PNG Hunters in Queensland Cup

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MRDC joins Hunters’ family of sponsors

MINERAL Resources Development Company has got on the Hunters’ bandwagon as a major sponsor.

MRDC will appear on the home and away team jersey and selected gear in its debut season in Queensland’s Intrust Super Cup this year.

PNG Rugby Football League chairman Sandis Tsaka made the announcement yesterday, also calling on other PNG businesses to take out the last remaining major sponsorship packages for the SP Brewery-sponsored team.

Tsaka said the response following PNG’s entry into the competition has been fantastic.

When thanking MRDC for the sponsorship, he said that they realised that the Hunters would be flying the PNG flag internationally “and are giving our youth and players a pathway and something to aspire to”

“We really appreciate the response from both the public and business community to date,” he said.

“It’s a mammoth task and extremely costly to participate in the competition and without corporate sponsorship we could not deliver the programme.”

He heaped praise on PNGRFL CEO Brad Tassell and his team who are “working extremely hard to provide a highly professional self-sufficient programme that PNG can be very proud of.”

However, crowd support at events, games and corporate sponsorship will ensure the long-term viability of the programme, he said.

Tsaka they were reaping the rewards of the programme with Wellington Albert securing a two-year contract with Penrith Panthers and another attracting interest from other NRL clubs.

He is optimistic that more interest on PNG players would be generated over the next 12 to 18 months.

“I went out to the training camp at Bomana last week and it is extraordinary how the programme has been set-up and is managed. It is highly professional and based on a full time NRL programme.”

He said there was a long way to go “but we have the right people in place and I’m extremely proud of the staff and the players and their preparations at this stage”.
“It’s going to be a tough season and we have had huge hurdles to overcome.”

http://www.thenational.com.pg

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Tickets to be in demand for PNG pre-season clash with Capras

IF YOU want to be among the first to see the Capras take on Intrust Super Cup newcomers Papua New Guinea Hunters, you had better get in quick.

Tickets went on sale yesterday to the Rockhampton Leagues Club Capras' first pre-season match at Browne Park against the Hunters on February 15 and against the Brisbane Broncos Holden Cup team on February 22.

Capras operations manager Walson Carlos said the wait was over for local fans, who had been trying for weeks to get their hands on tickets to the two matches.

"There is a real buzz around town particularly with the PNG Hunters game at Browne Park," Carlos said.

"We have been fielding a lot of calls on a daily basis chasing tickets to both the PNG and the Broncos games."

Tickets can be purchased from the Capras office, Ian Weigh Toyota and the Rockhampton Leagues Club or online at www.capras. com.au.

http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au

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Hunters key to PNG prospects

Northern Pride star Blake Leary with representatives from the Cairns PNG Wantoks Association.

Papua New Guinea's chances of an improved showing at the 2017 World Cup rest with the success of the new PNG Hunters franchise and greater junior development according to Titans winger David Mead.

The Hunters play their first official trial as the newest member of Queensland's Intrust Super Cup against the Northern Pride in Cairns on Sunday evening with great anticipation surrounding how competitive they will be in their first season.

The Pride hosted the Rabaul Agmark Gurias in a trial last season and the visitors recorded a 29-22 win while the Pride went on to finish the Intrust Super Cup season as minor premiers.

It was a different story for PNG at the World Cup however, with the Kumuls failing to register a win for the third straight World Cup campaign having won the 2009 Pacific Cup against the Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji and Samoa.

Political disputes regarding the make-up of the Kumuls team for the 2010 Four Nations caused wide-ranging and lasting friction but Mead believes that the inclusion of the Hunters into one of the world's premier rugby league competitions will enhance their aspirations for 2017.

"I'll be going to watch them whatever chance I get when they come to Queensland. For PNG to move forward, I think it's a good step for the country," said Mead, who represented the Kumuls at the World Cup.

"That will show the quality of players that there are and how much they can improve. Things are looking good for the country and I think they'll do well in the Queensland Cup.


"A lot of people I've spoken to reckon the Digicel Cup (PNG's premier rugby league competition) has gone backwards 10 years so something's got to be done about that.

"There are junior systems being put in place and obviously a Queensland Cup team coming in which is a positive move for the country.

"Put the systems in place and get the local players a lot more experienced playing against high quality players, then the game will definitely move forward and PNG will perform a lot better at the World Cup."

