# 2023 Papua New Guinea Hunters season

The 2023 Hostplus Cup will be the PNG Hunters' tenth season in rugby league's Queensland Cup. The Papua New Guinea Hunters is a professional rugby league club from Papua New Guinea.

## Train and trial partnership with Dolphins (NRL)

The PNG Hunters strategic partnership with Dolphins (NRL) saw four Hunters players Tai, Tanabi, Waine and Judah Rimbu trained with the Dolphins (NRL) side during NRL pre-season in January,2023. Waine then left to join the London Broncos while Rodrick Tai was recalled together with Morea Morea in April to be part of the Dolphins for a month to train. Rodrick's trial got extended after the one month, while Morea returned to the Hunters in May.

## Season summary
### Milestone games

| Round | Player | Milestone |
| Round 1 | Morea Morea(#112), Siki Konden(#113), Sakias Komati(#114), Tom Moide(#115), Joshua Mire(#116), Valentine Richard(#117) | Hostplus Cup debuts |
| Round 1 | Samson Komati | scored his first try |
| Round 2 | Morea Morea | scored his first Hunters try |
| Round 3 | Sanny Wabo(#118) | Hostplus Cup debut |
| Round 5 | Junior Igila(#119), Trevor Solu(#120), Koso Badi(#121) | Hostplus Cup debuts |
| Round 8 | Tom Moide | scored his first Hostplus Cup try |
| Round 8 | Seal Kalo (Hunters #122) | Hostplus Cup debut |
| Round 10 | Sanny Wabo | scored his first Hostplus Cup try |
| Round 11 | Jamie Mavoko | scored his first Hostplus Cup try |
| Round 12 | Junior Igila | scored his first Hostplus Cup try |
| Round 13 | Joshua Lau (Hunters #123) | scored his first try on his Debut |
| Round 14 | Joshua Mire | scored his first try at Hostplus cup level |
| Round 15 | Trevor Solu | scored his first try at Hostplus cup level |
| Round 16 | Whallen Tau-Loi (PNG Hunters #124) | Hostplus Cup debut |
| Round 20 | Whallen Tau-Loi | First Hostplus Cup try |
| Round 22 | Siki Konden | First Hostplus Cup try |

## Squad movement
### Gains

| Player | Signed From | Until End of | Notes |
| Epel Kapinias | Wynnum Manly Seagulls | 2023 | |

### Losses

| Player | Signed To | Until End of |
| Keven Appo | Bradford Bulls | 2023 |
| Sylvester Namo | North Queensland Cowboys | 2023 |
| Kitron Laka | Wynnum Manly Seagulls | 2023 |
| Kingstimer Paraia | Souths Logan Magpies | 2023 |
| Samuel Yegip | Central Queensland Capras | 2023 |
| Emmanuel Waine | London Broncos | 2023 |
| Wartovo Puara | Sepik Pride | 2023 |
| Liam Joseph | Rabaul Gurias | 2023 |
| Dilbert Isaac | Redcliffe Dolphins | 2023 |
| Gilmo Paul | Port Moresby Vipers | 2023 |

## Ladder

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Burleigh Bears | 20 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 547 | 376 | 171 | 35 |
| 2 | Souths Logan Magpies | 20 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 588 | 392 | 196 | 34 |
| 3 | Brisbane Tigers | 20 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 573 | 432 | 141 | 33 |
| 4 | Central Queensland Capras | 20 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 511 | 387 | 124 | 30 |
| 5 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 20 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 564 | 443 | 121 | 29 |
| 6 | Wynnum Manly Seagulls | 20 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 610 | 498 | 112 | 28 |
| 7 | Northern Pride RLFC | 20 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 363 | 442 | -79 | 28 |
| 8 | Sunshine Coast Falcons | 20 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 525 | 408 | 117 | 27 |
| 9 | Tweed Heads Seagulls | 20 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 614 | 478 | 136 | 26 |
| 10 | Papua New Guinea Hunters | 20 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 464 | 514 | -50 | 23 |
| 11 | Norths Devils | 20 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 551 | 530 | 21 | 22 |
| 12 | Townsville Blackhawks | 20 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 480 | 455 | 25 | 21 |
| 13 | Western Clydesdales | 20 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 452 | 684 | -232 | 10 |
| 14 | Mackay Cutters | 20 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 332 | 606 | -274 | 10 |
| 15 | Ipswich Jets | 20 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 342 | 871 | -529 | 4 |
* The team highlighted in blue has clinched the minor premiership
* Teams highlighted in green have qualified for the finals
* The team highlighted in red has clinched the wooden spoon

## Fixtures
### Pre-season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries |
| Saturday 25 February | Trial 1 | CQ Capras | PNG Football Stadium | 12-20 | Konden,Morea,Kot |
| Saturday 4 March | Trial 2 | Kaiviti Silktails | Lawaqa Park, Sigatoka, Fiji | 26-12 | Rop 3, Konden, Nima |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye |||||||

