Bandi geared up for clash with Pride

PAPUA New Guinea SP Hunters front-rower Koso Bandi has taken heed of his coach’s message and he is determined to tighten the defence in the middle in the clash against competition leaders Northern Pride.
The Hostplus Cup round 9 fixture at the National Football Stadium in Port Moresby, will be the game to watch as Hunters are coming off from a big win over Townsville Blackhawks and they will be looking for consistency going up against the competition heavyweights.
Hunters pack led by Bandi, Anthony Worot, Jordan Pat and Valentine Richard have been solid in the middle. Aiton praised his forwards for their big improvement in terms of minimising errors and penalties.
Coach Paul Aiton stressed during training yesterday, especially for the forwards, to maintain the composer and find the balance between playing aggressive while playing calm.
Bandi said the boys in the middle will be looking to put into action the directives from the coach.
“The message from Aiton is simple, he wants us to maintain the discipline and he expects the forward to lead from the front,” Bandi said.
“We know the Northern Pride are sitting at the top of the ladder and we know what to expect. We will be going through our video sessions tomorrow (today) so we will know what they are going to bring.”
Despite the big win last week, Bandi said there were areas that the team needed to improve on.
“I think in terms of line speed, we were a bit slow and we cannot do that against quality sides, for this week, we want to make sure line speed is better than last week.”