Michael Marum

All about defence: Hunters

The Hunters had to fight off a late surge from the Magpies to pick up two competition points from the round 14 clash.

“In the first half, we didn’t complete all our sets and kept defending. The Magpies had a lot of football. Second half was the same thing. Our defence got us to the end. It got us through.

“At half time, I just basically told the team to stick to the game plan. We knew the Magpies were going to back really hard on us and the result showed that.

“In terms of attack, we have a lot of work to do. We’re looking forward to this weekend,” said Marum.

​20-man Hunters squad named for home game

Loko has been ruled out with an ankle injury sustained during last Saturday’s impressive win over Ipswich Jets.

Coach Michael Marum said Minoga will start at second row against his old team after serving a two match suspension.

Named in the 20-man squad is Brandy Peter.

Marum also took the opportunity to thank Air Niugini for putting up the Air Niugini Cup that will now be played between the two teams annually, starting this Sunday.

Marum: Kumuls side selected from four competitions

Marum, who is also the chairman of selectors, said any player taking part in a lower level competition is not eligible.

“These are the only four competitions we are selecting players out from. There are a lot of players playing overseas but when we start picking players from different competitions, it’s going to be a total mess.

“I’ll give an example of Israel Eliab who went away and played with the London Broncos. He came back struggling.

“We started last year with the players we picked and they provided the result," said Marum.

Hunters coach admits to errors in game

Two tries and a penalty was enough to give the Hunters the win over the competition leaders in a low scoring affair.

“I think we dropped eight balls in the first half and didn’t complete our sets well. Our kicking game wasn’t that good,” said Marum.

Marum added there were some positives from the win, one of which was the defensive effort that the Hunters put up for the full 80 minutes.

“It was always going to be a low scoring game. There are a lot of things we’ve taken out from this and we'll work on them. But I think we defended well all throughout the game.

Referee was inconsistent: Hunters coach

Hunters were defeated by Norths Devils 32-18 in round four of the Queensland Intrust Cup at the National Football Stadium in Port Moresby.

“Just because we lost the game, I’m not blaming the referee but he was a bit inconsistent with the rulings a few times during the game,” said the coach.

“The performance of the referee can affect the team.

“We got off to a bad start in the first half with penalties after penalties and a lot of points came from penalty goal kicks and that’s a really big concern for us.”

Marum blames loss on undisciplined play

Hunters went down to Norths Devils 32-18 in round four of the Queensland Intrust Cup in front of 5148 supporters at the National Football Stadium in Port Moresby.

Marum admitted that it was undisciplined play from the team, especially during the first half and early in the second half, giving away four penalties.

“We got off to a bad start and we allowed four easy tries,” said the coach.

“Our kicks at the end of the sets didn’t go well, allowing the Devils to score 12 points in less than five minutes.

Marum: It was a tough win

The Hunters led 18-0 from the first half and had to fight off a late to surge from the Tigers in the back end of the second half to come out victors 30-20.

“It was a tough match against the Tigers. They played hard right throughout the match and came back stronger in the second half. It was a tough win.

 “It was also a good start for us playing our first home game. But we still have some things we really need to work on for the next game and the upcoming games.

“I can’t take anything away from the boys, they stuck through right to the end,” said Marum.

Hunters’ coach confident for a win

“We have speed out there and our halves are quick so we just have to do the little things right and keep things nice and simple.

“We know the Capras have been building up their team for this season and will be tough to beat.

“We lost to them 27-20 last year, but we’re ready for them now.

“A win in round one will really get us on the right track this season,” said Marum.

Today’s match will kick off at 6pm at Browne Park, Rockhampton, Australia.

Marum names 20-man extended squad

In naming the 20-man extended squad this afternoon, Hunters coach Michal Marum said both Albert and Amean will be rested this weekend after suffering minor injuries from last weekend’s trial match in Cairns.

“Stargroth has a suspected fractured collar bone while Wellington has a sternum injury,” said Marum.

Marum added Junior Rop and Watson Boas are also out, injured.

On to Nixon Put, Marum named the Western Highlands youngster in the starting line-up after a stellar performance last weekend.

Marum: Great honour to host World Cup

It is also a privilege for the code to bring the World Cup to PNG.

Marum said ever since he played for PNG, the country has always played away so to bring the RLWC matches to PNG, it means a lot to the fans and supporters out there.

The tournament is set from October 26-December 2 and will be co-hosted by Australia, New Zealand and PNG.

PNG will host the Kumuls’ three pool matches at the National Football Stadium (NFS) against Wales (October 28), Ireland (November 5) and the USA (November 12).