True grit gives Hunters some pride

 THE 2014 Queensland Cup rugby league season has been a roller-coaster ride for the new kids on the block, the Papua New Guinea Hun­ters.

While their loss to the Wynnum Manly Seagulls yesterday all but ended their dream run to the finals, the Hunters have every reason to hold their heads high.

What an inaugural season it has been for Michael Marum’s team of virtual unknowns.

It would be correct to say that the Hunters were not given much of a chance even before they entered the tough competition Down Under.

No self-respecting rugby league follower in this country would have thought the Hunters would do exceedingly well for a newcomer to the Queensland Cup, which is a feeder competition for the National Rugby League (NRL).

The most that was expected of the Hunters in their first year of an Australian professional competition was wooden spoon at worst.

Certainly, previous experience with the Port Moresby Vipers in 1995 and 1996 showed that, a side from this part of the Pacific would struggle to be a force in Australia’s second tier competition. 

At least that is what many Papua New Guineans rated the Hunters, especially after the great failure of the Kumuls at the Rugby League World Cup last year.

That side, which was labelled by Mal Meninga as the best prepared team, to come out of PNG, was exposed by the harsh realities of international rugby league. 

The reasoning was then, what hope do our Hunters have in the Queensland competition?

This may have been the fear heading in however, as the Hunters proved their critics completely wrong in the opening rounds of the Queensland competition when they began winning games against more professional and experienced teams.

Most of the Hunters’ wins have been at their home ground, Kalabond Oval in Kokopo, East New Britain, much to the delight of the local fans.

Marum must be highly commended for moulding the Hunters into a formidable pack which can stand up to anything the Queensland Cup throws at them.

The Hunters may be hanging on by a thread to their finals berth but there is no doubt that they have proven all naysayers wrong by just being in this position in the first place – it is an achievement that augurs well for the future.

The Hunters have had their rough patches during the gruelling competition, especially midway through the season when they started to shown signs of fatigue and could not keep up their usual bluster, particularly on the road.

Nonetheless, they have slogged on against all odds only to come up short against one of Queensland’s most prominent teams yesterday.

Disappointment aside, the Hunters have indeed done their nation and legions of fans proud by their incredible achievement in the Queensland Cup competition.

The mere fact they are sitting in sixth place after yesterday’s loss is an indication of the great potential that the Hunters’ team have for the future.

The professionalism and potential for better things to come means the Hunters will not be a one-hit wonder the way their predecessor, the Vipers, were 19 years ago. 

The success of the Hunters is the best reflection on the progress the code has made since then.

Even National Rugby League chief executive officer David Smith was full of praise for the debutants. 

“We have seen the Papua New Guinea Hunters perform incredibly well in the Queensland Cup,” Smith said when asked about the impact Pacific Island nations and players were having on the NRL and its feeder competitions.

The Hunters success in the Q-Cup has inspired the Fiji National Rugby League to enter their own side into the New South Wales Cup – that state’s leading second tier competition. 

As the country welcomed back our Commonwealth Games heroes in grand fashion just the other week, Papua New Guineans should give the Hunters a reception deserving of true champions when they return after their final match this weekend.

Indeed, the PNG Hunters deserve nothing less than a heroes’ welcome.

That is the least the nation’s latest sporting sensations deserve.