SP PNG Hunters

The Hunters and Blackhawks are each on six competition points with Hunters keen to go in front with a home victory at their Runaway Bay Seagulls base to put them back within the top eight.

Hunters coachSP PNG Hunters coach Matt Church has had the luxury of making only one change to his team for Saturday’s Intrust Super Cup clash.

The Hunters have help on the way with some key players returning for the clash with the eighth-placed Dolphins following last weekend’s bye.

The Hunters surged through a three-game winning streak in the early rounds with one of the best defensive records in the Intrust Super Cup before injuries and suspensions left them with only 17 and 18 players to select from for their last two matches.

The Hunters haven’t held the Kokoda Cup since 2017 when they thrashed the Bears in the annual Anzac Day showdown between the teams.

But the last two clashes for the Cup have been disappointing for the Hunters – Burleigh won 34-18 in 2018 before a forgettable 56-4 result at Pizzey Park on Anzac Day two years ago.

Gold Coast Titans half Jamal Fogarty scored 24 points that day against a Hunters team featuring four players who have been named for Sunday’s match.

A regular in the Hunters side since 2018, the 25-year-old had surgery on Monday to repair fractures in different bones in his forearm.

Norman Brown, 23, now has the opportunity to make his Intrust Super Cup debut on the wing when the Hunters meet the sixth-placed Falcons at Runaway Bay’s Bycroft Oval.

Brown, who played fullback for Hela Wigmen in their Digicel Cup grand final victory against Lae Tigers last October, has experience in pressure matches with one other grand final victory under his belt.

Despite the Hunters defending the act as a tackle gone wrong with no intention to make shoulder contact, Appo will now miss the match against the Sunshine Coast Falcons on April 17th.

This is a minor setback for the 22-year-old from the outskirts of Goroka in the Eastern Highlands, who deferred his final year science studies at the university to establish himself in the Hunters side and make the Kumuls’ squad for the upcoming World Cup. He had been in good form and thriving in a leadership role.

Church has only 24 players in the Hunters’ camp on the Gold Coast during the testing 2021 campaign, which will mirror the Warriors’ NRL effort of 2020 by playing an entire season
away from home.

The Hunters’ spirited comeback from 16-0 down to lose 18-20 against the highly-rated
Seagulls– despite less than two weeks’ preparation after having to endure a month’s
quarantine – was a standout story of the first round.

Scott Barker who was part of Wayne Bennet’s brains trust for almost two decades as the decorated coach’s high performance analyst, will build on the Hunters success as they embark upon their historic 2021 season.

1. TERRY LONGBUT-REPORTING
2. FILE FOOTAGE- HUNTERS

Scott Barker has spent time in many roles with the Broncos, Dragons, Knights, Maroons, Kangaroos, and in France and England.

PNGRFL a/CEO, Stanley Hondina, in a media statement issued today, said the letter from QHA forwarded by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) read in part: “In Queensland, when there is a positive case of COVID-19, our contact tracing officers identify the close contacts of that case and direct those contacts into 14 days of quarantine; being the accepted incubation period of COVID-19.”

PNGRFL Acting CEO Stanley Hondina issued a statement today, and on Thursday February 4, at 5pm, all 34 players and staff entered the prearranged quarantine bubble as outlined in the Quarantine Plan provided to Queensland Health Authority (QHA) and underwent PCR testing.

“The results of the tests were received on Friday February 5, 2021 and with the exception of one member whose result was classified as ‘inconclusive’, all were negative,” Hondina said.

“The member was immediately isolated pending further investigations and testings.”

With the inclusion of these new players from the 2019 Digicel Cup competition, the team is looking forward to the 2020 ISC competition.

The players who will be joining the Hunters team include Casey Dickson and Mark Piti from the Lae Snax Tigers, Emmanuel Waine and Stanford Talita from Hela Wigmen, Francis Takai from the Rabaul Gurias and Steven Bruno from the Kimbe Cutters.