The Fiji National Rugby League premiers, Maroons, will host the Papua New Guinea champions at Churchill Park in Lautoka.
The venue was also the scene of the recent Super Rugby upset where the Fiji Drua shocked eight-time champions Canterbury Crusaders 25-24 on Saturday (March 11).
The Wigmen, who beat the Agmark Rabaul Gurias 8-6 in last year’s final at the Santos National Football Stadium in Port Moresby, will be without boom forward Samuel Yegip and Valentine Culligan as well as winger Siki Konden but still boast a solid championship quality line-up.
Wigmen club executive Andy Hetra confirmed with The National that the side would be announced this week.
“We are playing in Fiji next weekend. We travel on Tuesday (March 21),” he said in an email.
“We have been preparing and we are ready. We will do an official launch of our season with a media conference as well.”
The Wigmen will look to continue the dominance of PNG teams over Fiji’s top sides with the SP PNG Hunters recently scoring a 26-12 win over the Kaiviti Silktails to claim the Melanesian Bowl in Sigatoka two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, the Silktails are scheduled to face the Canterbury Bulldogs in the second round of the NSW Ron Massey Cup which will be the curtain raiser for the match.
Fiji NRL chief executive, Don Natabe said the traditional rivals meeting between Fiji and PNG continued to strengthen bilateral ties and promote the sport across the region.
“Traditional rivalries of rugby league in the pacific region, Fiji and PNG continues to strengthen our bilateral ties and promote the sport across the region especially in the absence of an international rolling calendar we’re proud and very thankful for the Fijian governments support,” Natabe said.
The Fiji Sports Commission donated a sum of $104,000 (about K164,000) to FNRL for the event.
Fiji National Sports Commission chief executive Peter Mazey said they would continue to support the development of rugby league in the region and the Melanesian Cup was one way grassroots rugby league was promoted.
Fixtures: Sat, March 25: 12pm – Silktails v Bulldogs; 3pm – Western Maroons v Hela Wigmen. Venue: Churchill Park, Lautoka, Fiji.
News source www.thenational.com.pg
Leave us a comment