Rabaul Ashes

After their 16-all draw last week at Queens Park, Ashes were a different side with the inclusion of former Guria Jackie Marcus leading the young team around the park.

After a dismal start to their campaign this year going down 16-12 to Marlins in Game-(1) played at the Kalabond  two weeks ago, Ashes showed what they can do with a more polished performance last week when they hosted Game -2 at Queenspark.

Although it was a drawn match the Radaz boys took a lot of confidence out of the encounter and used it as a platform for the big decider on Saturday.

Ashes shot-off to a 6-4 lead at halftime before Kokopo fought their way back into the contest.  

The series, tagged as the ‘Clash of Towns’, was initiated to showcase the best and raw rugby league talent from Kokopo and Rabaul.

Game-2 kicked off at a blistering pace with a lot of big hits from both sides. Ashes, despite having the home ground advantage and a series to save, shot themselves in the foot early with alot of turnovers from poor handling errors, but at times earned a number of dubious penalties to help their course.

Kokopo Marlins proved the better side to take the first game defeating Rabaul Ashes 22-14 at the Kalabond oval.

The rugby league rivalry between Kokopo and Rabaul is a new concept that was first trialed out in 2021 and now has become an annual event to kick-off the new footy season.

The make-up of the two teams had a good mix of promising young local talent, led by a host of current Guria players in the likes John Ragi jnr, Ilias Stanley, Koni Benard, Chris Benjamin, Nathan Tente and Junias Guan to guide them around the park.

Rabaul Ashes proved the better side over Kokopo Marlins 8-4 to take out the Game 3 of the newly introduced series played.

At halftime, Ashes were leading 4-nil and continued their dominance in the 2^nd half to shut out the Kokopo boys until fulltime.

The big finale was described as fast and entertaining and the best out of the 3.

They clash at the Queen Elizabeth Park in Rabaul this Saturday.

The newly introduced competition is sponsored by Agmark and is part of the Gurias pre-season trials to identify new talent for the 2022 Digicel Cup.

In Game 1, Kokopo Marlins proved too strong and easily accounted for the Rabaul Ashes when they met at the Kerevat field in Gazelle District before Christmas.