The Basketball Federation of Papua New Guinea’s Hoops for Health – Mums A Hero program is continuing its work in Madang Province and the Eastern Highlands Province (EHP) to educate mothers about child protection and safeguarding. The program was delivered to communities in the Wara Wagol, 26 community, Ward 8, of Madang District and also in the Walium Usino-Bundi Gama District and in the Ukarumpa-Aiyura SIL Kainantu, EHP. The key messages given were about child protection and safeguarding, and mothers to value and play an important role in their child's development. Lucy Abel, a Walium participant said, “Through this program, I learned that children have rights and how I must fulfill my role as a mother.” “I also realized that as mothers, we are our children's first coach at home and what we as mother’s invest in them, will be the result of what they become in the future”. The main aim of the awareness was to protect and promote the rights and well-being of all children, regardless of gender, and to protect children from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation, and discrimination. The Hoops for Health Program (H4H) program came about through the FIBA support and funding from Team Up, under the Australian Governments sports for development program.

The Parramatta Eels have kept their finals hopes alive after overcoming the St George Illawarra Dragons 26-20 in an entertaining and intensely fought match. Played in front of a vocal crowd at CommBank Stadium, the Eels scored three straight tries to close out the second half and claim the result in what was must-win game to keep them in touch with the eight. While Parramatta started well, scoring two tries in the opening 11 minutes of the match, the Dragons came roaring back into the game with winger Mikaele Ravalawa overcoming a poor start to cross for a first-half hattrick - the fourth his career. His treble saw the visitors go into the break with a 16-10 lead and things looked ominous for the Eels when Ravalawa scored his fourth of the game to start the second half. However, errors - and some determined last-ditch defence by Parramatta - handed the ball and opportunity back to the Eels, who made no mistake scoring three unanswered tries through Sean Russell, Junior Paulo and Bryce Cartwright. Source:NRL.Com

The SP PNG Hunters returned with a win. After going down to the Brisbane Tigers last weekend, the home crowd at the Santos National Football Stadium boosted the boy’s efforts to hold off the Redcliff Dolphin’s with a brilliant 26-22 victory at fulltime. A beautiful start for the Hunters with only two minutes into the game as they charged in with a floating pass from Jamie Mavoko to Morea Morea and finishing it with their first try from Solo Wane followed by a successful conversion by Jamie Mavoko himself. Bouncing back at the Hunters, Dolphin’s Cameron Cullen broke through the Hunters defense line to put them on the score board at 28 minutes in the first half. In the nick of time, Hunters Jamie Mavoko dashed through a tough Dolphin’s defense line with an attempt for another try but suddenly lost the ball in front of their try line, forcing the team for a switch off play. With the siren alarming both rivalries to a half time brake, the Hunters got their first penalty taking them to the top with a 2 points lead with 8-4 at halftime. Coming back at second half, the Hunters secured their second try with what was supposedly a terrible pass, was saved by Jamie Mavoko with a miracle catch to end the toss with Solo Wane claiming his second try for the afternoon. Just 4 minutes after scoring their first try for the remainder of the match, Hunter’s grubber Whallan Tau-Loi flashed his way through Dolphin’s defense and scored another try for the home team. Trying their best to regain momentum, the Redcliff Dolphins toped the score with 2 consecutive tries by Harrison Graham and Jack Bostock with only 2 points trailing the Hunters 18-16. Trying their best to push their lead, the Hunters saw a good play from Morea Morea as he swayed through with the ball all the way to the half way mark after been tackled by the Dolphins. With a good lead, the Hunters scored another try at the 67th minute with Joshua Lau’s incredible solid play. Returning the pump, Dolphin’s Cameron Cullen’s great assistance took his fellow team mate Levi Wilson to score for his side but couldn’t level the score with an unsuccessful conversion by Cody Hunter. Trying their best, the Dolphin’s got their first penalty in the game tying both teams 22-22. Coming back to claim their home victory, a great try assist by Rodrick Tai took Hunters Benji Kot to settle their triumph with a successful 26-22 victory over the 4th place Redcliff Dolphins.

Prime Minister (PM) Marape is currently out of the country visiting a close friend who is currently hospitalized with a serious medical condition in Gold Coast, Australia and is scheduled to return tomorrow; however, before his departure the PM reflected on the first week of the August parliament session. Reflecting on this week's parliamentary session, Prime Minister Marape expressed commendation for all Members of Parliament who participated. He highlighted the session's significance, particularly the presentation of crucial Ministerial Statements, including those related to Education. "Our Government believes in transparency, and presenting our departmental activities to Parliament is part of our accountability to our people.” “We intend to provide more Ministerial Statements to allow the public to hold us accountable for our actions as a Government.” In addition, Prime Minister Marape extended his appreciation to the landowners of Porgera in Enga and Tari in Hela for their active participation in recent meetings. He assured the Porgera landowners of their rightful benefits and the nation's shared gains. "I want to emphasize that Porgera landowners, who receive 15% equity and an additional 1% in royalties, play an integral role in the success of the mine." The Porgera Development Forum, originally planned for Monday, August 7, has been rescheduled and will now take place on Monday, August 14, 2023, in Wabag. The forum will involve landowners from provinces directly impacted by the mine, including Enga, Hela, Western, and West Sepik. "Later this year, we will also hold Landowner forums with Wafi Golpu landowners and the Morobe Provincial Government," PM Marape added. Prime Minister Marape reassured all landowners of his commitment to addressing their concerns and upholding their rightful entitlements. Meanwhile, while Marape is out of the country, Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso will serve as Acting Prime Minister during his absence.

