England bound Gary Lo has dropped a bomb shell on his contract with the Gateshead Thunder in the third tier of the English Rugby league.
Lo is believed to be returning back to the Hunters according to sources which revealed to this paper yesterday. The Mt Hagen led was under the process of flying out to England when the news broke out yesterday that the former Stop n Shop Port Moresby Vipers winger has resigned with the SP PNG Hunters for the Queensland’s Intrust Cup Challenge. It is also believed that Lo and SP Hunters captain Israel Eliab are now under the microscope to sign on with an NRL club. Various attempt to get Lo on his comments and confirmation of his re-signing with the Hunters failed. Lo’s team mate and current Kumuls five eight Dion Aiye when contacted to check if Lo was with him said: “Lo is not with me. He must be in Port Moresby but I am in Mt Hagen.” Aiye when asked if he had heard about Lo’s move back to the Hunters? He said he heard from current Vipers prop Enoch Maki that Lo has resigned with the Hunters but the former Gurias didn’t go in detail. Minister for Sports and Pacific Games Justin Tkatchenko when asked about this said: “Check I believe Gary Lo had signed on with Hunters today (Yesterday).” The vibrant sport minister after some discussions confirmed signing of Lo’s signing with the Hunters for this year. He however said it was Lo’s choice after he realised the truth. The minister also confirmed that he heard the Cowboys are going to trail him also. PNGRFL Chairman Sandis Tsaka and his CEO Brad Tassell when contacted via email and text messages last night did not respond quickly when this paper went to press. However Niugini Islands Regional Confederation Chairman or Director Horta Bosky confirmed that Lo has left his England trip and has signed on with the Hunters. Bosky also confirmed that Lo and Eliab will go have a trial with the North Queensland Cowboys later this month.
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RUGBY league will take centre stage next month with the Prime Ministers XIII match and the test against Tonga.
These matches will cap off a successful year for the Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League. On Wednesday this week, the PNGRFL announced its All Star teams that will play the curtain-raiser to the PMs XIII match. The Confederate All Stars comprised players from the recently completed national zone championships in Lae. The Digicel Cup All Stars had players from the semi-professional competition which was won by the Hela Wigmen. The renaming of the zone team as the ‘confederates’ signals a fresh start for the concept. PNGRFL chairman Sandis Tsaka, in a statement during the week, said the focus was now on bringing in new talent and developing players for the 2017 World Cup and beyond. The Confederate All Stars is the natural avenue for that goal to be realised, while the Digicel Cup All Stars is where those players who miss out on PM’s XIII and Kumul selection should be. That seems to be the logical way to proceed. But there will likely be a good number of very good players who will miss out. There were only four players with Kumuls experience named in the Digicel Cup side. One wonders whether selectors will be able to fit all our best talent into the PMs XIII which is the only other available representative team. The Hunters players are sure to get first preference for PMs XIII slots followed by whichever overseas players are available. After that any other player who does not make this side will miss out entirely. That is a shame because there are some very good players who have been overlooked. One of the keys to success is to pick the best available talent. Some of our best local talent has been ignored. The PNGRFL have announced the PNG Kumul PM13 squad for the clash against the Australian Kangaroos PM13 on October 12, in Kokopo. The squad was yesterday signed off by the PNG Prime Minister, Peter O’Neil, before being released in line with protocol for the 10 year anniversary of the PM13 match. The 21-man squad includes overseas-based players Wellington Albert, Rhys Martin, Mark Mexico and Luke Page. A strong inclusion into the squad, Page is contracted to the Canberra Raiders and is the 2014 Intrust Super Cup Player of the Year and qualifies to play for PNG. Page will join the squad in Kokopo once visa requirements are met. Albert will await a final clearance from his surgeon on September 23 before joining the squad, while Mexico will join the squad this Sunday September 21, to begin training for the clash. Rhys Martin is currently in the Sydney Roosters top 25 player list and will finish his senior club commitments before