SP PNG Hunters

The Hunters have an ANZAC Day Round 7 clash against 3rd place Burleigh Bears, 3pm Saturday at UAA Park Gold Coast, Queensland.

This sees Tony Worot promoted from the bench to the starting 13 in the number 8 jumper while Rontinga retains his number 4 jumper in the centres. 18th man Seal Kalo now comes onto the interchange bench in 17 while Joshua Mire in the 16. Wendel Kipsy now becomes the 18th man as part of the traveling party.

Nonetheless, the boys are moving on. The Hunters travel to Gold Coast this week for their round 7 match of the Hostplus Cup against 3^rd ranked Burleigh Bears on Saturday.

An injury riddled second half did not help the Hunters course to maintain their winning streak at home and make it 3 from 3.

While the Coach Aiton was visibly disappointed with the outcome, he commended his boys for their bravery to stay in the grind despite some late reshuffles to reserve forwards  Koso Bandi and Finley Glare due to injuries. The Hunters had surged to the 20-12 lead in the first quarter of the second period, only to be chased down by a class and powerful Dolphins side to reclaim the Jan Joyce Cup.

The 27 year old from Gumine in Simbu Province, has made 77 appearances for the Hunters, scored 31 tries (132pts) this year alone.

Nima has racked up 436 total running metres, averaging 109 running metres per game, a great testament to his work ethics and commitment to becoming a leader and role model for the next crop of Hunters players.

After enjoying some success at home against Wynnum-Manly Seagulls in Round 1 and Sunshine Coast Falcons in Round 3, the Hunters will take another challenging road trip to Piggabeen Sports Complex in Brisbane to take on the Tweed Seagulls in Round 4 of the QRL Hostplus Cup. Kickoff is at 5:00pm this Saturday, 6th April. Building confidence and some consistency in the early rounds of the new season is key to overcoming the challenges of playing away.

Mire had his first game of the season in round 3 against Sunshine Falcons coming off the bench where he was slotted straight into the main engine room at 2^nd row.

The young Simbu rising star is not shying away from the challenges of competing for starting spots in the Hunters team week in and week out, especially the No.6 position occupied by Sakias Komati.

The SP PNG Hunters kick off their round 4 campaign on Saturday against the Tweed Heads Seagulls in Brisbane.

Hunters Coach Paul Aiton has announced his 18-man squad for the trip including debutant Alex Max, Tony Worot and Benjamin Kot.

The Hunters have regrouped and are back to their normal training routine set for this Saturday’s outing. They are adamant about maintaining their early season intensity.

It was a remarkable turnaround for Hunters captain Ila Alu and his boys to bounce back with a close win 22-10 against Sunshine Coast Falcons last Saturday at the Santos National Football Stadium after their second-half mediocre performance against CQ Capras in Round 2 of the Hosplus Cup the week before.

Ila admitted it was not an easy win as they had to fight it out till the end to win but again credited the boys for having faith in each other, though they didn’t get the start they wanted. They however showed resilience in the second half to get the two points.

The Hunters had their work cut out for them, when they succumbed to a strong Capras outfit going down 36-18 in Rockhampton last week. While it’s still early days, Hunters Coach Paul Aiton said it was reality check for the boys to regroup and bounce back at home.

Both teams will be looking to bounce back after their Round 2 losses to CQ Capras and the Mackay Cutters respectively.

To be played this Saturday at 3pm, the Hunters are looking to improve on effort areas in their game, especially execution, defense and discipline which were their main downfall last week.

The Central-Queensland-based side made light work of the Western Clydesdales in QRL Round 1, winning 28-10 thanks largely to the work of their back five. This makes for an epic clash scheduled for 6pm kick-off tomorrow.

To pile on 36 points from seven tries in their first game of the season is a big confidence booster for Paul Aiton’s men but it was their improvements without the ball that should be most encouraging for the PNG Hunters faithful.