Hunters may have home games

By PARKER TAMBUA
QUEENSLAND Intrust Super Cup matches may return to Port Moresby’s Oil Search National Football Stadium if the city’s Coronavirus vaccination rollout reaches 80 per cent of the population, says an official.
Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League chairman Sandis Tsaka said on Friday that he had discussions with Deputy National Pandemic Response Controller Dr Daoni Esorom on the possibility of the SP Hunters hosting games here.
The last time Hunters had hosted a visiting team from Australia was two years ago.
“I just got word from Dr Daoni that vaccination in Port Moresby is up to 15 per cent,” Tsaka said.
“If we can push that up to 80 per cent then there is high possibility that they will open up Port Moresby for international teams to come and play.
“So please let us help drive the message and get more people vaccinated, so we can have our Hunters play home games at the stadium.”
Meanwhile, Hunters coach Matthew Church said his side would like to come back and play on home soil as soon as they could.
“It was a big change for us this year as we didn’t get to play in front of our fans at this amazing stadium,” he said.
“We played in Queensland in 2021.
“But statistics show that the Hunters have won most of their games when they play in front of big crowds in Port Moresby.”
The Australian coach said they would love to come back and play in Port Moresby as soon as they can.
Church said Hunters were not the only team from outside of Australia who had struggled to make the finals due to relocation.
He said Ron Massey Cup team Kaiviti Silktails, of Fiji, and the National Rugby League’s New Zealand Warriors had struggled in their respective competitions due to their relocation to Australia.