| Sports |
Southern, Northern zones tipped to
take U17 crown
By WALLY HIAMBOHN
THE healthy rivalry between Southern and Northern zones
remains well and truly alive with one of the two likely to take
out rugby league’s National Milo Under-17 Cup in Kimbe today.
Both teams are well regarded in terms
of player composition and on-field prowess but on first account
Southern have the upper hand having defeated Northern 12-8 in
their first encounter yesterday. They drew with Islands 22-22 in
the other match to give coach Aquila Emil confidence of
retaining the Cup they won from Northern last year, while
Northern beat Highlands 20-16 in their second match.
Southern have top guns in five-eighth Stephen Sodes, centres
Solomon Buka and Ben Bip, halfback Peter Peala and the Jacob
brother, Justin and George while Northern boasts star fullback
Kingston Pisep who is fast developing into a future
representative player, his team-mate of Moscow fame Karlmax
Ambalyer, the Mobiha brothers, Alois and Henry, and props Simon
Bang and Francis Kagai.
Their clash yesterday, the second on the championship drawcard,
was an intensely physical affair which went right down to the
wire. All five tries of the game were scored out wide and could
have gone either way, demonstrating this intensity. The scores
were locked at 8 points apiece until Samson Pirika made a lucky
break for a 40-metre dash to score in the right corner and give
his side the first victory.
In the first match Islands and Highlands fought out an equally
intensive battle which Islands won 4-2. Again, the winner was
determined towards the end of the match.
Southern will meet Highlands and Northern play Islands this
morning to complete the round-robin preliminaries and determine
the final placings and play-off.
Apart from the championship honors for their respective teams,
players are vying for selection in the 20-member PNG team to
participate in the Australian Schools State Championships next
year, an event PNG will continue to participate at in subsequent
years. Other added incentives are for the selection of the
best-and-fairest player of the championship to win the Brad
Fittler award, which entails spending time at the Sydney City
Roosters pres-season training camp next year, and the
best-and-fairest of each match winning a Parramatta Eels ‘T’
shirt.
PNG Schoolboys Rugby League chief Iffysoe Segeyaro is pleased
with the level of skills being demonstrated at the championships
now in its third year. He commended Nestle (PNG) Limited which
is sponsoring the schoolboys’ competition and the zone and
national championships.
“Milo (Nestle product) is the lone sponsor that is making it
possible for us to identify and cultivate our young talents who
now have a permanent pathway to international selection and even
make an impression for recruitment into the Australia’s National
Rugby League competition,” Segeyaro said.
 
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