Vunabosco, Vunapope face off in Aussie rules final

THE Kalabond Oval in Kokopo, East New Britain, will come alive tomorrow when the Vunabosco Saints take on Vunapope Sacred Heart in their AFL grand final.
Both teams have been the best in the six-club competition which started in September.
The Saints will be banking on their young talents while the Hearts will depend on their more seasoned roster to snatch the trophy from the tech boys.
ENB AFL advisor Thomas Gori said he expected the decider to be “exciting and entertaining”. “I invite people who are doing nothing to come along and watch the final,” Gori said.
“It will be very entertaining.
“Both teams are very solid with good players. We expect a very good grand final.
“This grand final should set the phase for our planning and preparation next season,” Gori said.
“The reason why we are reviving the senior AFL competition is because of the excellent junior development programme we have,” he said. “We don’t want the junior programme to come to a halt. We want the players who are coming through to progress into the seniors,” Gori said.
“It’s a pathway programme for them. We want the kids to progress through and one day play for the PNG Mosquitoes.”
Gori said AFL PNG president and PNG high commissioner to Australia John Kali and AFL PNG senior development officer Rex Leka based in Port Moresby would officiate at the final.
The game tips off at 2pm.
Gori said AFL was played in the province but stopped after the 1994 volcanic eruptions.
He said the last time a provincial team represented ENB at the national AFL championships was in 1987 at the Eriku Oval in Lae.
“We had a short season becuase of the number of sides but we are looking to have more games next season,” Gori said.
Gori said the plan was to double the number of teams to 12 in order to have a six-month season.