Assistants relieve Church

By PARKER TAMBUA
SP Hunters coach Matthew Church says the inclusion of Stanley Tepend and Paul Aiton as his assistants will ease the communication barrier between him and the players.
The Australian said last week that English was the second or third language for most of the players who played under him in the 2021 Queensland Intrust Super Cup (now Hostplus Cup) season.
“Obviously, I understand that English is not a first language for most of these players,” Church said.
“So I do many things using the whiteboard and I notice that they understand it better when it is written.
“Now I have the luxury of two assistant coaches in Tepend and Aiton, who are fluent in Tok Pisin, so that will help.
“I’m very excited to work with these coaches and am looking forward to next season.”
Meanwhile, Church warned his 32-man train-on squad that they would be replaced if they did not work hard at training.
“Anyone who doesn’t want to work hard enough to be a Hunter will be replaced,” he said.
“I picked the squad that we assembled around 20 remaining players and based on what I felt we needed.
“I’ve already shown that in the first week when we let two players (Brendon Gotuno and Norman Brown) go.
“The release of two players gave me the luxury to fill in two players who I think we need.
“So Kingstimer Paraia and Sanny Wabo are grateful for the opportunity.”
The South Pacific Brewery-sponsored Hunters are into their third week of training at the Oil Search National Football Stadium in Port Moresby.