Nima is 18th man with prop Henry Noki and Junior Igila part of the reserves while middle forward Valentine Culligan, who played for coach Stanley Tepend’s side last week as a loaned player from the Central Queensland Capras, retains a spot on the inter-change bench.
Nima’s demotion to a place outside the match-day 17 seems unlucky for the experienced campaigner who started the season against the Western Clydesdales with a brace of tries.
But the man coming back into the No.4 jersey is just as good and will boost the right edge.
Hunters captain Ila Alu said despite a gritty but comfortable 20-10 win over the Clydesdales last week, his side would need to show more improvement in tomorrow’s fixture at the Logan Metro Football Field.
The Magpies will feature Brisbane Broncos contracted player Jordan Pereira at wing and former St George Illawarra Dragon Tristan Sailor at fullback.
The SP Brewery-sponsored side had a solid finish to their season last year with three wins, a draw and loss to the final five matches and seem to have carried that form over to the new season despite being decimated with player departures over the offseason.
Boom fullback Morea Morea Jnr is one to watch with the 22-year-old having a memorable debut to his Queensland Cup career last week with a try assist and big run metres building off his impressive preseason form. Morea has already proved a handy linkman and will add another dimension on attack.
His combination with the rest of the spine in halves Jamie Mavoko at seven and running five-eighth Sakias Komati and hooker Wessa Tenza will get another test against a Souths Logan side coming off a 28-14 away win against the Ipswich Jets.
Utility Judah Rimbu’s role off the bench suits Tepend’s game plan with the talented distributor able to competently cover a number of positions from the halves (6/7) to dummy-half and in the back three (1/2-5); adding to his versatility is his possession of a varied and prodigious kicking game.
Hunters have good record over Magpies as they had won 13 games and lost only three games in their 16 outings since 2014.
“Two straight wins away from home would mean a lot but we just have to take it one game at a time,” Alu said last week.
“I heard the Magpies did some good recruiting over the preseason so we look forward to what they’ll bring. I think there’s a lot of room for improvement especially in attack.”
PNG Hunters: 1. Morea Morea, 2. Siki Konden, 3. Benji Kot, 4. Roderick Tai, 5. Solo Wane, 6. Sakias Komati, 7. Jamie Mavoko, 8. Junior Rop, 9. Wesser Tenza, 10. Epel Kapinias, 11. Sherwin Tanabi, 12. Julius Yakopa, 13. Ila Alu (captain). Interchange: 14. Judah Rimbu, 15. Tom Moide, 16. Joshua Mire, 17. Valentine Richard; Reserves: 18. Brandon Nima, 19. Henry Noki, 20. Junior Igila.
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