### Regular season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals |
| Sunday, 12 March | Round 1 | Western Clydesdales | Clive Berghofer Stadium | 20-10 | Nima 2, Komati, Kot | Mavoko 2/4 goals |
| Saturday, 18 March | Round 2 | Souths Logan Magpies | Logan Metro Sports Park | 22-22 | Komati 2, Tai, Kot, Morea | Morea 1/5 goal |
| Saturday, 25 March | Round 3 | Brisbane Tigers | PNG Football Stadium | 36-38 | Morea 3, Wane, Nima, Alu, Yakopa | Morea 3/6, Komati 1/1 goals |
| Saturday, 8 April | Round 4 | BYE | - | | | |
| Saturday, 15 April | Round 5 | Northern Pride | Barlow Park | 14-34 | Tai, Komati, Nima | Solu 1/3 goal |
| Saturday, 22 April | Round 6 | Burleigh Bears | Pizzey Park | 20-46 | Rop, Kapinias, Nima, Komati | Morea 1/2, Solu 1/2 goals |
| Saturday, 29 April | Round 7 | Mackay Cutters | PNG Football Stadium | 18-10 | Morea, Kot, Yakopa, Tai | Mavoko 1/4 |
| Saturday, 6 May | Round 8 | Ipswich Jets | PNG Football Stadium | 40-28 | Nima 2, Morea, Tenza, Moide, Komati, Rop | Mavoko 6/7 |
| Friday, 12 May | Round 9 | Townsville Blackhawks | Jack Manski Oval | 4-54 | Wane | Mavoko 0/1 |
| Saturday, 20 May | Round 10 | Wynnum Manly Seagulls | BMD Kougari Oval | 24-28 | Tai 2, Wabo 2, Jesse | Mavoko 2/5 |
| Saturday,27 May | Round 11 | Northern Pride | PNG Football Stadium | 16-22 | Yakopa, Mavoko, Tenza | Mavoko 2/3 |
| Saturday, 3 June | Round 12 | Tweed Heads Seagulls | PNG Football Stadium | 34-18 | Moide, Igila, Morea, Tai, Wane, Rop | Mavoko 5/6 |
| Saturday, 10 June | Round 13 | Western Clydesdales | PNG Football Stadium | 40-4 | Moide, Nima, Lau, Kimisive, Wabo, Morea, Tai | Solu 5/6, Morea 1/1 |
| Saturday, 17 June | Round 14 | Souths Logan Magpies | PNG Football Stadium | 10-40 | Kot, Mire | Solu 1/1, Mavoko 0/1 |
| Sunday, 25 June | Round 15 | Sunshine Coast Falcons | Sunshine Coast Stadium | 34-10 | Solu 2, Morea, Moide, Yakopa, Wane | Mavoko 4/5, Solu 1/1 |
| Saturday, 1 July | Round 16 | CQ Capras | PNG Football Stadium | 14-8 | Rimbu, Wabo, Kot | Mavoko 1/2 Solu 0/1 |
| Saturday, 8 July | Round 17 | Burleigh Bears | PNG Football Stadium | 22-30 | Nima, Kot, Morea, Wane | Morea (2/4 + 1 pen.) |
| Saturday, 15 July | Round 18 | BYE | | | | |
| Sunday, 30 July | Round 19 | Brisbane Tigers | Totally Workwear Stadium | 18-32 | Tai, Wane, Kot | Mavoko 3/3 |
| Saturday, 5 August | Round 20 | Redcliffe Dolphins | PNG Football Stadium | 26-22 | Wane 2, Tau-Loi, Lau, Kot | Mavoko (2/5 + 1 pen.) |
| Saturday, 12 August | Round 21 | Townsville Blackhawks | PNG Football Stadium | 22-18 | Morea, Lau, Tau-Loi, Mavoko | Mavoko 3/4 |
| Saturday, 19 August | Round 22 | Norths Devils | Bishop Park | 30-40 | Rop, Mavoko, Komati, Rimbu, Konden | Mavoko (4/5 + 1 pen.) |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye ||||||||

## Statistics

| * | Denotes player on loan from the Central Queensland Capras. |
| Name | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| Ila Alu | 18 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Koso Badi | 7 | 0 | - | - | 0 |
| Casey Dickson | 7 | 0 | - | - | 0 |
| Warren Glare | 4 | 0 | - | - | 0 |
| Junior Igila | 7 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Mathew Jesse | 2 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Seal Kalo | 10 | 0 | - | - | 0 |
| Epel Kapinias | 20 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Philemon Kimisive | 2 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Sakias Komati | 13 | 7 | 1 | - | 30 |
| Siki Konden | 6 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Benji Kot | 16 | 8 | - | - | 32 |
| Joshua Lau | 5 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Jamie Mavoko | 18 | 3 | 37 | - | 86 |
| Joshua Mire | 6 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Tom Moide | 16 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Morea Morea | 20 | 11 | 9 | - | 62 |
| Brandon Nima | 19 | 9 | - | - | 36 |
| Valentine Richard | 4 | 0 | - | - | 0 |
| Judah Rimbu | 18 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Junior Rop | 18 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Trevor Solu | 8 | 2 | 8 | - | 24 |
| Rodrick Tai | 19 | 8 | - | - | 32 |
| Sherwin Tanabi | 7 | 0 | - | - | 0 |
| Whallen Tau-Loi | 5 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Wesser Tenza | 11 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Sanny Wabo | 8 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Henry Wan | 12 | 0 | - | - | 0 |
| Solo Wane | 20 | 8 | - | - | 32 |
| Julius Yakopa | 11 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Totals | | 88 | 56 | 0 | 464 |

## Representatives

The following players played representative matches in 2023.
| | PNG Prime Minister's XIII | 2023 Pacific Rugby League Championships |
| Seal Kalo | PNG Prime Minister's XIII | |
| Epel Kapinias | PNG Prime Minister's XIII | PNG Kumuls |
| Benji Kot | PNG Prime Minister's XIII | PNG Kumuls |
| Tommy Moide | PNG Prime Minister's XIII | |
| Morea Morea | PNG Prime Minister's XIII | |
| Judah Rimbu | PNG Prime Minister's XIII | PNG Kumuls |
| Junior Rop | PNG Prime Minister's XIII | PNG Kumuls |
| Rodrick Tai | PNG Prime Minister's XIII | PNG Kumuls |