Hunters to cast net

THE SP Hunters are set to look outside Papua New Guinea in search of an experienced playmaker to bolster their chances in the 2023 Hostplus Cup, coach Stanley Tepend says.
He said the club was working on bringing in a half from another Hostplus Cup side to shore up the Hunters spine which has been an area of concern for several seasons as the club has failed to make the playoffs since 2017.
Tepend did not reveal the names but said the players he is trying to bring across are contracted to other clubs.
“There’s couple of players that I will announce next week and we are still negotiating with them,” Tepend said.
“The players we want bring in are spine players and they were contracted to other clubs mid last season.
“We are still negotiating so once that is finalised, we will make an announcement.”
Meanwhile, Kumuls World Cup players Emmanuel Waine, Wesa Tenza, Sherwin Tanabi and Roderick Tai had returned to SP Hunters pre-season training after having two weeks off.
Veteran No.9 Wartovo Puara Jr, who was still on rehab after he broke his hand in the Prime Minister’s 13 clash in September, also returned to training.
With the return of senior players, Tepend said the focus during the week was on game techniques.
“We are happy to welcome back our senior players,” Tepend said.
“Emmanuel Waine, Wesser Tenza and Sherwin Tanabi had great experience at World Cup. Wartovo Puara is still recovering as well as Edene Gebbie so the camp has lifted with these players coming in.
“Our focus this week has been on game stuffs. That’s the main area that we were working on but last week it was all about basics and core running and core skills.
“Last week’s session gave us an idea of where we are at so from there, will be working on things that we need to work on.
“This week we also did some hill sprints, we did some wrestling at Ela Beach. We will do another wrestling session at Ela Beach on Saturday morning.
“We are making things hard for these players, we are adding some new ways of training and it’s also exciting for them.
“We want to make things tough for these players and we set the target on what we want to achieve.”