Reigning champions thrash Kokofa-Cats

By ROBINSON LEKA
REIGNING champions West Eagles eased past Kokofas-Cats with a 41-12 win in the senior men’s division of the Port Moresby Australian Football League (AFL) competition at the Colts Oval on Saturday.
The round-two encounter saw the Eagles dominate with Jeffery Vogai and Dunstall Kase leading in the forwards.
Kokofas-Cats, led by Archie Mai Jr, Hapeo Bobogi and Virgil Evere, were able to score two goals to the Eagles’ seven.
Eagles head coach Daniel Meli told The National that despite the shortened season, the Eagles remained intact with most of the senior players getting game time while aiming for representative duties for the Papua New Guinea Mosquitoes next year.
“My men played well and that’s the result of a good team effort to get the win,” he said.
“The team have organised themselves well after the grand final last year and we prepared well for the season this year but we had a big disruption due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s a short season but we want to use it to get ourselves prepared for competition. A few of my men will be playing representative games.”
Meanwhile, POMAFL president Douglas Lai said the season was gaining momentum with teams and players getting back into competition.
“Teams are starting to get their numbers together and attendance is gradually improving for players and officials,” he said.
“Matches have been very competitive since last week, however, player fitness is still improving in each game.
“Club training is poor so more effort is required as it will prove crucial heading into the finals which will see an increase in playing time.”