PNG Hunters put themselves in NRL shop window at World Cup

THE PNG Hunters will put Sunday’s Intrust Super Championship loss behind them, as they prepare to prove their worth to NRL teams through the World Cup.

Ase Boas. Picture: Annette Dew

THE PNG Hunters will put Sunday’s Intrust Super Championship loss behind them, as they prepare to prove their worth to NRL teams through their upcoming World Cup preparations.

The Intrust Super Cup premiers were handed a shock loss over the weekend, as they fell 42-18 to their NSW Cup counterparts, the Penrith Panthers.

It was a sour end to what has been a stellar, history-making season for the Hunters, with their form also attracting NRL interest in a few players.

PNG Hunters fullback Stargroth Amean is attracting interest from NRL clubs. Picture: QRL Media.

It is understood fullback Stargroth Amean and star five-eighth Ase Boas have attracted some interest from NRL clubs, while halfback Watson Boas also had teams sniffing around him after he starred for the Kumuls in their May Test against the Cook Islands.

Hunters and Kumuls coach Michael Marum was reluctant to discuss which players had come into calculations for a move to Australia at the end of the year, but said they hoped to progress the talks over the coming weeks.

“We had a discussion with some players but it’s only discussions,” Marum said.

“We’ll speak to a few players again at some point.”

His skipper, Ase Boas, was also unsure what the future held for him, but he said if there was NRL interest, he would be open to a move.

Ase Boas. Picture: Zak Simmonds

“Whatever NRL team wants to look at me, I don’t even mind,” he said.

The World Cup will give the Hunters players the best chance to reignite any interest, with Amean and the Boas brothers all expected to be named in Marum’s Kumuls squad on Wednesday before the players go into camp on Thursday.

Marum said this is where most of his attention lies at the moment, as he prepares to assemble a team with plenty of NRL experience.

Bronco David Mead will be one of the first selected with Alex Johnston, Nene Macdonald, Kurt Baptiste, James Segeyaro and Burleigh’s Luke Page all expected to be named as well.

“We got all the players coming into camp on the fifth,” Marum said.

“It’s going to be a good side we’re putting together.”

Originally published as PNG Hunters put themselves in NRL shop window at World Cup