Double-header to thrill city residents

HELLO everyone, welcome to the 4th edition of Churchie’s Comment for the year in your favourite rugby league newspaper — The National.
Footy is back. With the NRL Nines played over the weekend, it was great to watch some rugby league. The Bulldogs and Sharks arrive today so its an exciting time for the SP Hunters but more importantly, for all our rugby league fans in Papua New Guinea.
Having the teams here is a great initiative and I thank the NRL and Australian High Commission for their input to making this possible. While everyone can’t wait to watch them play, I’m hoping our staff can also watch them train.
With the help of a few connections, I have reached out to both teams to see if we can get our staff in and around their NRL staff for a transfer of knowledge. I will also enjoy the opportunity to catch up with some players I have previously worked with in other teams.
We wrapped our pre-season preparations last week. Finishing off with a trial against the Hela Wigmen, a match played in 10-minute quarters. It was arranged as a closed session and a good opportunity for our players to get into some match conditions. It was also an opportunity for my assistant coach Glen Nami.
I asked Glen to coach the side for the match so that I had the chance to give him some feedback on his coaching. We obviously don’t get that opportunity during the season, so it was good to be able to give him that chance.
We’d like to thank Charlie Wabo and Noel Zeming from the Wigmen for helping put the game together. I also acknowledge the help of the local referees and touch judges and hope that the opportunity will help them in their roles.
Played in humid conditions and a five-minute downpour, ball security was something we struggled to maintain. Shortening it to 10-minute quarters also made it hard to build pressure. It was a good hit-out for both teams and played in great spirit.
So with our physical preparation out of the way, we travelled to the Lakani Toi Memorial Church at Hanuabada on Sunday for a dedication service for the Hunters. The church is under renovation but the congregation still provided us with a tremendous service.
Reverend Rei Lahui Vai gave an inspiring sermon, speaking about the master plan and that through “God’s will”, the players are the favoured ones. The church chairman also spoke about the SP Hunters attendance and that we were destined to be there.
Sitting there looking around at the church renovation and listening to these men talk about the SP Hunters, it wasn’t lost on me that the Hunters were undergoing a “church” renovation of their own. Being a carpenter for 20 years, I know that all good renovations take time, lots of hard work and sometimes a little patience before you get to see the finished product.
As we prepare for our first trial against the Central Queensland Capras on Saturday, we will give everyone the opportunity for some game time.
It will be a little clunky playing 28 players but feel everyone should get some game time in front of our home fans. For our second trial the following Saturday, we head to Cairns to take on the Northern Pride. We will narrow the team travelling to Cairns down to 18 or 20 players. Until next week, let’s respect and be kind to each other.

Cheers,
Matt