Former Kumul back for Isapea

 By JOHN PANGKATANA

HE’s mad and hungry to perform. Suspended PRK/Prima Gulf Isapea powerhouse prop Nickson Kolo returns to the fray after being forced to the sidelines since week seven of the Digicel Cup rugby league competition.

The Western Highlander slips back into Isapea coach Nigel Hukula’s plans to assert their authority through the middle with his trademark blockbusting runs.

The former Kumul makes a timely a return to add more firepower to the Crocodiles pack as they look towards a more positive performance against his wantoks, the Wamp Nga Eagles at the Lloyd Robson Oval on Sunday.

Hukula yesterday confirmed that Kolo returned at an opportune time and would come on off the bench for greater impact.

He said regulars in Andrew Luke, Dick­son Wallen, Sigfried Gande and Sammy Hamari had stepped up and were moving well in tune to the demands of the game.

He confirmed the return of skipper Barry Pekaea to one side of their backs and a reshuffle in their halves with Jimmy Peter moved to half-back, Joshua Thomas to five-eighth, Willie Martin to lock and Mosley Tika to hooker.

“The Eagles are a bogey side … they can be consistently poor but when they hit their rhythm they can do collateral damage,” he said.

“We are going to be more concerned about what we trained for and basically improving on the defensive pattern that the players are now beginning to get a hang of,” he said.

Hukula confirmed injuries to utility back Nelson Wallen and Roger Kautete and the sidelining of centre Stanley Korowa for disciplinary issues. He  said the Isapea franchise had a corporate dinner in Port Moresby tonight.