One of the challenges that is faced in the rugby union code is the late development of a player, which is why a significant few in the community are working hard to train and bring raw talents into the code so they can mold them into skilled players that will not only be able to represent the country, but also open other pathways for them.
The Razorbacks Club is one of the said clubs working to develop young players in the code. First founded in 2021 by the now President, Mr. Bruno Sindra, Team Manager Mr. Valentine Kwaramb and Coaches Mr. Richard Pongi and Mr. Daniel Kulit, the club was made to cater for players who did not want to sit and watch but also play rugby.
“When it came to 7s time every year, only a few were able to play while the rest of us sat and watched.”
In an interview with PNG HAUSBUNG, Razorbacks Coach, Richard Pongi stated that the club started with a group of boys from Karu Street in East Boroko with just the right number to form a sevens team and after the first year, they were looking to expand the team and get new players to grow the team, but that did not sit well with the players.
“A lot of the boys were against the idea to get new players and grow the team, but I pushed for it and explained to Daniel and Bruno and explained why we needed boys from outside and finally reached an agreement.”
In their first year of contesting in the 2021 Rookie 7s competition, they realized they had potential and saw a future in the club. The team is now at its full strength with its senior division and has started work on developing their junior players.
“On our first year, we won the bowl and that was when we saw that we could be something, so we continued with the idea.”
Pongi added that he was a big fan of development and has spent so much of his time with the Under 20 (U20) boys.
“When we had the chance to put a team into the Blue Heeler’s Community Outreach 7s, I went for a development team instead of a full-strength team,” he said.
“The reason being, we needed depth within the team and most of the under 20 boys won’t be in under 20 forever, they needed exposure in the open men games. When they do come up, we will have to be able to cater for them in a team. Thus, the idea of the development team.”
Pongi highlighted that their only goal was to be a successful club in the future and be able to have players in the National teams representing the country or playing abroad.
According to the team’s management, in the Community Outreach 7s tournament, the development team consisted of two senior players and a number of U20 players that they wanted to test before they could play open men’s next year, which they saw was the right place for them to do.
“They played well, they just need more game time and to build their confidence in playing moving forward as the boys stepped up to the big guns and took out the bowl in the bowl finals of the Community Outreach 7s and if we’re looking at our future as a club, I think we just took the first step to our goals.”
Meanwhile, a player in the development team stated through the trust and the confidence they had in each other, it brought them to where they were now and said that they were ready to go into next year as a team and as they turn another year older, go into the senior men’s category as well.
“The bond we had was not as just a team but also as brothers. Without those you cannot go anywhere or even win a game because you yourself cannot win a game.”
“We are ready to go into next year as a team with the bond we have developed within the team and to face the new challenges that will come our way.”