Tarangau aiming to win third nines title

DEFENDING MRDC Port Moresby Rugby League Nines champions Hekari Tarangaus are eyeing a third title as the tournament kicks off today.
Tarangau president Joe Yamason he expected the competition to be intense with PRL clubs fielding strong sides and an abundance of talent set to take the field at the National Football Stadium but he welcomed the challenge adding that his squad were ready to defend the title.
The warders won the 2017 title and defended it last year and Yamason said claiming a hat-trick of titles would be a massive boost for the club heading into the 2019 PRL season.
“We know what we are up against. There are sopme many good teams in the MRDC 9s but we are the defending champions so we feel we have the talent and experience to win this title again,” Yamason said.
Tarangau helped their cause by registering four teams – three men’s teams and a women’s side.
“Our main team is the cup-winning side from last year while the other two teams have the rest of our players from our lower grades. We’re excited because there is genuine confidence in the club that we can win that third title.
Yamason added that fielding a women’s team had enabled his club to recruit new players who would strengthen the club in the regular season.
“We’ve registered all our four teams and we’re all set to go. We’ll have two A grade sides and an U20s team along with our women’s team.
Yamason said his A grade sides would be competing against clubs who had their Digicel Cup and Confederation representatives on deck which would mean they had to be at their best to win games.
“Tarangau has a proud history. We are a longtime club in the Port Moresby Rugby League and we’ve produced many talents over the years but right now we’ve got a player-maker like Solomon Pokari to lead us so the boys are confident,” Yamason said.
Yamason said the club had lost a couple of players to the Agmark Gurias in Kokopo but was confident the other players would step up.
Tarangau have 30 registered players for their A grade and U20 sides and 25 for their women’s team.
‘We’ve been training for over a month for the MRDC 9s so I think we are more than ready to play.”
Meanwhile, PRL operations manager Meke Maino said only registered teams and players would be allowed to take the field today.
He confirmed 40 clubs – 32 men’s and eight women’s – would play today.
Maino added that the NCDC Vipers, Gulf Isou and Central would field teams in the MRDC 9s.
The competition kicks off at 10am today at the NFS Oval 2 and goes through the weekend with the finals next week.