Our Exploration Drilling team recently chalked up its hat-trick as a major sponsor of the Tabubil Cats Rugby Union Club, giving the team the opportunity to compete in some of Australian rugby’s premier tournaments.
Fresh from the recent Australian tour, Tabubil Cats Coach, Anthony Aruha, from our client Ok Tedi Mining Limited, lets the cat out of the bag regarding all the tournaments’ big hits and misses…
A squad of 21 Tabubil Cats rugby players from Papua New Guinea (PNG) recently returned from a two-week long rugby tour to Australia. The team competed in the 2012 Fi-ta Bondi Tens rugby tournament held in Bondi, Sydney, from 10–11 February and the 2012 Palm Beach Alleygator Tens tournament held on the Gold Coast from 18–19 February.
Thirty-two teams competed in the Bondi Tens, and the Cats were slotted into Pool E. This pool had two tough teams: the Hammerheads from Randwick and Deadwood from outer Sydney, who went on to reach the Cup final. Third and fourth in the pool were newcomers Manly Raptors and, of course, the crowd favourites – the Cats.
The Cats narrowly lost all their games but qualified for the Shield final play-offs the next day.
In the Shield, the Cats had their first win of the tournament against Bondi T-Rex by a golden point, and then narrowly beat Old ProGrads. This got them a spot in the final which they lost to Team Ramrod by the odd converted try.
Still reeling over the disappointment in their narrow loss, the team travelled to the Gold Coast where two good training runs during the week quickly got them refocused for the weekend tournament.
The Alleygator Tens was another two-day intense competition with 15 teams taking part, including some of Queensland’s top rugby clubs. Played in terrific conditions at Currumbin, the large crowd of spectators was treated to two days of fast and furious play.
On Saturday the teams competed in a series of round robin games to decide which teams would contest the Bowl, Plate and Cup eliminations on Sunday.
The Cats started day one with a flying start, winning two of their three pool games. They won the first two games with impressive score lines of 38 – 17 and 38 – 0, before losing to top rugby club, Sunnybank, 7 – 17.
This ensured the Cats qualified for the Cup final play-offs the next day, where they were up against a strong Brisbane Fiji team in the semi-final. Despite scoring first, they were not able to hold off the fast-finishing Fijians, losing 5 – 24. The Fijians went on to play and defeat Sunnybank in the Cup final.
The Cats finished fourth out of 15 teams, after losing the play-off for third against Helensvale Hogs 7 – 22.
Overall, the team did exceptionally well and displayed a remarkable improvement from the weekend before. The team conducted themselves with dignity both on and off the field, and are proud of their association with Downer Mining as one of their major sponsors.
We would like to thank Downer Mining for their sponsorship of the team’s jerseys and polo shirts. This is the third year running that Downer Mining has extended its generous sponsorship to the Cats rugby team, and we are grateful that they are able to continuously make a difference to people’s lives back in the Star Mountains of PNG.
Source: Downer Group Mining Matters, Issue: January - March 2012
Link: http://www.downergroup.com/Documents/Newsletters/2012/MiningMatters_Jan-March-2012.pdf
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