The PNG Hunters forward missed their 2017 grand final fairytale after deciding to spend a season with local Ipswich club Fassifern Bombers.

Months before, Korave had been dropped from the Hunters leadership group by coach Michael Marum for unspecified off-field issues.

Now that he has been welcomed back from a year’s sabbatical, the 28-year-old says it is time to create his own piece of history.

“Missing out on the grand final and the premiership last year…that’s something I want to experience myself,” he said on the eve of tackling the Norths Devils.

“To see them (his former Hunters teammates) win the title, I thought ‘I need to create my own destiny’.

“I’m very humbled Michael and the team have welcomed me back and I feel I am definitely more mature.

“The coach and management want an experienced hand to take the lead for the younger guys and I want to help fill that role.”

Korave revealed that he had spent the majority of 2017 working under the Queensland sun on a farm outside of Ipswich, picking turnips, beetroots and carrots.

A friend hooked him up with the opportunity to work and play in Australia for a year, which led to him featuring in a Fassifern team alongside former New Zealand and Samoan Test player David Fa’alogo.

Korave himself has already tasted Test football, representing PNG twice in games against Fiji.

His last Test appearance in 2016 was a memorable 24-22 win against the odds.

To experience that sense of elation and deliver his nation continued success is what keeps him ploughing his 93kg frame into much bigger forwards on a weekly basis.

“That’s the expectation of everyone in PNG,” he said matter-of-factly.

“The country is expecting us to play hard to defend the Intrust Super Cup.

“It comes down to each of us as individuals to step up.

“We haven’t started the season really well, but we are a very different team (personnel-wise) to last year and I believe we can bring it together.”

Currently in eighth spot, the Hunters play third-placed Norths at Bishop Park at 5.30pm on Saturday. 

​QRL Media 

The news came quite suddenly last weekend – one of the stars of the Intrust Super Cup was playing his final game after deciding to swap his boot bag for a library card.

PNG Hunters fullback Stargroth Amean had approached his coach Michael Marum earlier in the week to tell him had made a decision about his future and - to the lament of fans of the Intrust Super Cup competition and beyond – this was away from the football field.

Amean (who was reportedly named after a Spanish film star by his movie-loving mother) had always wanted to be a doctor and felt the time was right to convert his part-time studies in science into a full-time dedication in order to help him achieve his dream.

While obviously disappointed to be losing such a valued member of his squad, all Marum could do was wish him well.

Besides; this is far from the first time Marum’s been forced to farewell a talent he’s played an integral part in shaping, and it won’t be the last.

In some ways, the success of the PNG Hunters and their football program can at times work against them, as it teaches young men to believe in themselves and pushes them to work hard to strive toward their goals. As Marum is continuing to discover, instilling discipline can help his players eventually further their footballing careers by signing with overseas clubs, like the brothers Wellington and Stanton Albert, now at the Widnes Vikings; or they can find fulfilling employment outside of football completely.

“I knew he was doing part-time studies since last year and during preseason … but he didn’t mention (anything about stepping down) til just on Tuesday night when he came into my office and informed me of his decision,” Marum said of how Amean broke the news to him.

The inaugural coach of the Hunters since they entered the competition in 2014, Marum has previously seen rampaging winger Garry Lo head to England in his quest to play Super League, overseen the signing of Justin Olam with the Melbourne Storm (now playing for the Sunshine Coast); while former captain and the club’s all-time leading point scorer Noel Zeming decided to leave the Hunters to pursue a career in teaching. 

Despite having to deal with the departures of key personnel after investing considerable efforts into promoting their wellbeing and development, the PNG Kumuls coach was proud of the expectations placed on his charges.

“We have set high standards at our club and in order to be successful, and (players) have to abide by (them),” Marum said.

He also acknowledged that players who meet these standards would soon discover their own ability to achieve, meaning they could be lost to other endeavours.

“Yes definitely; they gain a lot of confidence from what we try to enforce to them in order to become successful,” he said.

“Hopefully a lot of them go out and apply what they have learnt from the team.” 

While there is nothing preventing the Hunters from trying to lure an established talent from other clubs in the competition to fill the void left by a player like Amean, the club is committed to providing pathways – football or otherwise – for Papua New Guineans, despite the challenges.

“It’s very tough when you invest a lot of time into players that you think will do well for you and then lose them to study and work,” Marum admitted.

“Bringing in players from our local Digicel Cup clubs is what we are doing (as this forms) a pathway for our PNG boys to expose their talents outside of the country.

“But they come from a lower level of competition and we are working hard on how we can close the gap in between.”

A fan favourite, the retirement of Hunter #27 (who played 64 games and scored 37 tries) will be a difficult one to manage as he was a key pillar in their premiership success last year.

