Mindipi fires Natives to cup final

**Gerehu Natives player Blake Mindipi in action during the annual Sports Tok 7s tournament at Santos National Football Stadium over the Easter weekend. – Picture by Jonathan Siniva**

By PARKER TAMBUA
Young five-eighth Blake Mindipi has starred in the Sports Tok 7s Tournament and was instrumental in Gerehu Natives’ run to men’s cup grand final.
The 20-year-old led a side that was made up of raw talents and touch footy players from Gerehu to the final, which shocked the organisers and the supporters who turned up at the two-day tournament hosted at Santos National Football Stadium over the Easter weekend.

**Blake Mindipi on the attack during the Sports Tok 7s tournament in Port Moresby over the weekend. – Picture by Jonathan Siniva**

Though the Natives fell short losing 7-12 to Bialla Suaras, Mindipi was the shimmering highlight for the side that finished runners-up with K10,000 prize money.
Mindipi told The National following the cup final on Saturday that he was proud of the team’s performance despite their loss.
“I don’t want to take credit for the team’s run to the final but I think it was a collective effort for the boys,” said Mindipi who is from Koroba in Hela.
“It only shows that we knew what we wanted to achieve from the tournament and we almost pulled it off.
“These players are bunch of community touch footy players from the Gerehu suburb and our only experienced player who’ve been to Pukpuks is Dean Manale.
“We didn’t look like serious contenders for the cup. Honestly I can’t believe we came close and we just couldn’t finish well but I’m honoured and proud to lead this team regardless.

**Gerehu Natives player Blake Mindipi tries to fend off Harlequins player during Sports Tok 7s men’s cup semi-final at Santos National Football Stadium on Saturday. – Nationalpic**

“The last time the Natives reached cup final was in 2018 and this was our second cup final appearance.
“We would have made history if we’d won but hopefully we learn from this and come back stronger next year.”
Mindipi scored in almost every game starting from the pool stages all the way to the final. He scored the Natives’ only try in the loss to Suaras.
The stand-off looked to have ran more metres in both attack and defence. He made numerous line breaks and had a hand in most of the tries scored by Natives as well.
The commentators and supporters tipped Mindipi to win the player of the tournament award but he missed out.
Before joining the Natives prior to the tournament, Mindipi was with rugby league side Central Dabaris in preseason camp preparing for the Digicel ExxonMobil Cup season.
However, Mindipi said he made the switch back to rugby union as he had other dreams that he wanted to achieve and one of them was to play for the Pukpuks.

**Blake Mindipi in action during the annual Sports Tok 7s tournament in Port Moresby. – Picture by Jonathan Siniva**

Mindipi currently plays for MoniPlus Nova in the Capital Rugby Union competition.
“I grew up playing rugby union. I started playing for University Piggies when I was attending Waigani Primary School back in 2016,” Mindipi said.
“I later joined MoniPlus Nova which is my current team. I was selected by Dabaris in the preseason and I did some sessions with them but I got call from the Pukpuks 7s team that’s why I left Dabaris.
“It was tough decision for me to leave a Digicel Cup team because this is PNG and we know that rugby league gets more support, they have a good pathway and that was what attracted me to pursue league.
“But when I was selected to Pukpuks, I decided to leave rugby league and return to union. My goal is to play for the Pukpuks 7s team and play for long term.
“One of my goals is to play rugby union in overseas competitions so I just have to train hard, stay committed and give my best.”