Hunters to Face Northern Pride in Preseason Trial

Dusting off the cobwebs last week Friday (February 7th) against the Central Dabaris at the Santos National Football Stadium in Port Moresby, the SP PNG Hunters will now meet the Northern Pride this afternoon (February 14th) at Barlow Park in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. 

Following the first preseason trial match against the Dabaris, two players have been dropped, Derrick Voku and Zechariah Selu. A few more players will be axed this weekend and the following weekend, with a 30-man squad to be finalized for the 2025 Hostplus Cup season. 

Assistant coach, Enoch Maki said following last week’s clash against the Dabaris, it allowed coach Paul Aiton and his coaching staff to assess some of the weak areas and improve on those shortfalls. 

“Our first trial against the Dabaris was to identify some of the things that we need to fix for this trial against the Northern Pride,” Maki stated.

“Our defense in particular has been sloppy while our attack is fine, but we are rushing things. We need to defend well and be calm when attacking. 

“We’ve worked hard throughout the week and felt that we’ve fixed some of our weaknesses and look forward to facing the Pride in Cairns.”

Chief playmaker, Jamie Mavoko will skipper the side with the spine pairing of Finley Glare, Trevor Solu, and Morea Morea Jr, while the backline has the services of big-time players in Solo Wane, Benji Kot, Clent Lama, Elijah Roltinga, coupled with experienced forwards, Jordan Pat and Joshua Mire to hold the fort in the middle alongside debutants Himson Ulalom, Murray Fige Connors and Henry Limbi, and bringing the firepower off the bench include utility player Sanny Wabo, supported by Lynchill Kiap, Steven Bruno, Zebedy Kip, and 18th man, Alex Max.

After the trial match against the Northern Pride in Cairns, the PNG Hunters will host the Central Capras next weekend at NFS, which is the final trial of the preseason, and prepare for the next couple of weeks to resume the 2025 Hostplus Cup season in March.