“We will certainly miss his presence on the field, but we have to move on and work with who we have and put trust in him that he can do the same,” Marum said of his side’s focus going forward.

As well as his obvious skills with the ball; the loss off of Amean's leadership and experience will leave another huge void to fill.

Marum said the team would also miss his presence off the field, with the former Viper known for his upbeat personality and his absolute love of the camera.

“He loves pictures,” Marum said.

“The boys will miss seeing him taking selfies whenever we (are) anywhere near cameras.”

The PNG Hunters travel to Bishop Park this Saturday to face the Norths Devils at 5.30pm.

​QRL Media 

​SP PNG Hunters strongman Adex Wera will be the new fullback after the exit of Stargroth Amean from the camp last Sunday.
Coach Michael Marum said there are options for the fullback position but Adex Wera fits into the number one position well.
“We have few players in the line up but Adex Wera will be a good fill in for this,” he said.
“We always have the team spirit to get into the field and play as a team but as we go along, reshuffles to the young ones on the team will be strengthened and fitted well enough to find a good combination.”
Marum said they would give a go on Adex (Wera), then after the two away matches, more reshuffles to the positions were likely to be made.
“With Stargroth Amean out, the line-up and improvement depends upon our player’s performances, but we are looking forward to another tough match against the North Devils in Brisbane,” Marum said.
However, young entries such as Brendon Gutuno and Edene Gabbie are in but their performances will still be monitored after rounds five and six.
Meanwhile, Junior Rau will become Hunter No. 63 after he was named in the starting line-up for this weekend.
Rau replaces Willie Minoga who was ruled out due to a shoulder injury sustained from last Sunday’s game.
Butler Morris has been named as centre while Patrick Morea and Junior Bobby have been named on the extended bench.
The 20-man squad:
1. Adex WERA
2. Edene GABBIE
3. Junior RAU
4. Butler MORRIS
5. Brendon GOTUNO
6. Ase BOAS – Captain
7. Charlie SIMON
8. Moses MENINGA
9. Wartovo PUARA Jnr
10. Adam KORAVE
11. Nixon PUT
12. John ANDY
13. Rhadley BRAWA

INTER-CHANGE
14. Watson BOAS
15. Baundo ABA
16. Julius YOKOPA
17. Muka Peter KULU
18. Patrick MOREA
19. Junior BOBBY
20. McKenzie YEI

Coach: Michael MARUM
The final 18-man travelling team will be confirmed this afternoon.
The team leaves for Brisbane on Friday and will have the Captains Run at 4pm that afternoon at West Arana Field No. 2 at Keperra.
The round 5 ISC clash against Norths Devils will be at 5.30pm on Saturday. They return to Port Moresby on Sunday.

Levington Melvin Levongo/QRL
​
The PNG Hunters sent fan favourite Stargroth Amean out a winner after overcoming an impressive Tweed Heads Seagulls 32-18 in their Round 4 match at Port Moresby yesterday.

The Rugby League World Cup representative announced earlier in the week that he was stepping away from rugby league to pursue his studies.

The Hunters – who were looking to arrest a two-game loss streak – began the match strongly and produced a physical display in front of the home fans, led by forwards Adam Korave, Rahdly Brawa and Moses Meninga.

However, it was rookie winger Edene Gebbie who got the biggest cheer when he crossed in the corner for his first try.

Desperate for their first win, Tweed Heads responded eight minutes later through winger Kiah Cooper. With both teams successful with their conversions, the scores were locked at 6-6 midway through the first half.

The home side then regrouped as the Seagulls gave them more possession and they capitalised on the opportunity.

Man of the moment Amean muscled his way over to score and captain Ase Boas followed up that effort soon after when he dummied past defenders to cross with just five minutes before halftime.

Holding a healthy 18-0, the Hunters began the second half with intent, and scored their fourth try and second to winger Gebbie who went over in the corner to extent their lead.

The Gulls fired back through winger Kiah Cooper for his second try in the corner, while Eli Levido landed the conversion.

Tweed Heads scored again through Moeaki Fotuaika to swing some momentum back towards his team, but Hunters put the game out of reach as Ase Boas made a break to set up his brother Watson to score the final try just five minutes before fulltime.

See the full scoring details and final team line-ups for this game via QRL Live

 PNG HUNTERS 32 (Edene Gebbie 2, Stargroth Amean, Ase Boas, Watson Boas tries; Ase Boas 6 goals) def TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 18 (Kiah Cooper 2, Moeaki Fotuaika tries; Eli Levido 3 goals) at Oil Search National Football Stadium, Port Moresby. 

