sp hunters

It was a balanced opening quarter as both sides looked to find their rhythm.

The Hunters found theirs first in the 21^st minute when Israel Eliab found space down the short side and gave it on to Watson Boas, who drew in the defence before firing out to Bland Abavu to run away to score.

Captain and five-eighth Ase Boas had no trouble converting to make it 6-0.

The Magpies found the try line later in the 31^st minute of play after some good vision from Luke Archer saw him cross over on the wing.

The squad was announced on Tuesday this week.

Marum has added Brandy Peter, Lawrence Tu’u and Karo Kauna Jnr to the extended 20 man squad.

The 20 man squad is (three to be omitted): 1. Stargroth AMEAN 2. Bland ABAVU 3. Israel ELIAB 4. Willie MINOGA 5. Adex WERA 6. Ase BOAS – Captain 7. Watson BOAS 8. Wellington ALBERT 9. Wartovo PUARA Jnr 10. Esau SIUNE 11. Nixon PUT 12. David LOKO 13. Stanton ALBERT 14. Sailas GAHUNA 15. Rhadley BRAWA 16. Enock MAKI 17. Moses MENINGA 18. Brandy PETER 19. Lawrence TU’U 20. Karo KAUNA Jnr.

The home side hit the lead with a try to Luke Pollock in the fifth minute. But the Hunters responded just four minutes later through Stargroth Amean.

Tries to both teams left the score locked at 12-12 at the break.

The second half was when the Hunters put the points on, starting in the 41^st minute when in-form winger Adex Wera crossed over to score.

Tries also went to Bland Abavu in the 45^th minute, Stanton Albert (56), Nixon Put (62) and Moses Meninga (78).

The lad from Karani village, in the Southern Highlands Province, who started playing rugby league in primary school in Port Moresby, said he sacrificed his studies at the University of Technology in Lae and pushed his way into the SP Hunters.

“I withdrew from studies and started with the Hunters.

“Last year I played my 50^th Intrust Super Cup game and played Test matches for PNG," he said.

“I got offered contracts to play overseas so I trained with Souths Logan Magpies during the pre-season for two to three months and I came back to PNG.

The Devils handed the Hunters their first loss this season at home in round four, and will be looking to avenge this.

“There are no major injury worries to deal with after last weekend’s win.

“They are playing well and we want to start the 2nd half of the season on a positive note,” said Marum.

Marum congratulated Bland Abavu, who will be playing his 50th Intrust Super Cup game for the Hunters on Sunday.

The only addition to the extended bench is Paul Wawa.

Boas shot to the top after racking up 14 points (from converting six tries and one penalty goal) in yesterday’s 42-4 win over the Townsville Blackhawks at home.

The top point scorers:

1) Ase Boas (116), Jamayne Isaako - Souths Logan Magpies (112), Carlin Anderson -Townsville Blackhawks (110), Guy Hamilton - Sunshine Coast Falcons (102), Joshua Beehag - Redcliffe Dolphins (88).

The top try scorers:

Marum’s men ran in seven tries in what was a one-sided affair in the round 12 clash at home in Port Moresby.

“To get the win against Blackhawks is not always easy. We really prepared well for the game,” said Marum.

“Everyone looked out for each other in defence and attack. We hung in there and completed the game. It was a well-deserved win.”

Moving forward, Marum said the team will recover and prepare well for this weekend’s game against the Norths Devils in Australia.

“They had a win against us up here so it’s going to be another tough one,” said Marum.

The visitors crossed the try line after two minutes of play when leading competition points scorer Carlin Anderson crossed over to score.

The Hunters responded immediately through enforcer David Loko, who sliced through the defence to score under the posts.

Buoyed on by a vocal home crowd of 6,768, the Hunters grabbed their second four-pointer through fullback Stargroth Amean, who scored in similar fashion to the first try.

The points continued to come easy with Boas kicking a penalty followed by another try to Amean in the 29th and Willie Minoga in the 33rd.

After 11 rounds, the Hunters have racked up 18 points from eight wins, two losses and one bye.

The Hunters have a points for and against of 74.

The top six:

SP Hunters (18), Sunshine Coast Falcons (17), Redcliffe Dolphins (16), Easts Tigers (13), Norths Devils (12), Townsville Blackhawks (12).

The Hunters arrived back in the country yesterday afternoon.

The 20-man squad will be named tomorrow afternoon for this Sunday’s home game against the Townsville Blackhawks. 

(File picture)

Tries to Wellington Albert, Adex Wera and Israel Eliab pushed the Hunters to a 22-0 lead at half-time.

The home side hit back with two tries after the 60 minute mark with points to Dane Phillips (62m) and Mitch Carpenter (66m).

This brought the score to 22-12 in favour of the visitors.

But the Hunters had enough to take the game away, striking twice with four pointers to captain and five-eighth Ase Boas (73) and Bland Abavu (77) to seal the win.

(File picture)