Teme makes halfback

By JACK AMI
SP PNG Hunters coach Michael Marum has reshuffled his squad for Saturday’s Round 6 Intrust Super Cup game against the Central Queensland Capras.
Halfback Jerry Teme, who came off the bench last round, moves into the halves alongside Ase Boas, with Justin Yoka out of the side.
“Jerry’s a good talker and gets the boys going and he’s been really good since he joined the squad late in the pre-season,” Marum said.
“He was good off the bench last week when he came on to play dummy half.”
Marum said Yoka, pictured, had some areas in his game that he needed to work on particularly his defence.
“Justin’s been a little suspect on defence and he’s been targeted by teams,” Marum said of the third change in the halves combination so far this season.
“He missed a few big tackles so we’ve decided that he needs to work on that plus a few other areas. We needed a bit more consistency from him. He had a good first game but hasn’t really maintained that effort over the last few rounds.”
Boas, who shifts to five-eighth, did not take part in yesterday’s contact session at the National Football Stadium as a precaution.
Marum said the team was still a work in progress with changes to the team set to continue as Hunters look to find its best side.
“We are still working on the combinations and no doubt we’ll get it right and return back to the winners circle.
“The boys know what is expected of them and knowing we’ll play at home the following game, we want to do well here and build on that.”
Bland Abavu and Moses Meninga have been recalled back to the side with Stanton Albert, captain Adex Wera, Joe Frank, Charlie Simon and Gairo Kapana on the extended bench.
Apart from Yoka, centre Shane Haro, prop Baundo Aba, Jack Oii and Kevin Appo are the other players from last week’s lineup that were left out of the side.
“We’ve got our senior forwards like Moses (Meninga), Stanton (Albert) and Enoch (Maki) back so I’m expecting them to lay a good foundation and lead side.”
Centre Joe Frank makes his debut and is Hunter No.80 off the interchange bench with Marum saying the 23-year-old deserved his chance after waiting five rounds.
“We have kept Joe (Frank) on the sideline for a while and he finally gets his chance to show us what he’s got.
“He deserves his chance and I’m sure he’ll do well and learn from the experience.”
Marum said despite languishing at the bottom of the Q-Cup ladder his squad were not focusing on where they were but where they wanted to be.
“We’ve always looked to play one game at a time; to focus on how we perform for every individual contest and that won’t change now.
“We’re finding out what this team can do and where we need to improve and that takes time.”
Marum will finalise the 18-man travelling team today. The Hunters fly to Brisbane tomorrow and then fly to Rockhampton on Saturday before taking a bus to Emerald (270km west of Rockhampton) to take on the Capras at McIndoe Park. The match is scheduled to start at 6.35pm.
SP Hunters: 1. Joe Joshua 2. Junior Rau 3. Bland Abavu 4. Brandon Nima 5. Brendon Gotuno 6. Ase Boas (vc) 7. Jerry Teme 8. Moses Meninga (c) 9. Woods Kawage 10. Dilbert Isaac 11. McKenzie Yei 12. Epel Kapinias 13. Junior Rop; Reserves: 14. Charlie Simon 15. Joe Frank 16. Stanton Albert 17. Enoch Maki 18. Adex Wera 19. Butler Morris 20. Gairo Kapana.