Simple style works The National, Friday May 30th, 2014 THE Queensland Cup’s Round 14 clash between the Papua New Guinea Hunters and the Souths Logan Magpies at Kalabond Oval tomorrow will show whether Michael Marum’s men have the professional ruthlessness needed to be a force in the competition. Sitting fourth on the ladder with 17 points, the Hunters are coming off a morale-boosting 16-12 win over the Central Queensland Capras in Gladstone, and are expected to be even more formidable on home turf against the ninth-placed Magpies. The Hunters have recorded seven wins, four losses and a draw in their debut season using a simple formula and Marum, pictured, is unlikely to deviate from what has worked. “Some people have complained that we’re using a very simple plan of one up, one up, but if they watched the games closely they’ll see we have a plan, so we’ll stick to what works for us,” Marum said. “We’ve got spots in the field where we work towards so it’s not just a one out style. “The guys have been together for 12 games so far and they know each other’s game and we’re just going to concentrate on getting the basics right especially on defence.” Marum confirmed that fullback Adex Wera and centre Thompson Teteh unlikely to play and the backline would have a new look with centre Albert Patak shifting to fullback while Tiger Emere would come into the centres alongside ‘Mr Fix It’ Noel Zeming. “It’s not looking good for Thompson (Teteh) and Adex (Wera). They didn’t train today. They only went through a light warm-up before sitting out the rest of training. “Tiger (Emere) will start at centre. He’s a good one to bring on. He’s big and strong and he can cover wing, centre and the backrow so he’ll do well for us,” Marum said. Prop Timothy Lomai has recovered from a hip flexor complaint to be named on the bench while Dion Aiye remains on the bench despite having a niggling back injury. Marum said he expected the Magpies to be competitive with a similar style to other teams. The visitors boast some National Rugby League experience with Canberra Raiders squad members Jack Ahearn (five-eighth) and Sam Mataora (prop) playing alongside Brisbane Broncos utility Kurt Baptiste (hooker). “They have some big guys and I’m sure they’ll use their size up the middle against us like other teams have. We just have to concentrate on our defence in the middle and make sure they don’t get on top of us. “They’ve been watching our games so they’ll have an idea of how we play but we’re not worried. We will just focus on doing our jobs well. At this stage of the season we’re not worried about wins and losses. We just want to concentrate on playing well.” Marum, who spent most of yesterday organising his team’s relocation to the Queen Emma Lodge in Kokopo said the Hunters were grateful to the Bomana Police College and the community for having them there for the last six months. “I’d just like to say thank you on behalf of the Hunters players and management to the Bomana Police College community for having us for the past six months. We’re really grateful for their support.”
Posted on: Fri, 30 May 2014 03:16:04 +0000
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