Church assures families of support

By PATRICIA KEAMO
SP PNG Hunters head coach Mathew Church has assured the families of his 29-man squad that the players will be supported by him and his family when they relocate to the Gold Coast for the 2021 Intrust Super Cup season.
Church said he understood the sacrifice the players would be making in leaving their families behind and moving to another country because he did the same when coming to PNG to coach the Hunters.
“My family are already formulating ways of how they can help out in the Hunters programme and volunteer in helping the boys when we move there,” he said.
“They are already Hunters supporters by virtue of being related to me and they have already jumped onboard to help drive the boys during game day or selling of merchandise and so on.”
Church thanked the families of the players for allowing them to move to Australia and for supporting them.
He said as their head coach he would be working with the Queensland Rugby League to ensure the boys had as much support to be successful both on and off the field.
“Having grown up in Queensland and spent most of my life there, I know what opportunities are there so I’m excited to expose the boys around there.” Church said although he would be closer to his family, he was also mindful that the players would be away from theirs so he plans to spend as much time with them.
“I’ll manage and spend a lot of time there in camp, getting them acclimatised to Australian life,” he said.
“Getting them the understanding of where they can go in the Gold Coast and some local attractions, shopping and other necessities that they’re going to need.”
Meanwhile, he urged Hunters supporters to continue sending positive words of encouragement and support for the players as the relocation would be require some adjustment by the players.