Ialibu Hawks ready for Coca-Cola Ipatas Cup campaign

Sports

IALIBU Hawks team manager Graham Rama says his side are ready to take part in the Coca-Cola Ipatas Cup competition which kicks off this weekend.
He said the Hawks were a team formed for youths from Ialibu, Southern Highlands, residing in Port Moresby.
“We don’t have an opportunity in playing rugby league in the city because established clubs have regular players and do not have spaces available to cater for others,” Rama said.
“Therefore, we formed the Hawks to provide an avenue for our boys to play and expose their talent.”
He said since the establishment of the club in 2016, they had taken part in Ipatas Cup and finished third.
“In 2017, we ended up in the playoffs and in 2018, we competed in the Ipatas Cup and finished third,” Rama said.
“Now we are taking part in the Ipatas Cup again.” He said his players had been training for the past couple of weeks, including playing trial matches, and were ready to compete in the country’s largest offseason rugby league competition.
“So far, we have produced some good players,” Rama said.
“Most of them are playing with Digicel Cup teams. They are Nanduka Rame (Hela Wigmen), Leon Undupiye, Joas Toringi (Mendi Muruks) and Yoks Bagave (Port Moresby Vipers).
Rama said they were aiming to field a team in the Port Moresby Rugby Football League by 2022.