*Levington Melvin Levongo is a QRL correspondent covering the PNG Hunters

​BACK-to-back losses has seen a change in the SP PNG Hunters halves with Charlie Simon named at halfback for their round 4 fixture against the Tweed Head Seagulls on Sunday.
Regular halfback Watson Boas drops to the bench with former Lae Tigers skipper Simon coming into the starting line-up after coming off the bench in the first two rounds.
He partners captain and five-eighth Ase Boas.
Marum said the Hunters needed to improve and getting a new half would hopefully spark the team.
“Watson is on the bench and will be used but the point is we need to get better as a team hopefully the changes we’ve made help us,” Marum, pictured, said.
Marum, however, did leave the door ajar saying Watson could be shifted to hooker with Wartovo Puara Jr coming off the bench.
“Charlie has been coming off the bench and has been doing well so we are trying to involve him early in the game to see if he can have an impact.” Marum said the team was under pressure to perform as the defending premiers and he was happy to be back at home for the fourth round.
“We’re the defending champions so every team is putting in the extra effort against us.
“We saw that in the game against the Falcons so it all goes back to how we prepare for any team whether they’re top or bottom on the ladder.
“The main concern for us is our defence. We 20 missed tackles against the Pride (round 2) and then we missed 37 against the Falcons so it all comes down to the attitude of the players.”
Other changes to the side sees speedster Edene Gabbie replacing Wawa Paul on the wing. Paul was ruled out of the match with a corked thigh.
This will be Gabbie’s second match for the Hunters after debuting off the bench in round 1.
Adam Korave, who returns from injury, starts at prop, displacing McKenzie Yei with Rhadley Brawa retaining his spot at lock.
Other players likely to make their debuts this weekend are forwards Baundo Aba and Julius Yokopa – both named on the bench.
Marum was impressed with the progress of both players and if given the opportunity this week they will become Hunters No.61 and 62 respectively.
Hunters: 1. Stargroth Amean 2. Edene Gabbie 3. Adex Wera 4. Willie Minoga 5. Brendon Gotuno 6. Ase Boas (c) 7. Charlie Simon 8. Moses Meninga 9. Wartovo Puara Jr 10. Adam Korave 11. Nixon Put 12. John Andy 13. Rhadley Brawa Reserves: 14. Watson Boas 15. Baundo Aba 16. Julius Yokopa 17. Muka Peter Kulu 18. Junior Rau 19. Patrick Morea 20. McKenzie Yei (three to be omitted). The National

Sunshine Coast coach Craig Ingebrigtsen has cast aside clichés to say that a 24-10 victory against the PNG Hunters showed his team had learnt from their 2017 Intrust Super Cup grand final defeat.

While many modern day coaches are reluctant to reference past grand finals and their relation to contemporary performances, Ingebrigtsen was happy to offer a comparison from the Round 3 effort.

“In the grand final last year we got 10 points in front and stopped doing what we were good at,” admitted the Falcons mentor.

“We’re a team that plays well when we move the ball around well and asks questions on the edges.

“Today we actually played a bit of footy.”

In the rematch – a highlight of XXXX Rivalry Round - the Falcons jumped out to a 24-0 lead at Bokarina, before PNG saved face with two late tries to Nixon Putt and Wartovo Puara.

Making his first appearance for Sunshine Coast this season, half Ryley Jacks was first to score in the 13th minute, a fortnight after scoring for the Melbourne Storm in Round 1 of the NRL.

Further converted tries to Jake Ainsworth and Matt Soper-Lawler had the home side up 18-0 at halftime.

When Jye Ballinger crossed just two minutes into the second half, it threatened to be a blowout against a Hunters side that has struggled to click in the opening rounds.

However, it wasn’t all one way traffic and Ingebrigtsen was keen to point out his men were forced to defend five repeat sets, showing a willingness to put shoulders in front of the hard-running Papuans.

The Sunshine Coast coach gave special mention to hooker Harry Grant.

“I thought for a 20-year-old playing in the middle of the ruck, he was outstanding,” said Ingebrigtsen.

A Yeppoon Seagulls junior and graduate of St Brendan’s College, Grant was the captain of the Melbourne Thunderbolts last year in the National Youth Competition.

He was also named player of the competition by the Rugby League Players’ Association.

Last December he attracted national headlines when he helped save two women struggling in surf at Port Macquarie on Christmas Eve.

Next week Sunshine Coast plays Easts at Suzuki Stadium Langlands Park in the 1.10pm televised Saturday Channel Nine match.

SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS 24 (Ryley Jacks, Jake Ainsworth, Matta Soper-Lawler, Jye Ballinger tries; Matt Soper-Lawler 4 goals) def PNG HUNTERS 10 (Nixon Putt, Wartovo Puara tries; Ase Boas goal) at Sunshine Coast Stadium.

The Hunters host Tweed Heads at PNG National Stadium at 3pm on Easter Sunday.

