Papua New Guinea Hunters

Papua New Guinea Hunters

Club information
Full name	Papua New Guinea Hunters Rugby league Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Hunters
Short name	PNG Hunters
Website	www.pnghunters.com
Colours	Red      Black      Gold
Founded	2013
Current details
Ground(s)	Lloyd Robson Oval [16,000], since 2016 Kalabond Oval [7,000], 2014-2015
CEO(s)	Bob Cutmore
Chairman	Graham Osborne
Coach(s)	Michael Marum
Manager(s)	Arnold Krewanty
Captain(s)	Adam Korave and Noel Zeming
Competition	Intrust Super Cup
Records
Premierships	0
Runners-up	0
Minor premiership	0

The Papua New Guinea Hunters (PNG Hunters) are a professional rugby league football club based in PNG. They were formed in 2013 and currently compete in the QRL's Intrust Super Cup which is the second tier of Rugby League in Australia, although there is no direct promotion to the National Rugby League (NRL).^[1] The Hunters are the second Papua New Guinean side to enter the Entrust Super Cup following the Port Moresby Vipers who competed for two seasons in 1996 and 1997. Every Hunters match is shown live on national free to air television. The Hunters' home ground is the Lloyd Robson Oval in Port Moresby and their team colours are red, black and gold.^[2]

2014 Season

On 12 December 2013 head coach Michael Marum announced a 25-man squad for the Hunters' inaugural season.^[3] included were Wellington Albert, Israel Eliab, Roger Laka, Enoch Maki, Mark Mexico, Joe Bruno and Sebastien Pandia who were all members of the Kumuls squad that competed at the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. The squad was impacted when Wellington Albert signed with the Penrith Panthers in Australia. The Hunters won their debut match away at Redcliffe Dolphins 24-18 with captain Israel Eliab scoring the clubs first ever try, and by the end of the season having lost only twice at home, missed out on the end of season play-offs by just 1 point finishing 6th. Gary Lo finished as the competitions leading try scorer with 24, while Roger Laka was an ever present. The club used only 23 players during whole the season.

2015 Season

For their second campaign the squad changed very little. The major losses were Gary Lo, Jason Tali, David Loko and Joe Bruno who joined the coaching staff following his retirement. The main gains being Kato Otio, Nickson Borana and John Ragi. The season began with the Hunters losing 3 of their opening 6 fixtures, but they then went on an unbeaten run of 17 games to the end of the regular season securing 2nd place in the league, missing out on top spot by 1 point. Ipswich Jets ended their season in the preliminary final. Off the field Head Coach Michael Marum was voted coach of the year, and during the season ceo Brad Tassell was forced to resign

Stadiums

Kalabond Oval

The Kalabond Oval which is in the town of Kokopo and has a capacity of 7,000 was the Hunters first home ground. The first ever home match in the Intrust Super Cup was against the defending champions Mackay Cutters on 8 March which the Hunters won 24-16. The ground was used for the clubs first 2 seasons.

Lloyd Robson Oval

The Lloyd Robson Oval or as its sometimes referred to as "The National Football Stadium" is in the capital city Port Moresby and after undergoing a major refurbishment it was announced in February 2016 that the Hunters would move to the ground for the 2016 season,^[4] after they'd played one match their during the 2015 season against Souths Logan Magpies on 13 June winning 34-12.

2016 Squad

Notable Players

• Wellington Albert signed with Penrith Panthers^[5]
• Enoch Maki signed with Hull Kingston Rovers but was released as he could not get a visa.^[6][7]
• Mark Mexico
• Israel Eliab
• Willie Minoga signed with Townsville Blackhawks.
• Kato Ottio signed with Canberra Raiders with a two-year contract.

See also

• Rugby league in Papua New Guinea

References

External links

• Official website
• Papua New Guinea Hunters on Facebook

Rugby league in Papua New Guinea
Federation	Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League Port Moresby
National Team	Men's (The Kumuls) Women's (PNG Raggianas)
Australian competition teams	PNG Hunters (Intrust Super Cup)
Domestic Competitions	PNGNRL/Bemobile Cup/SP Cup Port Moresby Rugby League Competition
PNG NRL Teams	Mendi Muruks Agmark Gurias Bintangor-Goroka Lahanis Port Moresby Vipers Enga Mioks Mt. Hagen Eagles Gulf Isapea TNA Lions Hela Wigmen Waghi Tumbe Lae Snax Tigers
PNGNRL/Bemobile/SP Cup Seasons	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Rugby League in Queensland
Federation	Queensland Rugby League
Representative Teams	Queensland Maroons Queensland Residents Queensland U-20 Queensland U-18 Queensland U-16 Queensland women's
NRL clubs	Current clubs: Brisbane Broncos Gold Coast Titans North Queensland Cowboys Former Clubs: Gold Coast Giants/Seagulls/Chargers (1988-1998) South Queensland Crushers (1995-1997)
Competitions	State-wide leagues: Queensland Cup Mal Meninga Cup (U18s) Cyril Connell Cup (U16s) Queensland City vs Country Origin Winfield State League (1982-1995) Other leagues: Masters Police Services Primary School Secondary School Universities Women's
Northern Division	Foley Shield Bowen Cairns Mackay Midwest Mount Isa Remote Areas Townsville
Central Division	Regions: Capricorn Region / South West Region / Wide Bay Region 47th Battalion Shield Balonne-Barwon Jr. Border Bundaberg Callide-Dawson Jr. Central Burnett Central Highlands Central West Fraser Coast Gladstone District Northern Districts Rockhampton District Roma Dictrict South Burnett Sunshine Coast-Gympie Toowoomba Warwick & District Jr. Western
South-East Division	Bulimba Cup Brisbane Brisbane A-Grade Brisbane Second Division Brisbane Women Ipswich Gold Coast Gold Coast Second Division FOGS Colts (U20's)