INAUGURAL MELANESIAN BOWL- Kaiviti Silktails vs PNG Hunters

[mikail-eagle]

IRL - News

Global rugby league news

www.intrl.sport

KAIVITI SILKTAILS AND PNG HUNTERS TO CONTEST INAUGURAL MELANESIAN BOWL​

The Kaiviti Silktails from NSWRL’s Leagues Clubs Australia Ron Massey Cup will face the PNG Hunters from the QRL’s Hostplus Cup in Fiji on Saturday, March 4, in the Melanesian Bowl.

The match, which honours both cultures, is the second attempt by the Pacific nations to get the Melanesian Bowl off the ground.

The match is now scheduled for Lawaqa Park, Sigatoka, Fiji, with kick-off scheduled at 6.30pm (Fiji time), or 4.30pm (PNG and Qld), 5.30pm (NSW) on Saturday, March 4.

 

[siv]

Bit confused

Wasnt this the game where the Fiji premiers played the PNG premiers

 

[mikail-eagle]

Bit confused

Wasnt this the game where the Fiji premiers played the PNG premiers

I think that was called the Melanesian Club Championship.
It was last played pre-covid at the beginning of the 2020 season.

Ironically that last time it was played as a double header.
The 2019 PNG Champions Lae Tigers played against the Ravoravo Rabbitohs.
While the runner up Hela Wigmen played against the Kaiviti Silktails who were about to debut in the RM Cup.
Both PNG teams won quite convincingly.

 

[mikail-eagle]

Kaiviti Silktails Facebook page showed both teams doing combined school clinics yesterday.

Kaiviti Silktails Rugby League Football Club | Sydney NSW

Kaiviti Silktails Rugby League Football Club, Sydney, Australia. 41,648 likes · 1,349 talking about this. The Kaiviti Silktails Rugby League Football Club is based in the Fiji Islands and plays in...

www.facebook.com

Also noticed that the game day advertisement has "free entry" for everyone on the day.

 

[mikail-eagle]

PNG Hunters won 26 - 12.
Don't have much more details but the game was live streamed on the day.

 

[mikail-eagle]

Game played in torrential rain.

Game highlights;

Match Highlights: Silktails v PNG Hunters | NRL.com

Catch up on all the action from Kaiviti Silktails v Papau New Guinea Hunters in the Melanesian Bowl streamed live on NSWRL TV.

www.nrl.com

 

[LeagueXIII]

Silktails led 12-4 at half time.

 

[the_dude]

Here is a video stream of the full game.

 

[Perth Red]

Pretty good showing from the silktails given the different comp levels they are in.

 

[mikail-eagle]

Bit confused

Wasnt this the game where the Fiji premiers played the PNG premiers

This games is between the Premiership Teams in Fiji and PNG is also set for next weekend.
The Western State Maroons from Fiji will be hosting PNG Champions Hela Wigmen.

Wigmen to face Maroons | The National

www.thenational.com.pg

Wigmen to face Maroons​

March 14, 2023The NationalSports

REIGNING Digicel Cup champions Hela Wigmen will face Fijian champions Western State Maroons in the Melanesian Cup fixture next Saturday (March 25) which returns after a two-year hiatus.
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.

 

[LeagueXIII]

 

[The Penguin #6.]

Nice list of sponsors at the bottom there . Great stuff all-round.

 

[Coastbloke]

Apparently it has sold out. Did have a capacity of 18,000 but addition of athletics tracks reduced to 10,000 (Source RightLeftin in the NSW Comps forum)

 

[mikail-eagle]

Hela Wigmen claim Melanesian Club Championship - Asia Pacific Rugby League

The Hela Wigmen have ensured the Melanesian Club Championship remains in Papua New Guinea following a 28 – 18 win over the Western State Maroons in Saturday’s clash in Lautoka....

asiapacificrl.com

HELA WIGMEN CLAIM MELANESIAN CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP​

The Hela Wigmen have ensured the Melanesian Club Championship remains in Papua New Guinea following a 28 – 18 win over the Western State Maroons in Saturday’s clash in Lautoka.

In the first Melanesian Club Championship since 2020, the Fiji National Rugby League attempted to end Papua New Guinea’s dominance in the competition by selecting a representative team versus the club champions from the Vodafone Cup.

The Maroons, who represents the Western State of the Island of Viti Levu, and who won last year’s Fiji Origin series, were selected for the honour, however despite pushing the Wigmen all the way, they fell short in the fifth iteration of the tournament.

The Wigmen are now the third Digicel Cup team to claim the honours.


Melanesian Club Championship Results:
2016: Rabaul Gurias 40-2 Sabeto Roosters
2017: Lae Tigers 40-4 Nadi Aviators
2018: Lae Tigers 38-22 Nadi Aviators
2020: Lae Tigers 32-8 Ravoravo Rabbitohs
2023: Hela Wigmen 28-18 Western State

 

[mikail-eagle]

The Melanesian Cup which was supposed to have been played preseason between the 2023 domestic champions from PNG and Fiji was finally played yesterday in Fiji as the curtain raiser match before the Womens Pacific bowl match between Tonga and Samoa.

Enga Mioks beat Saru Dragons - The Fiji Times

The Enga Mioks from Papua New Guinea secured a decisive 40-18 victory over Fiji’s Saru Dragons in the Melanesian Cup, a curtain raiser for the Pacific Bowl Championship at the HFC Bank Stadium in Suva yesterday. The Mioks set the pace early, taking advantage of the Dragons’ errors and...

www.fijitimes.com.fj

2023 PNG Digicel Cup Enga Mioks def Saru Dragons from Fiji 40-16 to claim the Melanesian Cup.

 

[yakstorm]

The PNG domination of the Melanesian Cup continues.