Source: QRL Media

​Sunshine Coast Falcons v PNG Hunters at Sunshine Coast Stadium on Sunday, March 25 - 3pm

Sunshine Coast Falcons

1. Ryan Papenhuyzen 2. Matt Soper-Lawler 3. Justin Olam 4. Jye Ballinger 5. Alex Copelin 6. Kurt Aldridge 7. Brentt Warr 18. Tui Kamikamica 9. Harry Grant 10. Lachlan Timm 11. Dane Hogan (c) 12. Christopher Lewis 13. Harrison Muller 14. Jacob Hind 15. Liam McDonald 16. Louis Geraghty 17. Lachlan Roe 19. Connor Donehue

Coach: Craig Ingebrigtsen

PNG Hunters

1. Stargroth Amean 2. Wawa Paul 3. Adex Wera 4. Willie Minoga 5. Brendon Gotuno 6. Ase Boas (c) 7. Watson Boas 8. Moses Meninga 9. Wartovo Puara 10. Dilbert Issac 11. Nixon Putt 12. John Andy 13. Rahdly Brawa 14. Charlie Simon 15. Ila Alu 16. Silas Gahuna 17. Mekenzie Yei 18. William Mone 19. Junior Rau 20. Patrick Morea

Coach: Michael Marum

Source: QRL

​THE country’s national sporting code- rugby league is a business and it is worth an estimated K15million.
SP PNG Hunters’ chairman and PNG Rugby Football League board member Graham Osborne said this last week when interviewed at a luncheon hosted by Eda Ranu to celebrate the signing of one of its employees into the Hunters ranks for 2018.
Mr Osborne cited PNGRFL’s latest annual general meeting (AGM) last week and said figures presented were an indicator of where the sport was heading as a viable and somewhat lucrative venture for the country.
“It is a big business and like last year we just had our AGM, and if you saw our books, you would see that it is a K15 million business for us last year.
“So it is more than just a hobby and with all things going on we have to do things professionally,” Mr Osborne said.
He said current cost estimates for the SP PNG Hunters team puts it just over K5 million to run the team.
“It costs just a bit over K5 million. We have to travel to Australia and back and at the moment we have got this thing that we have to pay visiting teams as well,” he said.
A cost he said will drop considerable by the end of the 2018 season when the requirement ends.
“It ends at the end of this year and there will be some savings there. It is about K5 million to run the SP Hunters team. Those saving K2 million or so it is going to cost about K3 million to run the team in 2019),” he said. 

​The NRMA Insurance Broncos have overcome a spirited PNG Hunters side 26-12 in front of a packed crowd in Port Moresby this afternoon.

The Broncos had to come back from a 12-6 deficit at halftime after the Hunters thrilled their home crowd by taking a well-earned halftime lead.

But the Broncos’ class showed through after the break, with three tries in 10 minutes sending the contest back their way.

After a shaky first half where they blew some chances, the Broncos only took 12 minutes to regain the lead.

Down 12-6, stand-in skipper Alex Glenn cut the deficit to two points when he went over in the 48th minute.

Jamayne Isaako missed the goal, but just four minutes late the Broncos were in again.

A grubber rolled through from dummy half was chased down by big prop Korbin Sims, and after Jordan Kahu raised the flags, the Broncos were back on top 16-12.

Five minutes later Kahu went over untouched after James Roberts drew and passed nicely to make it 20-12 as the three-quarter time drinks break was taken.

The Broncos were in control now, and Corey Oates finished it off with a try down the left-hand touchline after a good long ball from Sam Scarlett with three minutes to play.

Earlier, the Broncos looked like they were going to score in the fifth minute but Tom Opacic spilled a tough pass just when Jonus Pearson was unmarked outside him.

Pearson would not be denied a minute later when Jamayne Isaako put him on the outside and he dived over in the corner.

Kahu aced the hard conversion and it was 6-0.

The Broncos left another one behind in the 12th minute when five-eighth Scarlett dummied his way through but lost control of the ball as he went to slam it down.

The Hunters had a real chance in the 17th minute on the Broncos’ line, but a long pass out wide went over the sideline.

They then sent the home crowd into a frenzy when Enock Maki spun his way over the line from dummy half.

Charlie Simon kicked the goal and it was 6-all after 25 minutes.

The Hunters had the lead when a grubber ricocheted off two Broncos players and fell for halfback Watson Boas in the 38th minute.

Simon kicked the conversion and it was 12-6 as the players walked into the sheds.

BRISBANE BRONCOS 26 (J Pearson, A Glenn, K Sims, J Kahu, C Oates tries; Kahu 3 goals) defeated PNG Hunters 12 (E Maki, W Boas tries; C Simon 2 goals) at Oil Search National Football Stadium, Port Moresby.

Source: nrl.com