Hunters dealt injury blow ahead of Anzac round

THE Papua New Guinea Hunters hooking stock has taken a hit with starting rake Judah Rimbu battling illness while reserve Finley Glare will miss the match against the Burleigh Bears and joins another dummy-half specialist in injured Trevor Solu on the sidelines.
The other casualty from Saturday’s 39-20 loss to the Redcliffe Dolphins is prop Koso Bandi who did not complete the match.
Despite this setback coach Paul Aiton is unfazed by his reduced options for the Anzac round (Hostplus Cup round 7) game against the Burleigh Bears on Saturday, however he admitted losing Rimbu would be a big blow.
The 38-year-old is hoping that Rimbu is well before the teams fly out to Brisbane on Friday. Despite the uncertainty on Rimbu, Aiton has named the Kumuls hooker at No.9. Another headache for coach is the visa issues concerning starting centre-cum-second-rower Robert Mathias and front-rower Valentine Richard.
Mathias will continue to miss away matches for the next four weeks but Richard might travel with the team this week as his visa is almost done as per Aiton’s information on the situation.
Aiton said the Anzac round was an important one for his side and they were desperate to bounce back after the poor performance in the second-half last week which saw them conceded four tries.
“We lost Finley Glare through injury, it’s an ACL and Trevor Solu has hurt his knee again in training and Koso Bandi also injured,” Aiton said.
“It’s unfortunate but then we have a big squad so it gives the opportunity to other boys to play. Judah Rimbu is sick and he hasn’t been training but we are hoping that he gets well quick because we can’t lose him.
“Many people didn’t realise it but our bench was down last week.
“Our middle was under pressure; our forwards Jordan Pat and Valentine Richard were due to come off for a rest but then there was no one on the bench.
“Ila Alu also wanted to come off but we forced him to stay on the field and that put in more pressure in our defence in the second-half.
“But this is a quality team, we can win games, it’s the little moments that didn’t go our way,” said the Hunters coach.
Hunters: 1. Sanny Wabo 2. Brendon Nima 3. Clent Lama 4. Elijah Roltinga 5. Solo Wane 6. Joshua Lau 7. Jamie Mavoko 8. Valentine Richard 9. Judah Rimbu 10. Jordan Pat 11. Whallan Tau-Loi 12. Benjamin Kelly 13. Ila Alu. Interchange: 14. Anthony Worot 15. Alex Max 16. Weiyah Koi 17. Wendell Kipsy