Gurias plan a strong start

By ROBINSON LEKA
RABAUL Gurias co-coach Marcus Kaugla says they can ill afford poor starts despite their 38-2 round-two win over Gulf Isou in the Digicel Cup in Port Moresby on Sunday.
He said stronger sides like defending champions Tigers, who they face in the top-of-the-table clash in Lae on Sunday, were good at making teams pay for poor completion rates.
However, Kaugla said he was happy with the addition of former SP Hunters squad member Silas Gahuna and utility Stanley Olo who scored a try each at Sir John Guise Stadium.
“Olo is one of our key players and he really stepped up in the match,” he said.
“Despite the win, we still have to work on a lot of areas, especially our attack and completion rate.”
Kaugla hailed their defence but he warned his ladder leaders not to be complacent heading into the Tigers clash at the Lae Rugby League Ground.
The second-placed Tigers and the Gurias will be looking to maintain their perfect starts after convincing wins over the past two rounds.
Meanwhile, Isou coach Nigel Hukula commended the efforts of his cellar dwellers despite their 36-point drubbing.
“We’re getting better and I’m looking at things like their efforts,” he said.
“The scoreline tells us one story but there’s a lot of things that I also look at in cohesion and I thought we got some good minutes from our forwards.
“We were well in the game in first half but it blew out a little bit.
“Our second-half start was definitely one that we didn’t want.
“We had a couple of dropped balls. We need to improve on the basics as the season continues.
“Most of the Gurias’ tries were scored on the edges where they had smart players come up from the middle.
“But we held our own and credit to my players.”