World Footy News

PNG Mosquitoes made their first appearance in an Australian club tournament last Saturday, going through the AFL Cairns pre-season lightning tournament at Cazalys Stadium with one win and one loss.

The Mosquitoes, lead by former AFL star Mal Michael in his first appearance for his homeland's national team, came up short against the Port Douglas Crocs, but defeated the North Cairns Tigers in their two appearances. North Cairns will play in the competition's final next weekend, having finished top of their pool, ahead of the Mosquitoes only on percentage.

North Cairns' coach Brett Oakley said in an interview on the AFL Cairns website that his players had taken time to adjust to PNG’s unique brand of football. “All of the players were saying that they were so quick and hard at the football, and it’s hard to compete against them because they play a bit different style of football. They're very talented, that’s for sure.”

The final will see North Cairns take on Centrals Trinity Beach this Saturday at 3pm. PNG will take on South Cairns in the curtain-raiser at 1.30pm. Full scores from the pool rounds follow.

Pool A

Game 1 - South Cairns 2.4 (16) def. by Manunda Hawks 3.8 (26)
Game 2 - South Cairns 1.4 (10) def. by Centrals Trinity Beach 6.5 (41)
Game 3 - Manunda Hawks 6.4 (40) def. Cairns City Cobras 4.5 (29)
Game 4 - Cairns City Cobras 2.3 (15) def. by Centrals Trinity Beach 9.8 (62)

Pool B

Game 5 - AFL PNG 4.4 (28) def. by Port Douglas 7.8 (50)
Game 6 - AFL PNG 5.5 (35) def. North Cairns 4.2 (26)
Game 7 - Port Douglas 3.3 (21) def. by Cairns Saints 9.3 (57)
Game 8 - Cairns Saints 3.4 (22) def by North Cairns 6.8 (44)

The winners of each pool (Centrals Trinity Beach and North Cairns) now advance to the Preseason Cup Competition Grand Final on Saturday, 20th March 2010 at 3:00pm at Cazalys Stadium. AFL PNG will take on South Cairns in the curtain-raiser match at 1:30pm.