Port Moresby reigns The National, Friday 15th of August, 2014 By JOHN PANGKATANA PORT Moresby Rugby Football League not only took out top honours but saved the Southern Zone selection trials from being called off. POMRFL Green trailed Motu Koita 12-2 at one stage side, but dug deep to maintain their champion status to win 14-12 in the grand final at Iarowari High School Oval in Sogeri yesterday. Before that, tension erupted when local police, who were brought into to provide security, threatened to stop the finals due to their allowances not being paid. Port Moresby Rugby League deputy chairman Wari Varage came to the rescue to pay K1000 to bail out the organisers to allow the finals to proceed. Varage said as the premier competition in the country it was their duty to support the PNGRFL and the hosts, Koiari Rugby League. “It’s a double win for the POMRFL and I’m proud to say that we are still setting the benchmark for the game in the Southern region,” Varage said. In the lead-up to the grand final, the top two teams, as expected, played off in the decider after POMRFL survived a scare from Koiari Nagavas before eventually winning 10-6 and Motu Koita held off Keleone 18-6 in the other semi-final. Both teams survived a hectic four-days of competition and did not disappoint the crowd with their entertaining rugby league. The Motu Koita outfit, filtered with Hanuabada, Baruni, Tatana and Pari players, showed a lot of grit to lead 12-2 in the opening 20 minutes due to the individual brilliance of PNG Under-19 Kumul Gahuna Silas at dummy-half. The 19-year-old performed above expectation over the past four days with his deft skills around the ruck and despite the loss is a good chance to make the Southern Zone team to the national championship. The POMRFL outfit under coach Wesley Laveliu were down going into the second half, but kept plugging away through playmaker Tilix Kawage and forwards Nelson Wak, John Supa, John Mondo and John Richard to finally break the Motuans. That allowed fullback Jack Victor to spoil the party for his Motu Koitabu relatives with a brace of tries to seal the win. Other players to feature for the POMRFL team were hooker Junior Mark, halfback Stanley Uwane and big centre Kato Ottio, who looks to be star in the making.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 02:54:09 +0000
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