Lae Snax Tigers defeated Waghi Tumbe in the 2021 Digicel Cup final. Photo: Facebook/Lae Snax Tigers
PNG quartet on trial for Dolphins
Four Papua New Guinea league players could get a chance to impress NRL Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett on Saturday after being named on the extended bench in a trial match.
The National reports the Hunters players joined the Dolphins after the New Year as part of a strategic pathway partnership with the NRL's newest club.
Dolphins contracted player Jeremiah Simbiken was named at second-row for the trial match, while Hunters trio Judah Rimbu, Rodrick Tai, and Sherwin Tanabi were also included.
According to the Dolphins and Hunters partnership agreement signed last year, two players will stay on and train with the NRL side throughout the season, while the other two will be released back to the Hunters in the Host-plus Cup.
Tai and Tanabi have World Cup experience as they played for the Kumuls last year.
Nearly 100 players to try out for hockey squad
The Papua New Guinea Hockey Federation announced a 94-member squad, comprising 44 women and 50 men, who will participate in trial games to select the PNG hockey team for this year's Pacific Games in Solomon Islands.
Both the men's and women's squads will be divided into four groups and will play trial matches in April at the Sir John Guise Stadium's Hockey Pavilion in Port Moresby.
Hockey Federation executive director Raymond Lapun told The National selection will be based on individual player performance during the trials.
He said the selection panel will consist of five members including two personnel from other team sports with no association to hockey to ensure a fair and impartial selection process.
Lewas in training for Pacific Nations T-20 tournament
The Papua New Guinea women's cricket team are back in training, preparing for the upcoming women's Pacific Nations T-20 tournament in
Fiji.
Hosts Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, PNG and a team from the Australia Defence Force - which is partially funding the tournament - will compete.
The Post Courier reports the T-20 event aims to increase opportunities for women to play more international cricket in the Pacific region.
PNG Lewas head coach Kath Hempenstall says the T-20 tournament in March will have International Cricket Council rankings.
She says PNG sits 12th - their highest spot - and it is important they perform to the best of their ability to improve their ranking.
PNG women's team in fine shape says coach
PNG women's football coach Spencer Prior says a three-week training stint in Wellington, New Zealand has improved his team ahead of next month's World Cup play-off against Panama.
The team trained at the New Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport in Upper Hutt, and had training games against the Wellington Phoenix women and a youth boys team.
Prior, a former Manchester City star, says the time in New Zealand has improved the squad's fitness, technical skills and tactical know-how.
Prior says players now have a clearer understanding of their roles and responsibilities.
The team suffered two big defeats against the Phillipines in December as part of their play-off preparations.
Games 'mascot' seen migrating to Vanuatu
A leatherback turtle named Solo, after the Solomon Islands 2023 Pacific Games mascot, has migrated more than 1000km to Vanuatu.
The Games Organising Committee partnered with The Nature Conservancy to track the movements of leatherback turtles from their feeding to their breeding grounds.
Inside the Games reports one of those being tracked, Solo, nested five times at Haevo nesting grounds in Isabel Province in the Solomon Islands between November 2022 and early January, before migrating eastwards through Malaita, Makira and Temotu Provinces.
According to satellite data, Solo arrived in Luganville in Vanuatu last week after a journey of 16 days.
Female leatherback turtles are known to nest in intervals of between two and three years, and further updates on Solo's progress are expected up until the start of the Pacific Games on November 19.