SP PNG Hunters

Education and work opportunities become crucial for the players to pursue further studies. The recent tour of the Lihir Gold mine and the training centre was a learning experience, and an introduction to learning opportunities for the players.

PNG Hunters CEO Scott Barker, when summing up the Hunters Lihir trip, reemphasized the importance of what the Hunters program is all about, including opportunities to study after football.

The trip, sponsored by Newcrest Mining, will be a first for the Hunters, presenting an opportunity to visit one of the world’s largest tier-one gold mining operations. The Hunters are on bye the following weekend.

Whilst at Lihir the team will tour the geothermally active mine site and processing plant, witness a blasting operation at the mine pit and meet the workforce.

The Hunters will also participate in safety and leadership sessions with the workforce and the Lihir Rugby Football League Association, and run on-field coaching sessions with local students.

The Round 17 match kicks off at 3pm (PNG time) at the National Football Stadium.
 
After navigating a difficult start to the year, the Hunters have been at their best over the last month. Working through the 2023 regular season, building on their combinations and growing in confidence each week.  
 

The heaving home crowd was treating to a stop-and-start contest to begin the match on Saturday afternoon as both sides traded blows in yardage.  
 
The Capras discipline was poor in the early stages, conceding penalties for dissent and making unforced errors to give the Hunters the advantage in the territory battle.  
 

Despite coming off a recent loss to premiership leaders Souths Logan last weekend, the Hunters will bring plenty of confidence into this weekend’s fixture following a promising block of games over the last month.  
 
A stretch of four straight home games at the Santos National Football Stadium gave the Hunters a great opportunity to build into the season. Two big wins over the Tweed Seagulls and Western Clydesdales backed up a narrow loss to finals bound club the Northern Pride and followed by a tough blow against the Magpies.  
 

The Hunters will return to the Santos National Football Stadium on Saturday, 10th June to host the Western Clydsedales in Round 13 of the QRL Hostplus Cup. 

The match kicks off at 3pm with Saturday’s fixture the third of four consecutive home games. The Hunters are expected to use home crowd advantage for a victory but this won’t come easy. 

Hunters Head Coach, Stanley Tepend acknowledged the disruption caused by a series of injuries and suspensions, but is excited for the opportunities those changes present.  

Running out to a packed home crowed at the Santos National Football, the Hunters had everything to play for and they rose to the occasion. Despite conceding first points through experienced NRL halfback Toby Sexton, the Hunters held their nerve to quickly drag the game into a grind. 

This Saturday they host Tweeds Seagulls, in a must-win game situation.

The Tweed Seagulls also come into QRL Round 12 following a loss, having capitulated against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls after taking an early lead. The scoreboard read 12-6 after 20 minutes in that game, but by fulltime, Wynnum Manly had constructed another five tries to finish 38-18 winners.

Currently sitting in 7th position on the QRL Hostplus Cup ladder, Tweed will be desperate to return to their winning ways against the Hunters on Saturday afternoon and maintain their position inside the Top Eight.

Kicking off a stretch of four games at the spiritual home of rugby league in Port Moresby, the Hunters ran out to an early lead but couldn’t overcome two sinbins and an injury to skipper, Ila Alu. 

The Pride made the most of their opportunities after the break to score three second half tries as the rain began to fall on the Santos NFS turf. 

When they met in Round 5, Northern Pride proved too strong for Hunters 34-14 at Barlow Park, Cairns.

Coming off their second half comeback loss to Wynnum Manly Seagulls last week, PNG Hunters would be looking for a strong start against Pride tomorrow to avenge their loss in Cairns.

Hunters have a tendency of allowing opposition teams to hit their strap in the first half before launching a comeback, which has backfired on them especially playing away games. This was evident against Wynnum last week.