Boas back in the halves

The National Sports

By ISAAC LIRI
PLAYMAKER Ase Boas has been named at halfback for the SP PNG Hunters on Sunday to give the 2017 premiers some direction says coach Michael Marum.
Boas trained with the Hunters on Monday before he left for Rabaul yesterday and will be back in Port Moresby at the end of the week to travel with the team to Brisbane to take on competition leaders Easts Tigers.
“Ase has been registered with QRL so he’ll be playing for us this Sunday,” Marum said.
“He played four games in England before coming back and he did the fitness and medical tests and we expect him to take up that leadership role in the halves like he used to.
“He knows where we went wrong last week. He’s the sort of player that understands the game really well, he reads the plays well so he’ll be directing our sets and making sure our game plan is executed.”
Marum also added that Boas’s presence has also had a positive impact on the new players in camp however the 30-year-old’s return pushes William Mone out of the picture along with Nick Hasu, who makes way for Woods Kawage
“Three tries were scored on that edge where William and Junior Rop were defending and they were just soft tries,” Marum recalled.
“We’ve gone back and seen the first and second game and the same thing has been happening so we will work with them and hopefully they get back into the side.”
Marum also spoke of Kawage’s debut as a move that puts pressure on Charlie Simon in the hooking role. “I know Woods is a very quick player out of dummy-half and this is his chance to prove himself in that role.”
Marum also confirmed the return of Brendan Gotuno to the side.
The former Port Moresby Viper will be competing for a spot with the number of centres, wingers and fullbacks in camp.
Marum said Epel Kapinias and Kevin Appo bring youth and talent into the side and he was keen to see how they played.
Meanwhile, veteran prop Enoch Maki, who was put on report on Sunday for a high tackle, was cleared by the QRL judiciary.
SP Hunters: 1. Bland Abavu 2. Junior Rau 3. Shane Haro 4. Adex Wera (c) 5. Wawa Paul 6. Justin Yoka 7. Ase Boas 8. Moses Meninga (vc) 9. Charlie Simon 10. Enoch Maki 11 Kevin Appo 12. Epel Kapinias 13. Stanton Albert; Interchange: 14. Woods Kawage 15. Baudo Aba 16. Dilbert Isaac 17. Brendan Nima 18. Jack Oii 19. Jerry Teme 20. Jordon Pat.