Hunters eye revenge

THE Papua New Guinea Hunters  have a score to settle with the Sunshine Coast Falcons in the final round of the Q-Cup regular season on Sunday.
Back in Round 4 Michael Marum’s men was out-foxed by a Ryley Jacks-inspired home side.
It was the SP-backed side’s first loss of the 2016 season.
Jacks scored two tries and the Falcons won 28-20 but the margin could have been wider if it wasn’t for some desperate defence.
The Falcons seem to lift every time they face the Hunters and this is evident by the closeness of their encounters since 2014 but they have yet to win in PNG.
In the Hunters’ inaugural year, they beat the Falcons twice (16-4 and 25-24) before the Gold Coast-based side turned the tables in their first clash of 2015 (a 36-10 win at Sunshine Coast Stadium) before the Papua New Guineans restored their edge in contests with a 24-20 win in Kokopo.
Sunday’s Round 25 fixture is not for a finals spot as both teams are guranteed a place in the top six but the result will decide who each side faces in the first week of the finals.
A Hunters win could relegate the Falcons to sixth place and mean both sides meet again at the same venue in week one of the playoffs.
A Falcons win will see the Hunters play the Souths Logan Magpies at the National Football Stadium next week.