Silktails fall to Hunters
THE Kaiviti Silktails were given a wake-up call ahead of the 2023 Ron Massey Cup competition after going down to the PNG Hunters 12-26 in the Melanesian Bowl at Lawaqa Park in Sigatoka on Saturday night.
The Silktails raced fast from the blocks, scoring two early tries to lead 12-4 at halftime. However, the side failed to maintain the momentum against the visitors.
Despite the loss, Silktails head coach Wes
Naiqama said he was proud of how the team played.
He said the team performed above expectation against a superior side.
“The Hunters are an experienced team that has been playing in a higher competition than us in Australia for a long time,” Naiqama said.
“I thought that we were exceptional with how we started the game. We got two tries in the first half. But then we knew that they were going to be aggressive both with and without the ball.”
The Silktails face Penrith
Brothers in the opening round at the Parker Reserve Stadium in New South Wales, Australia on March 19.
Naiqama said the match against the Hunters had put them in good stead for the 2023 season.
“The Hunters were full of running in the second half,” he said.
“We found it really hard to keep up with the pace. They went through our middles and scored three tries.
“We will look back at the video and have a chat to the boys to judge if it was a mental thing.
“I think we probably played like trying to protect the lead rather than sort of take it to them. Again it is early in the season so we will take a lot of confidence from the match.”