Pre-season hit-out good for clubs: Naipao

PORT Moresby rugby league (PRL) chairman Dr James Naipao says the just recently completed MRDC 9s was a great way to get the clubs into the groove of the regular season as well uncover talent.
The five-day pre-season tournament, which concluded on Sunday, involved a total of 36 men’s teams and 16 women’s sides at the National Football Stadium.
Napio thanked major sponsor Mineral Resources Development Company for backing the pre-season tournament with K50,000, half of which was used as prize money for the finalists and winners while the other half was spent on operational costs.
The Siporo Magpies claimed the main prize after their beat Souths 30-18 in the cup final.
“We thank MRDC with their ‘Lukautim Mama Graun’ policy for sponsoring our competitions which was also used as a chance to promote awareness on resource ownership,” Naipao said.
“MRDC continued their sponsorship of our nines tournament and we’re grateful for that.”
Naipao said congratulated the Magpies for their victory in the cup final as well as throughout the tournament.
“The Magpies are the 2017 Pacific Games champions and they lived up to that name so we congratulate the team and their coach Colin Geno.
“I also want to commend Souths for making the cup final as they also played well to get to the main game.”
Naipao also commended the PRL clubs for their effort in fielding multiple teams in the tournament which contributed to making the competition a success.