joining the squad. Segeyaro, Thompson, McDonald and Jayden Hodges are unavailable for selection, while Alex Johnson is also unavailable and likely to line up for Australia in the PM13 clash. David Mead and Rod Griffin are also unavailable due to both getting married in October. Head coach Mal Meninga expressed his confidence in the squad which was finalised in consultation with selectors and assistant coach and Hunters head coach, Michael Marum. Meninga said; "It was a difficult and long process trying to work through which overseas based players were available and as it is not a World Cup year." "It is difficult to secure the services of overseas based players, due to eligibility guidelines, club commitments, injuries." "Having said that we are excited about the young talent available and the pathway that has been created in PNG," said Meninga. The Prime Minister’s X111 match is set for October 12 in Kokopo. Dion Aiye - PNG Hunters Wellington Albert - NYC Penrith Stanton Albert - PNG Hunters Israel Eliab - PNG Hunters Adam Korave - PNG Hunters Roger Laka - PNG Hunters Gary Lo- PNG Hunters Timothy Lomai - PNG Hunters Rhys Martin - NYC Roosters Mark Mexico - NSW Cup Cronulla Willie Minoga- PNG Hunters Luke Page - ISC Souths Logan Sebastine Pandia - PNG Hunters Brandy Peter - PNG Hunters Wartovo Puara - PNG Hunters Esau Siune - PNG Hunters Jason Tali - PNG Hunters Thompson Tete - PNG Hunters Lawrence Tu’u - PNG Hunters Adex Wera- PNG Hunters Noel Zeming- PNG Hunters OVER 400 players and officials are expected to converge on Lae over the next few days as the Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League through the Team Kumul program hosts the 2014 National Championships. On September 9, four teams representing New Guinea Islands, Southern, Highlands and Northern confederates kick off the PNG Women’s Championships over two days with the PNG Schoolboys U16 & U18 Championships to follow on the 11th & 12th of September. The PNG National Championships for men involving the four regions kicks off on September 13 to September 14 at the Lae Rugby League ground in an event that National Selectors will use to identify players for the various representative fixtures scheduled for this year. From this championship the following teams will be selected to play curtain raisers to the PM13 Kumuls vs. Australia match on the 12th October in Kokopo: 1. PNG Junior Kumul U16 vs. NSW Academy U16 2. Possible/Probable women’s squad 3. PNG National Championships Squad vs. the Digicel All-Stars Chairman Sandis Tsaka said the National Championships will be restricted to leagues which are affiliates of PNGRFL. There are other restrictions as well which all teams have been advised about. These include teams to only include players who have played less than five Digicel Cup games for the senior men’s championships. Also only properly registered players are to be fielded with the schoolboy’s championships to involve those who have birth certificates to verify the Under 16 and Under 18 divisions they participate in. “Officials are advised to strictly adhere to the competition rules and regulations,” he said. “Teams must not field unregistered players and any official found breaching these rules and regulations will face the consequences. “The rules and regulations are clearly set out, which all team officials should be aware of, so it is in the best interests of everyone that we observe these to avoid any issues.” Players from SP PNG Hunters are most likely to secure more positions in the PNG Kumuls team for the annual Prime Minister’s 13 match.
The PM’s 13 clash between Kumuls and Australia Kangaroos will take place at Kalabond Stadium in Kokopo on Oct 12. Hunters’ coach Michael Marum said Hunters players showed big improvement in their games in the high level Queensland Intrust Cup competition this season. He said the full selection for PNG Kumuls will be done from Hunters, England’s Super League, Australian NRL and the local Digicel Cup competition so it will be a tough selection. Marum added they are hoping to see majority of the Hunters getting selected into the Kumuls following their exposure to international competition after playing very well in the Intrust Cup competition. Four national selectors will meet after the rugby league national championships in Lae next week to determine players available for selections. The selectors will be guided by the PNG Rugby Football League board and Team Kumul coach Mal Meninga. They expect to name the PM’s 13 team four weeks prior to the match to give enough time for players to get into training before the big game. PNG Loop |
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