Hunters’ new players

I WANT to share my views on what could be some of the contributing factors to Hunters’ dismal performances in 2018.
The current team has almost 10 new faces: That is half the team.
Many have not travelled out of the country before.
The mentality of sightseeing could be strong in their minds.
The game itself becomes secondary: Win or lose.
Some new inclusions in the squad reminded me of the notorious 1990s when we had multiple wrinkled-faced players in the Kumuls claiming to be 23 or 24 years old.
Some of these new inclusions were visibly huffing and puffing for air shamelessly with hands on their hips.
A 23 or 24-year-old does not do that. They are mobile, fast, full of energy and do not get tired easily.
The selectors must be honest in confirming players’ dates of birth to ensure we do not get a big body in the field who might be over-aged and too tired to keep up with consistency in the field.
Michael Marum is a good coach and won PNG the Queensland Intrust Super Cup in 2017.
He needs a little more creativity and flair in his game plans in 2018.
For the entire four years he coached the Hunters, we have yet to see a set play that is synonymous with the side.
We are yet to see Rabaul Gurias’ free-flowing football synonymous with his coaching when he was there. Fiji is using it in both codes – league and union – to go really well with their speed out wide. In PNG, we are still playing the one-up, one-up block-running style that is easily picked by our opponents. Hunters can do better in 2018.

V B Andrias
Lae