PETER’S PUNCHLINE
- It seems Paul Aiton’s heartfelt plea to his men to ‘play for your brother’ has really touched his troops. The Hunters returned to the winner’s circle with centre Alex Max scoring a hat-trick.
- Congratulations to the Mudmen for claiming the Women’s T20 Smash title on Saturday with a three-wicket win over the Cassowaries. The fixture ended up being not down-to-the-wire as one would have hoped for given that the Mudmen were only chasing 50 runs for victory. The decision to field first after winning the toss by Mudmen skipper Tanya Ruma was gutsy but paid off handsomely in the end with her bowling attack running through the Mudmen line-up. Isabella Toua’s leg-breaks were the pick of the bunch with the spinner returning 3 for 5 off her four overs.
- Apparently, the women’s tournament, ran a week after the men’s, attracted a slightly better turn-out. Either way kudos to the loyal fans, followers and corporates for turning up to see some great performances throughout and on the final day. The best with the bat were Brenda Tau (no surprises there) for the Mariners with a cool 54 in the third-place playoff earlier in the day. Her side were chasing 139 that the Black Bass had posted thanks in large part to a magnificent 63 (off 30-odd balls) by Aussie Ellie Johnston but fell short after Tau departed.
- What was that mascot that ran out with the Cowboys on Saturday night? Looked like some kind of furry animal, like a koala/dog crossbreed.
- How tall is Jye Gray? He’s pretty short for a fullback, I thought. Having a guy that height-challenged at the back for the Rabbitohs was a little risky but I guess the cupboard was bare. No Trell, no AJ, no Gagai, no Munro, no Campbell, and the list goes on. He may have the right instincts, style and temperament to play No.1 but he’s too small. The last guy to be that small and play at the one for the club was Rod Maybon back in the early 90s. He was just on 170cm. Yeah, yeah I know Darrel Trindall (175cm) and Nathan Merrit (182cm) have slotted in there over the preceding years but “too short” should only be a rapper’s name and not a fullback’s height.
- I didn’t do this last week so I’ll do it now. Better late than never, right. Solo Wane scored his first try of the season against the Bears last week. It was a 70m effort. He had too much pace for the Burleigh defence, or as former All Black halfback Justin Marshall, now a commentator, would say “he skimmed them”. So it’s obvious what has to be done: “Get the ball to this man!”
- Hope our friends at the PNGNRLC can get to the bottom of this alleged incident between the Eagles and Dabaris at Minj on Saturday. Apparently, an Eagles player was sent to the bin but had allegedly ignored the ref’s orders and kept playing. Come on guys, we are better than this.
PGTP ([email protected])