PNG Hunters have come away from Browne Park with the two points following their nail-biting 22-20 victory over the Central Queensland Capras at Browne Park.
The home side fought hard to come back from a horror start which saw the Hunters score three tries in the opening 13 minutes, only to ultimately fall short, with Caleb Tull failing to convert his own try after the full-time siren to draw the game.
Hunters bench forward Emmanuel Waine was at his damaging best, trampling over the top of defenders and racing away on numerous occasions, much to the delight of the Hunters fanbase in attendance.
It took just two minutes for the Hunters to pile on their first points of the afternoon, with Junior Rau scoring in the corner courtesy of some lovely hands from his fullback Edwine Ipape.
The away side then made it two tries in quick succession when Ipape proved too much of a handful close to the line, slicing through in the 7th minute.
Things went from bad to worse for the Capras when Blake Moore’s attempt to bat the ball back into the field of play to stop an Ase Boas 40/20 attempt, found it’s way into the path of a flying Solo Wane, who toed the ball ahead and grounded it before the dead ball line.
The momentum began to swing in the home sides favour when Moore made up for his earlier mistakes to send Jedidah Simbiken over in the corner in the 18th minute.
Junior Rau was then placed on report and sent to the sin-bin in the 20th minute following his off the ball dangerous throw on Simbiken.
Simbiken’s second try for the afternoon got the Capras within two points but an Emmanuel Waine offload that led to Solo Wane’s second try moments before the break, gave the Hunters an 18-12 lead at half-time.
