Wests Tigers back Justin Olam continued his impressive start with the club, scoring a brace of tries to secure a narrow 17-16 victory against the Parramatta Eels in a nail-biting NRL Round 4 clash yesterday. The Papua New Guinea international maintained his hot form under coach Benji Marshall, putting in a powerful performance at both ends of the field at CommBank Stadium in Sydney. Olam, who joined the Tigers this season after a stint with the Melbourne Storm, has now scored tries in both his appearances for the club. His debut try came a fortnight ago in their convincing 32-6 win over the Cronulla Sharks. The Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League (PNGRFL), through its partnership with the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and the Australian Government’s PacificAus Sports Program, supported five outstanding PNG-based players from last year’s Santos PNG Orchids Rugby League World Cup squad to further their rugby league careers in Australia in 2023. 🌸 Belinda Gwasamun - Norths Devils - BMD Premiership, QRL 🌸Bertshiba Awoi - Norths Devils- BMD Premiership, QRL 🌸Gloria Kaupa - Wentworthville Magpies - Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership 🌸Martha Molowia - Norths Devils- BMD Premiership, QRL 🌸Roswita Kapo - Wentworthville Magpies- Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership THE Papua New Guinea Kumuls have a great chance of improving their standing in the Rugby League International Federation’s world rankings after Samoa’s big losses to Australia and New Zealand, and Tonga’s loss to England last week. If the Justin Holbrook-coached side beat Fiji Bati in the two upcoming two tests of the Pacific Championship Bowl, they could leap-frog Tonga and Samoa and secure the fourth spot. The Kumuls are currently ranked sixth ahead of Bati (No.7) while Tonga is fifth. The top four countries are world champions Australia (No.1), New Zealand (No.2), Samoa (No.3) and England (No.4). THE Papua New Guinea Football Association has appointed Warren Moon as head coach of the men’s national football team in a short-term arrangement to lead the team to the Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands. Apart from his role with the team in the Pacific Games, Moon will be assisting PNGFA in creating a national development programme within his three-month contract with the association. Moon is an experienced football coach, bringing in a wealth of knowledge from his previous roles which include three years as head coach of the Brisbane Roar, Lions FC and general manager of the Brisbane Roar Football Academy. The Papua New Guinea Rugby League (PNGRFL) CEO, Mr. Stanley Hondina together with PNG LNG Kumuls Chairman, Wapu Sonk in a press release, announced the 21-person squads for the upcoming Pacific Championships this October – November 2023. Papua New Guinea will participate with the PNG LNG Kumuls and the Santos PNG Orchids, playing matches in Port Moresby. The teams under Head Coaches Justin Holbrook of the PNG LNG Kumuls and Ben Jeffries of the Santos PNG Orchids, are set to field the best available athletes in the sport, competing at the highest possible level and also exposing talent having come through the existing PNGRFL pathways. Mr. Hondina shared, “With the excitement from the Prime Minister’s XIII and finally having international exhibition and test matches now returning to PNG, we are seeing the different levels of the pathway for our game highlight the ability of our pool of players from the various national championships and now the mentioned matches.” WHILE this year’s Hastings Deering Colts Under 21 premiership is Ragarive Wavik’s immediate goal with the Townsville Blackhawks, he wants to one-day play in the NRL and further to that, represent Papua New Guinea on the international stage. The Blackhawks will face Brisbane Tigers in the grand final on Saturday and the Port Moresby-born fullback wants to rewrite the history. He was part of the Townsville team last year that claimed a 46-32 grand final win over the Redcliffe Dolphins and scored two tries. The National Premier League (NPL) competition match between Hekari United and Lae City Dwellers in Lae will not go as expected and the Lae City Dwellers management are not happy about this.
Hekari United are set to play a friendly match in Jakarta, Indonesia Perispura Football Club following an MoU with Perispura and Hekari to develop the code of soccer. Lae City Dwellers Coach, Peter Gunemba in an interview today told Kalang Sports, they haven't received any notice from Hekari United or through the Competitions Department that their game with Hekari this weekend will not be played. The major sponsor of the four-time national PNG champions the Lae Snax Tigers and a trusted and reputable company founded in 1972, the Lae Biscuits branding will appear on the back of the Sharks NRL shorts for the remainder of the 2023 season, beginning with their round 20 match on Sunday. As stated by Sharks CEO Dino Mezzatesta, this association with Lae Biscuits is a ground breaking partnership and is set to be of great benefit to both organisations. “The Lae Biscuit Company have been long time supporters of rugby league in PNG and we thank Ian Chow and Lae Biscuits for considering the Sharks as a viable partner as they look to spread their wings into the Australian market,” Mezzatesta began. “The Sharks trialled in PNG in 2020 and were exceptionally well received, with this partnership further cementing our relationship with the only country in the world where rugby league is the national sport. By Edward Maia / FM 100 The SP PNG Hunters came out victorious at home against the Mackay Cutters with a 18-10 win in round seven of the hostplus cup in Port Moresby on Saturday. Hunters’ fullback Morea Morea continues to give himself every chance of making a Kumuls debut this year with a first half opener thanks to a towering kick from rookie five-eighth Joshua Mire causing Cutters an error. Jamie Mavoko added the two pointers, giving the hunters the first lead 28 mins into the first half. Benji Kot from the left centers breaks through the defense to score in 16 mins before half-time to increase the hunter lead. With Mavokos sideline conversion was unsuccessful, the Hunters could not add more to the board through-out the game with missed side-line conversions. Assistant Coach Paul Aiton said they are working against the clock to find a suitable goal kicker before the season reaches its peak. 11 minutes before Half-time Cutters Joshua Smith crossed over for the visitors, opening their account with 4 points. After a successful conversion by Brendan Finnegan, bringing the scores to 10-6 with cutter trailing 4 points behind. THE PNG Hunters had to settle for a close 38-36 loss to the visiting Brisbane Tigers in the round 3 of the Hostplus Cup on Saturday. The high scoring affair thrilled a vocal crowd at the Santos National Football Stadium with Hunters coach Stanley Tepend admitting that while his side could score points it was the other areas of the game such as discipline and consistency that had let them down. Fullback Morea Morea Jnr shone for the home side scoring a hattrick of tries and kicking three goals for 16 points while for the Tigers hooker Tristan Hope proved the difference between the two sides scoring 18 points through a try, five conversions and two crucial penalty goals for his match-winning tally. The Hunters also had to contend with being a man down for 20 minutes of the match after the sin-binnings of back-rower Sherwin Tanabi and five-eighth Sakias Komati on either side of the break for dangerous contact. The Hunters established themselves strongly in the first 30 minutes of the game when they dominated possession and scored four tries to lead 18-4. |
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