it in quarantine.

The SP PNG Hunters returned with a squad that has gathered enormous experience, including a dozen of players who made their Intrust Super Cup debut, and developed a bond that will reap rewards in the years to come.

Prop Stanton Albert had three Tweed tacklers hanging off him in the 71st minute when he freed his arm to pass to playmaker Ase Boas for a try that pushed the Hunters clear of the Seagulls. The visitors gained a late try but this was a game that belonged to the Hunters.

Gilmo Paul and Emmanuel Waine scored in the opening 15 minutes to lay the foundation for a Hunters team desperate to finish strongly in a season that has featured the ISC debut of 12 players.

SP PNG Hunters want to finish a season of sacrifice on a winning note against a team bound for the Intrust Super Cup playoffs in Saturday’s season finale at Bycroft Oval.

The Hunters escaped without injury from last Saturday’s thrilling 22-20 win over Central Queensland Capras in Rockhampton and they are determined to finish the season in style against the fourth-placed Seagulls at Bycroft Oval. 
 
The Hunters held on for victory over the Capras when they were under pressure with two men in the sin bin due to professional fouls. However, they lamented their ball retention after gaining a 14-0 lead after just 15 minutes. 
 

The Capras scored twice in the final minutes, including from a crossfield kick after the siren that bounced and fell for a try for the home team. That left them with a conversion from about 10 metres in from the sideline which swerved to the left, delivering a deserved victory to the Hunters.

Boas will play his 116^th match for the Hunters when they take on the Central Queensland Capras in Rockhampton. That will move him ahead of Adex Wera for second place in the Hunters’ all-time games list behind, behind only starting hooker Wartovo Puara Jnr (125 matches).    

Jokadi is plotting a new future and giving thanks for his remarkable escape from a heart condition that almost took his life in June. He has been told that he can now expect to live a full life.

But the 22-year-old is coming to terms with the fact that he can never play rugby league again, a reality he admits has been difficult to accept just weeks after his career was blossoming.

The dynamic Hunters centre has spoken publicly for the first time about his health scare on a winter’s morning at the team’s training base at Runaway Bay at the northern end of the Gold Coast.

Wapi left the field with a head knock after scoring two tries against Souths Logan Magpies last Sunday but a fractured finger was more troublesome, ruling him out of the remaining two games of the season.

With Norman Brown absent through injury, utility Edwin Ipape will wear the No. 1 jersey at Browne Park after playing well in the final half-hour of last Sunday’s 32-26 loss against the finals-bound Magpies.

The Seagulls won their first nine matches in 2021, with their smallest winning margin a 2018 victory against the Hunters in Round 1.

The Seagulls have since lost their past three games while their Brisbane Broncos-contracted players have been unavailable because of the NRL’s COVID bubble.