VANUA State of Origin champions Western Maroons is looking to become the first Fijian team to win the Melanesian Cup when they host the reigning Digicel PNG Cup champions Hela Wigman this Saturday at Lautoka’s Churchill Park.
The Vela Nadakuitavuki’s coached side are determined to break the dominance of Papua New Guinea teams in the competition.
“This will be our fifth attempt. We made four attempts already and lost all four times,” He said the team would give their best to win it for Fiji.
“There are some challenges that we are facing but coming to the final week, everything is coming around.
“We believe it’s 80 minutes of rugby every year that we play in the competition and I am optimistic we can deliver on Saturday. Every year we learn something new from the PNG teams.”
Nadakuitavuki said he was well aware that rugby league was the national sport back in PNG and that Hela Wigman are a very strong team.
“We are looking at some of the video clips of the Wigman team and based on that, have studied on what areas we would want to concentrate on.”
When asked when he would be naming the team to face the PNG champions, Nadakuitavuki said he was still conditioning the team on certain aspects of play.
“Maybe tomorrow (today) afternoon, I can name the team. Two of our boys was involved in the Police Blue team that won the Marist 7s over the weekend and they would be joining the team this (yesterday) afternoon.
“We are playing the competition after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19,” he said.
Nadakuitavuki also acknowledged the Fiji Sports Commission and the Fiji National Rugby League for financially boosting the team ahead of the much anticipated clash.
The Kaiviti Silktails will face the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs at 12 midday in the Ron Massey Round two competition and the match would be the curtain raiser to the Melanesian Cup at 3pm Tickets to the match are $10 for adults and $2 for children under-12 The Melanesian Cup first introduced in 2015, started the dominance of PNG side in the competition with Rabaul Gurias defeating Sabeto Roosters by 40-2 in the inaugural year.
Lae Snax Tigers has thrice featured in the competition; winning against the Nadi Aviators twice by 40-4 in 2017 and 38-22 in 2018.
In 2020, the Lae Snax Tigers thrashed the Ravoravo Rabbitohs by 32-8 at Lautoka’s Churchill Park.
