Dragons, Mosquitos play trials as season prep

Sports

NEIGBOURS Gabutu Dragons and Vabukori Mosquitos recently played trial matches to test their players for the new Moresby South Rugby League season which kicks off on Friday at Moresby South Stadium.
“We had so many players who wanted to play, so everybody was given an opportunity to prove themselves,” Dragons head coach Bagelo Solien said.
“The trials gave us an opportunity to identify our strengths and weaknesses, and test combinations among the fringe players.”
Mosquitoes are making a comeback to the competition after a lengthy hiatus due to unknown reasons.
Senior player Jacob Sarea said the majority of their male players were from Uritai village, Gulf.
“We started training after the JT Super Nines Cup tournament after receiving an invitation from the league.
“We were among the first clubs to pay our K1,500 (affiliation fee) last week.”
Mosquitoes are showing early signs of promise as they continue to work on their ball security, ruck play and defence.
Their women’s team are an unknown quantity, but they are determined to test themselves against the more established teams in the league.
Mosquitoes have a women’s squad of more than 40 rookies who continue to improve with each training session.
Solien praised Mosquitos for encouraging players to join their women’s team as the league was all about gender equality within its participating clubs.
“They are newcomers, so it will take time to develop themselves and get more interest from players,” he said.