The SP PNG Hunters players gather this evening for the final half of Pre-season training. Among them, players who took part in the Rugby League World Cup.
Following their success in 2017, the Hunters wasted no time, announcing a 44 men squad for the 2018 Season, back in December.
This evening, only 32 players are set to resume training.
Among them;
· 17 players from the Intercity Cup competition,
· 4 from the Lae and Port Moresby Academy,
· 2 from PNG Games,
· 1 from Port Moresby Rugby League team, Paga Panthers, in addition to Adam Korave, who played with Ipswich Jets last season.
Of the 25 players from last season, only 16 remain. Some big names will not be there for the Hunters this season – most notably Israel Eliab and Bland Abavu, who failed to turn up for training.
Wellington Albert joins English Super League Club, Widnes Vikings.
The majority of players in the Squad earned their selection after playing in the PM’s XIII last year.
According to Coach Michael Marum, 8 members have been cut from the squad due to either personal, family, study and or employment reasons.
The final Squad for 2018 team is expected to be named at the end of this month.
The Hunters first assignment will be against NRL Club, Brisbane Broncos on the 24th of February at the National Football Stadium.
