Menthis eyes rugby revival

The National Sports

By ISAAC LIRI
GOROKA Menthis are going to the Kalibobo Sevens this weekend with one goal — to keep the spirit of rugby union alive in the Eastern Highlands.
Former national representative in the early 2000s and player-coach Desmond Tete is the man behind the drive to see sevens in Goroka rise again, after years of being stagnant, through the newly-formed Menthis club.
“Our main objective for the Menthis going to the Kalibobo 7s in Madang is to bring Goroka back to the rugby fraternity in the country,” Tete said.
“Goroka has been missing out on sevens over the past years so our objective is to see Goroka return as an active sevens centre.
“In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Goroka was a centre that produced strong sides in sevens and for a very long time we’ve missed out so we want to revive that spirit.
“This club is new. We started a sevens competition for a month now and its made up of young players, there are many new faces who are passionate about sevens and a few experience heads to provide direction.
“From what I know there are about four teams from Goroka that are planning and training to go to Madang for the Kalibobo 7s.
“We’ve got the Goroka Harlequins and us (Menthis) who are the teams confirmed. There are two other teams as well who are not confirm as yet.
“It would be great to have more Goroka teams going to the tournament as it will give us more moral support with the purpose to revive the game here in the Eastern Highlands.
The Menthis plan to travel down to Madang on Friday for the two-day tournament which starts on Saturday and ends on Sunday.
Tete applauded Madang for putting its hands up to host such a tournament giving them an opportunity since they were unable to take part some of the sevens tournament during the first half of the year.
“Seeing the eagerness here in Goroka in wanting to play sevens motivates us despite not having a competition this year,” Tete added.
The Goroka Silverbacks won the national 7s title in the mid 2000s and have provided the majority of players for the Highlands teams.