Lae Snax Nines set for kick off with 32 teams participating

THE stage is set for this weekend as the Lae Rugby League Ground hosts the Lae Biscuit Company-sponsored Snax Nines with 32 teams confirmed for the tournament.
Running for the last seven years, the tournament is aimed at giving something back to the Lae community, according to Snax Nines director Steve Malum.
He said the tournament had been used to identify and recruit young talents for the Lae Tigers squad in the Digicel Cup.
Malum said the number of teams had been increased from 24 to 32 with a few sides on standby for those that failed to turn up.
“There’s a lot of interest,” he said.
“Like other sports, rugby league is a pathway for young people to rise to another level and earn an income because the sport is now an industry.
“The teams have been divided into eight pools with each side playing three games in their respective groups in the first two days.
“The top-two teams from each pool then progress to the next stage.”
Malum thanked Lae Biscuit Company and the Stanley Tepend-coached Tigers for making the tournament possible every year.
“It is one of the biggest tournaments in which I’ve been involved and it excites me,” he said.
Tepend said they would continue to support the tournament as it had served its purpose over the years.
The former Papua New Guinea Kumul said the other sponsors were Prima Smallgoods, Amalpack (through a K5,000 assistance for the referees), Classic Engineering (through a K5,000 contribution to help cover tournament expenses) and Hawkeye Security (through a K3,000 donation to cover security).