Tourney helps Gurias local identify talent for squad

By MICHAEL PHILIP
A NEW tournament has helped Digicel Cup club Gurias recruit Rabaul, Gazelle and Kokopo players for pre-season training, according to franchise boss Steven Nightingale.
He told The National that the Agmark Clash of the Towns rugby league tournament was a way forward to identifying more East New Britain talents.
“We want more locals in our team,” Nightingale said.
“That’s why we have introduced the Agmark Clash of the Towns tournament as it will help us identify players from Gazelle, Rabaul and Kokopo. “This is the approach that our management is taking to identify players and coaches.”
Following criticism by fans over the recruitment of personnel from outside the province, Nightingale said tournament would help address the issue.
“We have received a lot of complaints from fans in the province and outside over recruitment, but that’s our decision,” he said.
“On the other hand, our fans contribute by supporting the team, so we have to consider their ideas too.
“Considering their ideas, we believe the tournament will be the way forward to identifying new talents.”
Nightingale said since the retirement of Gurias forwards in Lucas Solbat, Channel Aquila, Pidi Togap, Nelson Daplen, Reo Ainui and Oscar Tonga, size and height were hard to come by.
He said this was why they were recruiting players from other Digicel Cup clubs to fill the void.
Meanwhile, the tournament ended over the weekend at Kalabond Oval, Kokopo, with Rabaul Ashes claiming the title after their 6-4 win over Kokopo Marlins.
The Gurias will name their train-on squad this week.