Hunters stick with same 17

SP Hunters coach Matthew Church has stuck by his side for their Queensland Intrust Super Cup round-two clash with Ipswich at Bycroft Oval on the Gold Coast on Saturday (3pm kick-off).
Enock Maki was a late withdrawal from the round-one side because of knee swelling after training session last week and remains unavailable for selection this weekend.
The Hunters prop is awaiting his scan results but, with injury the biggest threat to the Hunters due to their thin 24-man squad, Church says he’d rather sway on the side of caution and has not included the 31-year-old international, who has been an integral part of the club since 2015.
“The side really performed well and did enough to all retain their spots,” Church said.
“Hopefully Maki’s scans give a positive result.
“The boys should be pretty happy with their efforts in round one.
“To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect, considering the unusual situation leading up to the match.
“We made a few little errors that could have made it a different result, but they are not big things that we have to worry about.
“We had six players on debut and every one of them went well.
“Jokadi Bire and Benji Kot (who came into the second row to replace Maki with Epel Kapinias moving to the front) were really good on debut.
“Jokadi picked up a try and Benji broke the line a few times with good feet, so it was really encouraging.”
Church said his players were grateful for the positive support from home since their last match.
“We’ve been really encouraged by the messages we’ve received,” he said.
“The Wynnum players were fantastic after the game as they stood around in the huddle.
“Their captain (Matiu Love-Henry) spoke on behalf of his team and thanked our players for being here this season, understanding the sacrifices they were making.
“It was a very nice gesture and was much appreciated by our players.”
Hunters: Terry Wapi, Junior Rau, Brendan Nima, Jokadi Bire, Brendon Gotuno, Watson Boas, Charlie Simon, Epel Kapinias, Wartovo Puara Jr, Samuel Yegip, Benji Kot, Keven Appo, Ila Alu (C); Interchange – Edwin Pape, Sylvester Namo, Emmanuel Waine, Judah Rimbu; Reserves – Mark Pitti, Jeffery Robert, Solo Wane, Norman Brown.