Three players will make their SP PNG Hunters debut on Saturday. This is after a thrilling win on home soil last weekend. The Hunters will travel to Browne Park, Rockhampton for round two of the 2024 Hotplus Cup, where they will take on the Central Queensland Capras on Saturday the 16th of March.
The PNG Hunters off the field share a bond with the Capras. But friendships aside, Paul Aitons men are determined to secure the valuable 2 points on offer.
“I got a good relationship with the Coach down at the Capras. We get on really well. We also had our video sessions and kind of predicted what they would do. I think for us we just play how we want to play. I’m comfortable with the team we have. The boys, they can score anywhere.” Aiton said.
The Hunters beat the Wynnum Manly Seagulls 36 Points to 22 in round one last weekend. But despite the win, Coach Aiton sees that there is more room for improvement.
It was a 14 point win but the Hunters were scrappy in patches of the match. With a total of 23 missed tackles and 12 errors, the team also gave away 13 penalties, to the Seagulls who gave the Hunters only 5.
Aiton said consistency is important. He added that despite the team being gifted with try scorers they still needed to get the little things right, and discipline was important.
“There was a high completion rate between the two teams. It’s not always good for us despite the win. We gave away a lot of penalties. First half of the season we focus on completing our sets and discipline,” Aiton said.
The Hunters are forced to drop two players due to Visa issues. Robert Mathias and Valentine Richard, will have to stay back in PNG while their Visa issues get sorted out before they are able to travel to Australia.
“Valentine Richard and Robert Mathias are unable to fly. So Junior Talin will step in for Robert and we have Manase Kai takes over Valentines spot. Tapia Solu was charged with a crusher tackle but we took an early plea so he will be out for a week only. So Finlay Glare will also make his debut. So in all three players will make their debut in tomorrows match,” Aiton said.
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