PAPUA NEW GUINEA 50 FIJI 18
CALLUM WALKER, Santos National Football Stadium, Port Moresby, Saturday

RHYSE MARTIN registered 22 points as PNG wiped the floor with Fiji to secure the Pacific Bowl for a third straight year.

Both the Kumuls and the Bati had overcome the Cook Islands in the opening two rounds of the Pacific Bowl, but PNG never looked like losing after striding into a 30-6 half-time lead in front of a partisan Port Moresby crowd.

Valentine Richard, Dudley Dotoi and Robert Mathias came in for PNG in place of Jacob Alick-Wiencke, Robert Derby and Liam Horne, whilst Ben Nakubuwai, Jope Rauqe and Ronald Philitoga made the Fiji side after missing the win over Cook Islands.

The home side set their stall out early and couldn’t have started any better, Morea Morea taking a pass from Nene Macdonald to stride under the posts for a 6-0 lead after 11 minutes.

That four-pointer really did break the dam as Edwin Ipape bulldozed his way over from dummy-half barely four minutes later.

Shellshocked, things didn’t get much better for Fiji shortly after, this time Macdonald himself getting on the scoresheet after Gairo Voro had danced round the Bati’s edge.

Macdonald continued to be in the thick of the action and his superb offload out of the tackle enabled Martin to get in on the act around the midway point in the first half.

Cooper Bai notched his first try for his country just short of the half-hour after going close in the set previous, but Fiji did restore some respectability before the break when Kitione Kautoga stretched out for a fine score.

The visitors managed to clamber the 30-6 half-time deficit back a little further immediately following the resumption as Kautoga took advantage of a messy ending to the set to grab his second.

But that merely stemmed the Kumuls’ tide and normal service was resumed four minutes later, Nixon Putt gliding through a gap before the second-rower jumped into the all-embracing PNG crowd.

Solomone Saukuru showed grit and determination to bounce through the Kumuls’ defence on the hour, but Dotoi quickly wiped away that four-pointer with his own effort.

The onslaught didn’t stop there, though, and a fine left-to-right move saw Mathias throw an outrageous dummy to slam the ball down on the whitewash.

Semi Valemei managed to hold off two defenders to make it 48-18 with just three minutes left, but the Kumuls had the deserved final word through Martin.

With time running down, Kurt Donoghoe said something amiss to PNG’s Lachlan Lam as referee Adam Gee decided to punish the Dolphins man.

Despite being 46 metres out, Martin delivered the coversion with aplomb, maintaining his perfect kicking record and bringing up the 50-point mark for Jason Demetriou’s side.

GAMESTAR: Rhyse Martin registered 22 points and was a constant focal point of attack for PNG.

GAMEBREAKER: Four PNG tries in the opening 20 minutes made it ominous for Fiji.

MATCHFACTS
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
1 Morea Morea (Central Queensland Capras)
2 Dudley Dotoi (Townsville Blackhawks)
3 Zac Laybutt (North Queensland Cowboys)
4 Nene Macdonald (Salford Red Devils)
5 Alex Johnston (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
6 Gairo Voro (PNG Hunters)
14 Finley Glare (PNG Hunters)
8 Epel Kapinias (PNG Hunters)
9 Edwin Ipape (Leigh Leopards)
10 Valentine Richard (PNG Hunters)
11 Rhyse Martin (Hull KR)
12 Nixon Putt (Central Queensland Capras)
13 Jack De Belin (St George Illawarra Dragons)
Subs (all used)
7 Lachlan Lam (Leigh Leopards)
15 Robert Mathias (PNG Hunters)
16 Cooper Bai (Gold Coast Titans)
17 Sylvester Namo (Brisbane Tigers)

Tries: Morea (11), Ipape (15), Macdonald (17), Martin (21), Bai (27), Putt (51), Dotoi (62), Mathias (67)
Goals: Martin 9/9

FIJI
1 Jahream Bula (Wests Tigers)
2 Sunia Turuva (Wests Tigers)
3 Jope Rauqe (Canterbury Bulldogs)
4 Semi Valemei (North Queensland Cowboys)
5 Ronald Philitoga (Wynnum Manly Seagulls)
6 Kurt Donoghoe (Dolphins)
7 Brandon Wakeham (Manly Sea Eagles)
8 Tui Kamikamica (Melbourne Storm)
9 Penioni Tagituimua (Kaiviti Silktails)
17 Kylan Mafoa (Manly Sea Eagles)
11 Taane Milne (Huddersfield Giants)
12 Kitione Kautoga (Parramatta Eels)
13 Caleb Navale (Manly Sea Eagles)
Subs (all used)
14 Terrell Kalo Kalo (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
15 Solomone Saukuru (Wests Tigers)
16 Ben Nakubuwai (Norths Devils)
19 Keresi Maya (Navy Albatross)

Tries: Kautoga (37, 47), Saukuru (59), Valemei (77)
Goals: Wakeham 1/4

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0, 18-0, 24-0, 30-0, 30-6; 30-10, 36-10, 36-14, 42-14, 48-14, 48-18, 50-18

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
PNG: Rhyse Martin; Fiji: Kitione Kautoga

Penalty count: 7-7
Half-time: 30-6
Referee: Adam Gee