League mum on brawl

THE Papua New Guinea National Rugby League has thrown a cloak of silence over last weekend’s brawls in two Digicel Cup games in Lae.
For the second week running another “Gladiator” episode unfolded at the Lae Rugby League “coliseum”.
Fighting broke in the Mendi Muruks-TNA Lions and the Agmark Gurias-Snax Tigers matches.
The brawls came on the heels of the league handing out 48-week suspensions to players involved in the previous week’s Tigers-Mioks and Eagles-Lahanis brawls.
Efforts to contact league general manager Hubert Warupi yesterday were unsuccessful.
But it is common knowledge this late in the season that the league usually waits till the board gets all reports from match, team officials and appointed observers before it makes a decision.
A media release on action to be taken in this latest black mark on the country’s leading sport is expected on Wednesday.
Lae Tigers are expected to pay for the actions of its players with a heavy fine and further suspensions after the players chased Gurias forward Daniel Pai to the bench. They then turned on the Gurias bench in some of ugliest scenes of the season.
Calls to Tigers deputy chairman Justus Rapula for a comment were unsuccessful.
Sunday’s brawls add to the Tigers woes, with a decision on the playing futures of suspended players George Moni and Jerry Kutz in the balance.
Moni and Kutz were suspended last week for 18 weeks each for their part in their brawl against the Mioks.
The cloak of silence extends up the Highlands Highway, with TNA Lions officials not willing to comment.
Lions’ supporters in Kundiawa called in to The National’s Port Moresby office after reading about the fights for more information.
The Muruks-Lions incident is likely to carry a lighter penalty than that of the Guria-Tigers fight.