Port Moresby RUGBY Fanatics and Critics

14/08/2026

Round 17: Folau jets in for a Friday night of footy, as battle for the 4th position heats up

What a hot serving a maximum drama this weekend. With only four rounds remaining before the finals, every single point on the board is gold dust—and the fixtures are set to explode!
Our match preview and prediction for this weekend’s high-stakes action.
Friday Night Lights: Valley Hunters vs. University Piggies

Venue: Sir John Guise Stadium | ⏰ Tonight

The league-leading Valley Hunters (1st place, 48 pts) swap Bava Park for the big stage at Sir John Guise Stadium. To blow the doors off the run to the finals, they've dropped the ultimate tactical bombshell: injecting Wallabies legends Israel Folau and Will Genia into the lineup! They go head-to-head with a struggling University Piggies (9th place, 7 pts) side that is desperate to avoid a absolute blowout.

Valley Hunters
Adding Genia's world-class service from the ruck and Folau’s aerial brilliance to a Hunters squad that is already on a 6-game winning streak feels almost unfair. Expect Genia to direct traffic like a five-star general and Folau to dominate the restart kicks and backline overlaps.

University Piggies
The Piggies have struggled with lineout ex*****on and defensive speed all year. Facing Genia's lightning ball-distribution means their defensive line will be under immense pressure from minute one.

Prediction: Valley Hunters by 15+ points. The Piggies will bring plenty of physical heart early on, but the sheer speed, structure, and star power of the Hunters at a major stadium will turn this into a clinical highlight reel.

Saturday Game of the Round: MBB Marlins vs. Wanderers
Venue: Bava Park, Saturday

A Match of Titanic Proportions. The 3rd-placed MBB Marlins (44 pts) step into the ring against the white-hot University Wanderers (6th place, 28 pts), who are currently riding a sensational 5-game winning streak!

MBB Marlins
Coming off a heartbreakingly close loss to the Hunters, the Marlins' relentless, bone-crunching line-speed is their greatest weapon. They need to win to lock down a top-two spot and secure a double chance in the finals.

Wanderers
The "Maroon Side" are playing the most disciplined, high-IQ breakdown rugby in the league right now. If they win this, their dream of crashing Harlequins' 4th spot moves closer to reality.

Prediction: Marlins by 5 points in a nail-biter. Wanderers' momentum is terrifying, but the Marlins' raw pack power and breakdown aggressiveness might just starve the Wanderers of the clean ball they've enjoyed over their 5-match rampage. Expect yellow cards and maximum intensity!

Harlequins (4th) vs. Juggernauts (8th)
The Matchup: Harlequins (34 pts) desperately need a bonus-point victory to protect their 4th-place slot from the chasing Wanderers. They take on a Juggernauts (11 pts) side coming off a Bye week and desperately trying to snap a 7-game losing streak.

Expect Harlies to abandon conservative grinding and unleash their classic backline flair early to put the game out of reach. Juggernauts will be rested, but lack the defensive cohesion to hold Harlies for 80 minutes.

Harlequins by 20+ points (with a crucial 4-try Bonus Point).

Kramer APAC Brothers (2nd) vs. Crusaders (7th)

The 2nd-placed "Black Brigade" (47 pts) clash with a Crusaders (18 pts) team trying to play spoiler after losing to the Wanderers last week.

Brothers by 8 points. Brothers will use their dominant set-piece and lethal rolling maul to squeeze the Crusaders into penalty trouble. It won't be a pretty match, but Brothers will comfortably bank the 4 points to keep the pressure on Valleys.

Bye Week: Nova (5th place — 29 pts)
A tough break for Nova. While resting is nice, watching 4th-placed Harlequins and 6th-placed Wanderers battle for competition points while sitting on the sidelines effectively kills off Nova’s slim mathematically remaining Top 4 hopes.

Picture Courtesy of Hausbung PNG

14/08/2026

Game to watch

Pepsi Capital Rugby Union ROUND 17 UNDER THE LIGHTS 🔥

Valley Hunters 🆚 UNIRFC Piggies

Come watch the action and meet a multi-sport legend as he laces up in the red & white! 👀❤️🤍

📅 Friday 14 August | 6PM
📍 Sir John Guise Stadium

This is one you don’t want to miss. 🔥

11/08/2026

The Refs Pawa Rankings: Valleys power through, Harlies hand Piggies the card, Wanderers on a streak

We haven't been on it the whole year, lets just say we are now on it in a big, big way. This week's first Refs Pawa Rankings will provide you a shot of the form, spills and thrills week in week out.

Blow the whistle and mark the mark, we are 16 rounds deep into the Pepsi CRU Premier Division! As a referee who has spent the last four months blowing up lazy runners, policing offside lines, and trying not to get flattened by 115kg props, I’ve had a front-row seat to the madness at Bava Park.

1. Valley Hunters (1st)
• Form: Excellent
• Ref’s Match Report: The Hunters aren't just winning; they are making my job shockingly easy. Their ruck discipline is so sharp I barely have to yell "Release!" before the ball is out to their backline. In a brutal, high-stakes collision against a charging Marlins pack, the league leaders held their nerve, managed the game clock like seasoned pros, and milked key penalties in the red zone. They are playing champagne rugby while everyone else is still trying to pop the cork.

2. Wanderers (6th)
• Form: Excellent

• Ref’s Match Report: Someone check the water supply at the "Two Blues" clubhouse! Last year, they couldn't buy a win if you gave them a discount voucher. Now? They’re running five-game rampages! They dismantled Crusaders with a clinic in support play and breakdown speed. Every time I looked up, Wanderers had three men over the ball. They are playing high-IQ, low-error rugby, and the rest of the league is officially spooked. They need to continue winning if they want to make the finals.

