NCD schools rugby league heads into playoffs

By PARKER TAMBUA
NATIONAL Capital District Schools Rugby League will head into week one of its finals at the Oil Search National Football Stadium tomorrow (9am kick-off).
League president Arnold Gende told The National yesterday that the competition had been deferred for two months due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
However, he said they were ready to complete the 2021 season before Christmas.
“We are excited that we will be able to complete our season despite the challenges with the delay,” Gende said.
“Unfortunately, our Moresby North-East schools will not complete their season due to no support staff and failure to pay player registration fees.
“But Moresby North-West will have their elimination finals at the Oil Search National Football Stadium on Tuesday.
“For Moresby South, they will have their finals at the same venue on Thursday.
“We had some issues with venues, but we are thankful that the stadium management has allowed us to use oval two.”
The divisions are Under-14, U16 and U18 for boys and girls respectively.
The first finals match will see Gerehu Primary School face Philip Aravure Primary School in the Under-14 boys division of Moresby North-West.
Gende thanked Moresby South MP Justin Tkatchenko for supporting the competition.
“Tkatchenko is the patron of the competition and has been supportive since the start of the season,” he said.
“He donated K19,000 at the start of the season which had helped us run 10 weeks of the regular season.
“Recently, he had committed another K14,000 for the finals.”