PETE’S PUNCHLINE
- It’s admirable that Hunters coach Paul Aiton continues to voice his full confidence and backing for his squad but he couldn’t hide his disappointment following Saturday’s 39-20 loss to the Dolphins. After a fairly solid start for home side the fans at the NFS were in good spirits but then it all fell apart for the Hunters in the second half. What went wrong? Plenty of things but let’s just give credit to the Phins, they were good.
- What’s with the turnout for Hunters games? There was barely 3,000 at the NFS on Saturday. The next day for the Digicel ExxonMobil Cup double header they got twice that. What gives?
- The Hunters had to contend with the three players going down with injuries in that match and being unable to stay on the field. That left the side with just one man on the bench for a good portion of that second half. Is that an excuse? Yes and no. Yes because being unable to make interchanges for tiring forwards means guys have to stay out there longer and do more work. Fatigue sets in and holes that appearing in the defensive line. No, because the team should be fit enough by now to handle the added workload if and when required. You have to scramble and manage your sets and tactics.
- Poor Paulie, he’s starting to realise what being head coach is all about. Hang in there, your guys will reward you, eventually.
- Final one on the Hunters. As I said before the season started: 10 wins. That’s all I want. We’ve got two so far. Eight more to go.
- Capital Rugby Union and Morobe Rugby Union competitions are set to kick off around the same time. That’s good allignment guys.
- The PNG Boxing Union will be hosting the Kokoda Cup on Sunday at the Gold Club. A group of Aussie amateurs are coming to fight the best of PNG. Fight fans get over there and enjoy the action. The show starts at 11am and ends early evening. Hats off to the PNGBU executives for the work they do for the sport. Especially the general secretary, he’s a real hard worker.
- Special guest for the PNGBU will be Benny Pike, an Australian Olympian. Pike represented Australia at an Olympics in the early 1980s as a light heavy. He now calls fights in his native Queensland and at regional events.
- I was surprised with Ryan Garcia’s win over Devin Haney yesterday. All that horse play in the lead up was a distraction. Ryan fooled everyone, especially the Haneys. But I have to say Haney was winning most of the rounds but his two problems are: he doesn’t have the power to trouble the elite operators, and his chin is suspect. He got found out. – PGTP ([email protected])