Gotuno aiming high

By MELTON PAIS
BRENDON Gotuno maybe in a team that will likely finish with the dreaded wooden spoon but the Port Moresby Vipers fullback will not let that dampen his excitement.
The 22-year-old’s side faces the Waghi Tumbi on Sunday at the National Football Stadium in the final round of the Digicel Cup’s regular season.
It is a game that will decide who finishes last.
The capital city franchise who could not snare a win over the competition’s first nine rounds find themselves in a do-or-die fixture on home turf.
But the Simbu and East New Britain man, who debuted for the Vipers in 2015, told The National that he would not be curbing his enthusiasm.
Gotuno along with older Ezra are AFL converts and achieved national representation in that code helping the Mosquitoes win the International Cup in 2014 when PNG defeated Ireland 6.9 (45) to 6.6 (42) in an epic final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The brothers switched codes after that triumph looking for fresh challenges and got their start playing for the Ira Lights in the Ipatas Cup in 2015.
Gotuno, who stands 174cm and weighs 83kg, proved his all-round ability and caught the eye as an exciting fullback and from there he was drafted into the Vipers, who had suffered a major exodus of top talent at the end of a successful 2013 season where they won the premiership.
The formation of the SP PNG Hunters and their entry into the Q-Cup the following year ensured the Vipers would be into a rebuilding phase paving the way for an athlete like Gotuno to be given a chance.
Gotuno says his best moment in his debut season (2015) came in his first match against the Agmark Gurias where he scored two tries at Kalabond Oval in Kokopo.
Incidentally, his brother Ezra was playing for the Gurias.
“It wasn’t easy playing against my brother back then but I just saw it as doing my job for my team and because I really loved the sport and didn’t want to let down my coach and teammates,” Gotuno said.
Fast forward two years and the brothers Gotuno are now part of the Vipers set up and enjoying their time together.
Round 14 fixtures: Sun, Aug 20 – Mioks v Wigmen, Tigers v Lahanis, Vipers v Tumbe, Muruks v Gurias.