Mead, Paul Aiton, Neville Costigan and Ray Thompson were the only players with NRL experience in the Kumuls squad for the World Cup with the Hunters sure to benefit from a number of their players being exposed to such a high standard of competition.

The Hunters will play Redcliffe in the opening round of the Intrust Super Cup on Sunday, March 2 and with three games at their home ground in Kokopo to follow, could find themselves in a lofty position after a month of football.

Queensland Origin coach and Team Kumul coaching director Mal Meninga has replaced Adrian Lam as the PNG national coach and Mead believes the adoration for which he is held will also enhance their prospects at the international level.

"Mal's such a huge influence in the country, everyone loves him," Mead told NRL.com. "A lot of people I've spoken to, my uncle and cousins, they all loved him when he was playing centre.

"He was the dominant centre in his era and he's such a huge influence. When he walks into the country everyone just listens to him and everything he has to say, players in the team listen to. I think that's such a huge influence for PNG to have him as a part of their system."

The first 1,000 spectators to enter 'The Jungle' – aka Barlow Park in Cairns – for Sunday's trial between the Pride and Hunters will receive a free PNG Hunters wristband. Gates open at 12.30pm with the main game to kick off at 5.30pm.

http://www.nrl.com/hunters-key-to-pn...6/default.aspx

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http://www.pnghunters.com/ official website

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Journalist Chris Garry and photographer Adam Head bunk down with the PNG Hunters


Team mates from the Papua New Guinea “Hunters” get ready for ice baths at their Bomana training base as the excitement builds as they are only 2 weeks away from playing their first game in the Queensland Cup. Source: The Sunday Mail (Qld)

IT IS the first month of the Papua New Guinea Hunters’ revolutionary rugby league experiment being conducted in a dilapidated police academy.

Their 25-man squad, all of whom arrived with talent but most without shoes, are about to discover how serious coaches are taking the team’s entry to the Intrust Super Cup.

The players inside this Big Brother-like compound of league devotion, a three story bricky dormitory called Hunter House, have returned from their inaugural “free day” and are surprised with breath tests.

One player, a star player, returns a low alcohol reading.

He is instantly dismissed from the camp, dreams evaporated, the celebrity status he earned stripped.

Welcome to the most intense and dedicated rugby league club in the world.


The team from the Papua New Guinea “Hunters” trains at Bomana as they are only 2 weeks away from playing their first game in the Queensland Cup. Pics Adam Head.Source: The Sunday Mail (Qld)

The Hunters are the first league side where players and coaching staff eat, drink and sleep together every day.

Their strength and conditioning coach Jason Tassell lives on the floor of the compound’s lounge room to act as a security guard.

In a river-bed town called Bomana where tourists occasionally visit the pacific’s largest war cemetery, housing 3,823 graves, the Hunters train three times a day, six days a week.

Their gym is across the road from the dormitory, inside a Chinese-built hall now loaded with $200,000 worth of equipment.

Open the back doors to the gym and you find their training field.

It is functionality NRL clubs dream of but few NRL players would submit to.

Each Hunter is paid exactly the same weekly wage, deposited into bank accounts set up by management.


The team from the Papua New Guinea “Hunters” trains at Bomana as they are only 2 weeks away from playing their first game in the Queensland Cup. Pics Adam HeadSource: The Sunday Mail (Qld)

From 20-year-old’s to the five Kumul Test players in the team, the pay-packets are identical.

It has been six weeks since the inaugural cull and every Hunters player understands NRL-level professionalism is the benchmark.

Despite their rookie status the Hunters will become the code’s most watched club this season, attracting television viewership numbers NRL clubs would never get close to outside of a grand final.

Performance expectations are tempered inside the camp, where players wash their own laundry and dry it on the pavement outside their six by three metre rooms.

As a stray cat leers at softly spoken Hunters captain Israel Eliab, he says the share house has already made them better players.

Eliab’s first kicking coach was infamous ex-Brisbane Bronco Julian O’Neill, who has been coaching rugby league while working in PNG’s mines.


The team from the Papua New Guinea “Hunters” at their Bomana training base get ready as they are only 2 weeks away from playing their first game in the Queensland Cup. Pics Adam HeadSource: CourierMail

Those who have watched five-eighth Eliab closely, including Kumuls coaches Mal Meninga and Adrian Lam, predict an NRL future.