3. Kramer APAC Brothers (2nd)
• Form: Struggled, but secured the W

• Ref’s Match Report: The "Black Army" gave me a headache this weekend. They spent 50 minutes arguing every breakdown decision against Nova, looking sluggish and off the pace. But here’s the thing about Brothers: even when they are playing ugly, their set-piece is an absolute vice grip. They earned two crucial scrum penalties late in the second half, opted for the posts, and ground out a victory. Not pretty, but championship teams win when they’re playing at 60%.

4. Theodist MBB Marlins (3rd)
• Form: Very Good

• Ref’s Match Report: I needed an extra whistle after officiating their slugfest against Valleys—the physical impact alone nearly blew my eardrums out. The Marlins lost the match on the scoreboard, but they won the intimidation battle. Their line-speed was so aggressive they were practically breathing down the fly-half’s neck before the ball left the halfback’s hands. If they clean up their high-tackle discipline (a few boys were flirting with a yellow card), they are a terrifying prospect in the finals.

5. Harlequins (4th)
• Form: OK

• Ref’s Match Report: Ah, the "Old Firm" derby. Harlies vs. Uni Piggies is always 80 minutes of trash-talk and tactical gamesmanship. Harlies traded their usual flashy, side-stepping flair for a grimy, territory-based tactical kicking game. They squeezed the Piggies into making errors inside their own 22 and capitalized. It wasn't a highlight-reel performance, but 4 points in Round 16 feels like a winning lottery ticket.

6. Nova (5th)
• Form: OK

• Ref’s Match Report: Nova is the team no one in the top four actually wants to play right now. They pushed Brothers to the absolute absolute limit, matching them hit-for-hit in the middle park. Their issue? "Ref's Pet" discipline. They surrendered 40 meters of field position in the final ten minutes through silly back-chat and creeping offside at the maul. Fix the penalty count, and they break into the top four.

7. Crusaders (7th)
• Form: OK

• Ref’s Match Report: The Crusaders are trying hard, but they’re making life miserable for themselves. Knock-ons at the restart, crooked lineout throws, and isolated ball-carriers getting penalised for holding on—it’s a referee’s whistle-fest. They have the heart, but when you spend 60% of the match defending inside your own half, your legs turn to jelly by the 70th minute.

8. Juggernauts (8th)
• Form: Bad

• Ref’s Match Report: The Bye week came just in time. Seven straight losses will have a team second-guessing everything down to their boot laces. Hopefully, they used the weekend off to reset the GPS, fix their defensive alignment, and remind themselves how to execute a basic 2-on-1 overlap.

9. University Piggies (9th)
• Form: Poor

• Ref’s Match Report: It breaks a ref’s heart to see a traditional powerhouse struggling this much. The Piggies brought plenty of passion against Harlies, but passion doesn't fix a malfunctioning lineout. They threw away three attacking throws inside Harlies' 5-meter zone. You can't score points if you keep hand-delivering the ball back to the opposition.

The Whistle is in My Pocket—For Now!
Four rounds to go, the margins are razor-thin, and the Bava Park crowd is getting louder by the minute. Keep your hands off the ball in the ruck, stay behind the hindmost foot, and let's play some footy!

08/08/2026

Coming to the business end

Our Saturday double doze of rugby involves Giant Killing Mr Ethan Wanderers Rugby Football Union WRFU play against a Crusaders outfit who have had a good run against the men in Maroon. John Larry's men will look towards getting on the scoreboard early, as Crusaders are a good tough side who love the grind. I smell an upset that might derail the Wanderers. Crusaders by 8

Our match of the round belongs to the reigning champs Valley Hunters against the men from Gerehu MBB Marlins. If Marlins Mick Karo does his thing on the field, the bigger Valleys pack will check their bepees. Both sides have really fast and elusive backlines, whilst the Pomis based outfit have a bigger forward pack, the mobile Marlins pack do have some punch and will be playing an expansive type of footy. Whoever dominates the backs, will definitely take this one out. Am going against the grain to Tip Marlins by 2.

The Sunday game, in yesteryears, would have been to big guns blazing at each other on a nice Moresby Sunday afternoon, Piggies are improving, but have struggled to put together an 80 of better proportions. Harlies, on the other hand, have only won one from their last 4 games. Harlies will look towards their fast backline to link up with their heavy forwards on the edges to create mismatched, but Piggies do have some tall timber to cause havoc. This game will rely on whoever dominates the territory, and hold on to possession. My heart says Piggies, but on paper and based on the table, Harlies will win by 14 or more.

Our other game is a game of great potential, we have Brothers against Nova, a team that always give a good run against the latter. If Brothers come with the same attitude they had last week, expect a bloodbath as the Novacastrians could produce a monumental upset. Brothers shock last week, will also make them more hungrier, with a minor premiership on the back of their minds, they should blow the game open in the first 20, and then settle it out with their style of phase rugby. Brothers by 12

Enjoy your rugby, bring a 12 pack and enjoy the game played in heaven

07/08/2026

Supporting Community Rugby

Great weekend of some good rugby at the Kerepia barracks oval, Bomana

03/08/2026

We've not been able to post for a while, well, the season has a few more games left.

03/08/2026

Those Spider man themed Valley Jumpers

03/07/2026

Happy follow-versary to my awesome followers. Thanks for all your support! Richy Doggi, Possy Yahu