Michael Marum

Their dominant performance in their final home game was more than satisfying for Coach Michael Marum.

True to their word, the SP PNG Hunters made their last home game count in front of a record crowd of 12,000 people at the National Football Stadium.

It was 40-16 when the final whistle blew, with the team looking forward to taking on the Central Queensland Capras on Saturday, August 25^th, at Browne Park.

The SP PNG Hunters are now on solid ground and focused on winning their final home game in front of their loved ones and supporters this Sunday.

When the team started training early this year, half of the Hunters squad was made up of newcomers.

It took a while for Coach Michael Marum to establish their strengths and weaknesses.

“By mid-season I knew which players were going to be left out and which players we were going to rely on,” stated Marum.

“We were just waiting on the right time to start winning those games.”

He said this when questioned why no Digicel Cup players were not selected in the Kumuls Squad.

Marum said they are sticking with players from the NRL and Queensland and New South Wales Cup competitions given their level of competitiveness.

“We have a standard here, and we’ve won the Pacific Test two years in a row now so it will always be like that, and we can’t go down to that level.

“If you consider the level up there it is too tough. And I respect all the level there but at the moment our focus is on our best players,” said the coach.

Michael Marum said at the press conference today that he’s only added Edene Gabbie and Paul Wawa to the extended 20-man bench.

The 20-man squad is:

1. Adex WERA
2. Junior RAU
3. Thompson Teteh
4. Willie Minoga
5. Brendon GOTUNO
6. Charlie SIMON
7. Watson BOAS
8. Enock MAKI
9. Wartovo Puara Jnr                   -       Captain
10. Stanton ALBERT
11. Nixon PUT
12. McKenzie YEI
13. Rhadley BRAWA

Interchange

After their third consecutive win yesterday, the Hunters have now moved into 9^th place on 10 points with the top six now within reach.

Marum said the bye in round 9 was just what the Hunters needed after getting off to a rocky start to the season.

“We changed a lot of things we did wrong over the first seven weeks. I put some really strict rules in place and we went back to the drawing board.

“Most of the senior players that you see now leading the team were the ones that I pulled aside and spoke to them individually, and now they’re stepping up.

In a press conference today, coach Marum said the only addition is Edene Gabbie on the extended bench.

The 20-man squad is:

1. Adex WERA
2. Junior RAU
3. Thompson TETEH
4. Willie MINOGA
5. Butler MORRIS
6. Ase BOAS                    -            Captain
7. Watson BOAS
8. Enock MAKI
9. Wartovo PUARA JNR
10. Dilbert ISAAC
11. Nixon PUT
12. Ila ALU
13. Rhadley BRAWA

Interchange

It started out differently with newly appointed fullback Edene Gabbie dashing 80 metres to score and put the home side in front the first four minutes.

With Ase Boas converting, the Hunters were out to a 6-0 lead.

But the tourists responded not long after from a kick that found the hands of Marion Seve.

With the conversion successful, it was 6-6.

The Hunters muscled their way back to regain the lead through Willie Minoga, who barged through for a four-pointer.

Ase simply added the extras with ease.

After two consecutive losses playing away, the 32-18 victory has put the Hunters back on track, says coach Michael Marum.

“It was good to get a win back at home after two losses away so it was good for our confidence.”

However, Marum conceded it was a scrappy win from his team.

“There were a lot of mistakes but it’s something we can work on.

“We’re slowly working on our combinations. We’ll review the game at our video session and go through everything there.”

Captain and five-eighth Ase Boas agreed with the coach.

Marum’s record in the Intrust Super Cup: 67 wins, 29 losses and four draws.

A humble Marum said it was an honour.

“I don’t really look at my own statistics. It was just another game for me,” said Marum.

“It’s an honour to be coaching at this level to get a 100 games. It’s good to be coaching against some of the best rugby players in the past and coaches too.”

Three tries put the Hunters in charge at half-time with a 16-6 lead.

But the tide turned and the home side spent the better part of the second half defending their line

“We didn’t have the football in the second half. We gave away too many balls there so that’s something to work on,” said coach Michael Marum.

Ipswich Jets coach, Shane Walker, put his side’s loss down to the same factor.

“Yeah like Michael said about his own team, we turned over quite a bit of ball. There were a lot of turnovers.