“We are dedicated to rugby league now. We are cut off from our families and just send them money,” the 23-year-old says.

“We have been away for almost two months now.

“It is normal for us. We all have different cultures and languages and this helps us bond.

“This is about us coming together.

“There are so many different provinces so we all just speak pidgin english to communicate.

“We are still adapting to the new lifestyle. The food is different.

“There’s no rice anymore.”

The players need to be dedicated to the team to persevere through living conditions a German backpacker would hesitate to sleep in.


Kalabond Stadium at Kokopo where the Papua New Guinea “Hunters” will be based and play their home games. They are only 2 weeks away from playing their first game in the Queensland Cup. Pics Adam HeadSource: The Sunday Mail (Qld)

While the gym is far removed from the Rocky-like cliches many predict, the rooms are everything you expect from a barely used PNG police academy.

Beyond the random dogs, cats and toads that meander through the dormitory there are single mattresses which cut into your back and paper-thin walls.

Yet the Hunters have a ball, playing guitar, singing, and wrestling.

Local children from the area have become part of the club.

Ten-year-olds finish school and rush to the ground to help set out cones for the coaching staff.

Those coaches predict consistent performances are 18 months away.

However, without their 24/7 league life, win streaks would be several years in the making.

In a rented office inside Port Moresby’s Holiday Inn, Hunters chief executive Brad Tassell says the reason for this fascinating Big Brother-style experiment is necessity.


Captain Israel Eliab at Kalabond Stadium at Kokopo where the Papua New Guinea “Hunters” will be based and play their home games. They are only 2 weeks away from playing their first game in the Queensland Cup. Pics Adam HeadSource: The Sunday Mail (Qld)

Tassell has led the country’s rugby league administration out of the dark ages when officials wasted money attempting to win an NRL licence.

Tassell even has a league field in the remote village of Chimbu named after him because he was the first white person to visit since independence in 1975.

He loves this country and its people but said the bad habits of players had to be broken.

“We have to play catch up,” Tassell said.

“They began training in January and debut in the Intrust Super Cup at Redcliffe next Sunday.

“We had 12 weeks to train these guys before the first game and the first two weeks were teaching the technique of lifting weights.

“Most of these guys had never done a squat before. A gym in Papua New Guinea has 18 bench presses and that’s it.

“All players and coaches are drug tested and breath tested regularly.


Tim Lomai, Israel Eliab and Mark Mexico from the Papua New Guinea “Hunters” at their Bomana training base with kids as the excitement builds as they are only 2 weeks away from playing their first game in the Queensland Cup. Pics Adam HeadSource: The Sunday Mail (Qld)

“No one is allowed to chew betel nut (a natural mild stimulant that paints teeth red) as it is an appetite suppressant.

“It had to be done this way because we have players from throughout very remote regions all coming to Moresby to play football.

“There are 800 languages and 16 provinces in this country.

“They live together and are a true team. They are great guys and have really bonded.

“This country has a real hunger for success. We think with the talent here, if managed correctly, we can be a success.”

The Bomana police academy is only a temporary base.

In April they move to “Hunter Village” in Kokopo, a collection of purpose-built rooms and halls that will be a more liveable camp.


Brandy Peter and the team from the Papua New Guinea "Hunters" trains at Bomana as they are only 2 weeks away from playing their first game in the Queensland Cup. Pics Adam HeadSource: News Corp Australia

Kokopo is an idyllic slice of pacific paradise on the edge of a volcano.

The team’s home games will be played their in an 8,000 seat stadium with volcano views.

The violent myths of Papua New Guinea have never rung true in Kokopo, a 90 minute flight from Moresby.

Visiting clubs will not want to leave.

In Kokopo, where the local league team is called the earthquakes, the streets are free of the burning rubbish that suffocates Port Moresby.

The region will be shown off this year as Hunters’ management and the Queensland Rugby League are poised to sign a broadcast deal with mobile network provider Digicel, which is using the Hunters to launch their own television channel.

The broadcast will reach five million people and network officials expect a minimum viewership of two million for all games.

The station is flying their own production crew to all Hunters games, from Kokopo to Ipswich, their cameras will be there.

