Gurias remain upbeat despite away games

By ROBINSON LEKA
THE Rabaul Gurias remain upbeat despite playing away for the first four Digicel Cup rounds at least, says team manager Mapua Tamtu.
The first four rounds of the competition, which kicks off on Saturday, will only be played at Port Moresby’s Sir John Guise Stadium and Lae Rugby League Ground after the season was revised in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s something we can’t do much about but rugby league needs to resume and although it may be hard on us, I believe we’ll manage,” Tamtu told The National.
“We were the unfortunate ones because of the Covid-19.
“We had a positive case in our province and we weren’t allowed to travel and some of our players from outside provinces couldn’t make it out.
“The good thing is that we were all together. We managed to organise quickly and train when we were told that the competition would start.
“We have some senior players in the team and they know what it’s like to be under pressure.
“When we started preparations, we went through the Covid-19 protocols like all the other teams.
“There were a lot of sacrifices from most of our players compared with how we normally do things.
“So we’ve really come to observe things like social distancing, wearing masks and sanitising our hands.”
“We were expecting to play on Sunday but our match is on Saturday.
“We’re always ready to have a game and preparations are all good and we’re set to go.”
Tamtu said the squad were in Rabaul awaiting confirmation on when they would be travelling to Port Moresby for their opener against the Mt Hagen Eagles.