Queensland Cup

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.  
 

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. 

A heaving crowd at the Santos National Football Stadium was treated to a smorgasbord of attacking football on Saturday afternoon as the Hunters and Jets traded shots in a high-scoring affair.

The points didn’t come straight away, though. Both sides were disciplined to begin the game and worked through their sets cleanly to kick to the corners. The Hunters enjoyed good service from middles Henry Wan Noki, Ila Alu and Junior Rop in the opening stages as they rolled downfield, while the Jets kicking game kept them in the yardage battle.

The Hunters were slow to start in the slippery conditions but scrambled well to defend an early Blackhawks’ linebreak through the middle of the field. They couldn’t defend the consecutive knock on, penalty and six-again infringements that came next though, with Townsville capitalising on the field position to open the scoring with a well weighted grubber into the in goal for Jaelen Feeney.

The Hunters are coming off a loss but will take plenty of confidence from their performance in Round 7, which saw them push the defending premiers Norths Devils right to the siren.

Despite having almost half as much time in possession as the Devils and losing halfback Jamie Mavoko to a HIA just seven minutes into the game, the Hunters still managed to miss less tackles, run for more post contact metres and all but match Norths in average metres per set.

From the kickoff it was clear the Hunters had a point to prove, defending their line for  consecutive sets and denying Norths on both edges before forcing them to find points with a kick to Brendan Frei in the 3rd minute. 

The Hunters would react convincingly, again turning Norths away on their own line before defending a second attacking kick. Hunters’ winger Terry Wapi would make a superb defensive catch to take possession for the Hunters before getting them 50m upfield with a clever run down the touch line. 

The Hunters have endured a difficult start to the 2022 season, facing four of the top five sides across the opening six rounds of the competition.

With a young squad and skipper Ila Alu in the casualty ward, the Hunters have had to learn the hard way and there is a belief in the group that they are building towards something promising.

The Devils are coming off a shoot-out win over Ipswich in Round 5 where a combined 68 points were scored. Norths entire backline crossed for a try in that game and shape as an area of strength again for the Devils in Round 8.

As part of a regular review of the Hunters’ progress, SP PNG Hunters Chairman Stan Joyce CSM and Director Jeremy Edwards have met with CEO Scott Barker and Head Coach Matt Church to discuss the Hunters’ performance.

It was also an opportunity to ensure the club’s long-term strategic plan remains on track and that agreed targets are being met.

The meeting acknowledged that this season’s results have not met the expectations of the club, which tasted premiership success in 2017.

The Burleigh Bears started their 2022 campaign with consecutive wins over Wynnum-Manly, Townsville and Redcliffe before falling short to the Tweed Seagulls in Round 4.

After a week off over the Easter long weekend, the Bears will be looking to bounce back from that loss with a strong showing on Monday.

The PNG Hunters are looking to add to their Round 1 win over Mackay after a string of tough losses to three of the competition heavyweights in the opening month of the season.

The Hunters have made a fair start to the 2022 season, winning their opening game before going down in tightly-fought contests in the last two weeks. In both losses, the Hunters finished strongly to win the second half and the focus is now on starting well against the Falcons this week.