Posted By Staff Reporter
The National, Friday 08th March, 2013 By JOHN PANGKATANA LAST season’s grand finalists Mendi Muruks will not play in this year’s Digicel Cup rugby league competition. The Muruks, one of the more popular franchises and a regular top three finisher, will not fly the Southern Highlands flag this season. PNG-NRL general manager Hubert Warupi yesterday said the absence of franchise owner John Higgins in the country may have contributed towards the demise of the Mendi franchise. “The Muruks and Chimbu franchise Kundiawa Warriors basically did not express any form of interest in taking part this season,” Warupi said. “This has paved the way for the re-inclusion of the Hela Wigmen for an eight-team competition.” He confirmed that the start of the Digicel Cup was still earmarked for April. PNG-NRL interim chairman Sudir Guru said the Wigmen would use the Tente Oval in Mendi as their home-ground and that would become the latest venue to host matches. The other venues are Kalabond (Kokopo), Lloyd Robson Oval (Port Moresby), National Sports Institute (Goroka), Johnson Siki Oval (Wabag), Lae RFL ground (Lae) and Rebiamul and Kagamuga (Mount Hagen). The other seven clubs that will play this year are Rabaul Gurias, Port Moresby Vipers, Lae Tigers, Mt Hagen Eagles, Enga Mioks, Gulf Isapea and Goroka Lahanis. The withdrawal of the Structural Bridging Systems-sponsored Muruks was revealed during Digicel’s major announcement yesterday that it was getting serious about its relationship with the country’s premier semi-professional competition. The mobile phone service provider signed on a K3 million bumper sponsorship package with the PNG-NRL for the next three years to strengthen its investment with the Digicel Cup. The relationship with the PNG-NRL at K900,000 a year is set to blossom further with this new agreement since coming onboard in 2011. This is a further K100,000 to cement it as the naming rights sponsor. Digicel PNG chief executive officer John Mangos gave his mark of approval for the enhancement of the game because it had developed a more family oriented atmosphere over the past two seasons. “This is encouraging for Digicel and we encourage and envisage more people to come to the game because we are looking for bigger things and more teams to participate in the years to come,” Mangos said. With Digicel’s aim to create a bigger and better league, they will again set forth a major marketing and promotional strategy through its national network. The Muruks management could not be reached for comment on why they are not taking part in the semi-professional competition. Comments are closed.
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