Moving the team to Kokopo is a stake in the ground.

The politics, in-fighting and violence which plagued the sport will no longer be tolerated.


Noel Joel and team mates from the Papua New Guinea "Hunters" get ready for ice baths at their Bomana training base as the excitement builds as they are only 2 weeks away from playing their first game in the Queensland Cup. Pics Adam HeadSource: News Corp Australia

Rugby league is this country’s national pastime yet it is cloaked in a cultural cringe.

For 20 years the sport was banned in schools. The ban was lifted only recently when the Hunters began restructuring the way league was administered.

“Rugby league is thought of as a sport for people with brawn not brains,” newly instated Hunters chairman Sandis Tsaka said.

“This is like a Phoenix, we are building from the ashes.

“In the past, the organisation did not have, for a lack of a better word, competence.

“There was no institutional structure.

“The big task on my hand now is delivering pathways.

“The last six or seven years we had political infighting within rugby league.

“My challenge is creating a rugby league body that is competent and effectively delivering rugby league throughout the country.

“Only people’s passion for the game has kept it alive.

“This is the rebirth.”

Read more: http://www.foxsports.com.au/

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Prepare to have your mind blown. Classy video promoting the Hunters! Showing most NRL clubs how it should be done!

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SP PNG HUNTERS OPEN FAN DAY - BRISBANE

The SP PNG Hunters will be holding an open fan day in Brisbane for all of our Brisbane based supporters this Saturday afternoon 1st March @ 4pm.

The team will have their captains run at 2.30pm followed by a fan meet and greet at 4pm including a sausage sizzle and drinks. All donations raised from the purchase of sausages and drinks will go towards Wests Arana Junior Rugby League. Full details are as follows:

Where: Wests Arana Junior Rugby League, Dawsons Parade, Keppera
Day: Saturday 1st March 2014
Captains Run Training Session: @ 2.30pm
Fan Meet and Greet: @ 4pm

We look forward to having a big crowd of supporters there to greet the team and thank Wests Arana Junior Rugby League for their support.

[Titanic]

Classic video but what's even more classic is the amount of crap being dealt out about it on their facebook ... personally, great video, average song but fantastic promotion particularly for any of those unlucky soles who have never been to PNG.

Also, notice Wests Arana are hosting them :-)

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People whinging about the vid on fb?

[Titanic]

People whinging about the vid on fb?

Classic PNG syndromes ... (1) if you are not from the Papuan region then you must knock anything that has Port Moresby on it ... in this case they are claiming that the basic village ramps in the background behind the singer are from Hanuabada in Moresby but in fact it was shot in Barakau some 20 k's east of Moresby, and (2) many PNG feel that they shouldn't show the real PNG to the world ... what a crock ... great video, excellent promotion of both team and country ... the song is pretty average but who cares? Loved it.

Predictions ... (1) they won't win many games this year but if they can keep the team under control then they will develop quickly. (2) when they lose a few games they will get more shouts o sack the players and sack the coach then Cartwright would if he stayed another ten seasons.

The old Vipers were generally better skilled than these guys because they came from a better development program when PNG really could compete which then died for over ten years due to the ARL withdrawing funding to Moresby at the end of the SL war and the PNGRFL who had backed SL also being left high and dry. A typical case of being thrown away like toilet paper and although both factions had been well-intentioned, Australia left them like shot ducks. Great to see them getting up again.

The Vipers had one very big problem and that was when they came to Australia all they did was break camp at every opportunity. There would be some reading this on the coast who could vouch for the Vipers penchant for Gold Coast nightclubs.

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I did notice that, people were saying that and others countering challenging them asking if they were ashamed.

I liked it. I wanna see the real PNG!

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I'm also part of this fb group.

NRL FANS (PNG)

I find it interesting to hear their points of view.

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Its Official - Digicel will launch new free to air TV Channel with PNG Hunters

The region will be shown off this year as Hunters’ management and the Queensland Rugby League are poised to sign a broadcast deal with mobile network provider Digicel, which is using the Hunters to launch their own television channel.

The broadcast will reach five million people and network officials expect a minimum viewership of two million for all games. The station is flying their own production crew to all Hunters games, from Kokopo to Ipswich, their cameras will be there.

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Hopefully png will get the added benefit of the Hunters fielding U16 and U18 teams as well.