For the first time since Round 6 the Knights have moved into the top eight, after coming from behind to beat the Dolphins 30-28 in a try-fest in Perth. Three tries in the final 27 minutes lifted Newcastle to victory, after they had trailed the Dolphins 22-12 with half an hour to play, with skipper Kalyn Ponga at the heart of the revival which leaves the Knights undefeated in their last five games. Ponga scored the opening four-pointer of the game off a long-range support run and went on to set up his side's final two tries with clutch plays, along with clocking up 179 run metres from just 10 carries. Earlier it had looked like a golden 10-minute period from Jamayne Isaako would set the Dolphins up for victory, and while they fought to the very end they ultimately couldn't match the class of the Knights when the game sat in the balance. After Newcastle had come close on two occasions through Greg Marzhew, Ponga got the scoring going, but the wheels soon fell off in dramatic fashion. With Lachlan Fitzgibbon in the sin bin for a hip drop, Isaako scored a hat trick in the space of eight minutes to get the Dolphins to a 14-6 advantage. While the first two were tidy finishes in the corner after stripping the Knights for numbers, the third required brilliant athleticism, as the former Kiwi Test player jumped high to claim a ball and put it down just before the dead-ball line. After forcing a turnover the Knights hit back to through Kurt Mann to reduce their deficit to two at the break, but the start to the second 40 was something straight out of coach Adam O'Brien's worst nightmares. After kicking the restart out on the full, a penalty for a Tyson Frizell high shot – which saw him placed on report – presented Isaako with an easy two points, before rookie wonder Valynce Te Whare scored to stretch the lead to 10. Next it was the Dolphins turn to concede after a penalty that resulted in a player being put on report, with Jarrod Wallace pinged for a dangerous tackle and Jackson Hastings strolling through a would-be tackle from Kenny Bromwich for a try under the posts. Then Ponga hit go, first fending away two defenders at the end of a movement involving six Newcastle players to put Phoenix Crossland over, before providing the final pass for Marzhew to score. A golden chance to find a winner with three minutes left, after Newcastle coughed up possession 10 metres out, was blown by the Dolphins when Herman Ese'ese was found to have held a player in the scrum. The ball went back to the Knights and the contest was effectively over at that point, despite the Dolphins having one last possession. Source: NRL.com

The National Capital District (NCD) Governor Powes Parkop continues to support and harness the potential of sports as a development tool to achieve the National Capital District Commission's Safe-City vision. Governor Parkop recently attended the PNG Kickboxing teams fundraising dinner at the Dynasty Restaurant in Port Moresby, where he highlighted the positive impacts of sports in uniting people, instilling positive value systems and inspiring pride. The fundraising dinner was to help raise funds for the team to participate in a tournament in Miami in Florida in the US next week. He said, “The success of former kickboxing champion Stanley Nadex is a testament to sports for development.” Governor Parkop emphasized that having realized the importance of investing in sports, NCDC creates and supports many sporting platforms for youths to showcase their potential, which can lead to career pathways. Acknowledging the presence of the Minister for Higher Education and Sports, Don Polye and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the PNG Sports Foundation Mr. Albert Veratau, Governor Parkop called on the National Government to consider sports as a priority investment as well because it engages youths in positive pathways. The Governor praised the work of the PNG Kickboxing Federation, especially Mr. Nandex, for nurturing a new breed of kickboxers to replace him and shine on global stages representing PNG. Governor Parkop stressed that the major resource the city boasts about is its people, for whom different pathways are created to realize their dreams. He also admitted that creating pathways for the young and energetic population is a challenge all government levels face. “Out of 70, 000 young people who pass out Grade 12 every year, only 30, 000 are absorbed into the formal tertiary education pathways.” “What about the rest? What about those who never went to school?” “Kickboxing and sports must be seen in this context,” said the Governor. “That is the power of sport.”

The PNG WaSH Consortium, will be facilitating an inception workshop for a phase 2 of the Water for Women Consortium project on Tuesday, 8th of August in Port Moresby, with the aim at saving lives and reducing illness by improving global access to healthy and safe water, adequate sanitation, and improved hygiene,. The inception workshop is expected to bring together key government stakeholders/partners to align support for Water for Women Consortium (WfWC) Phase 2. The PNG WaSH Consortium consists of four international non-government organizations; World Vision, WaterAid PNG, Plan International and its partner, Live and Learn. The workshop also aims to outline the WfWC project objectives, scope and requirements for the new phase in which it provides an overview of previous phase’s successes, challenges as well as lessons learnt and will also layout the groundwork for what is expected in the new phase. The Water for Women Consortium project (WfWC) is supported by the Australian Government, through the Water for Women Fund and aims to improved health, gender equality and wellbeing of Papua New Guinean communities through inclusive, sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH). Representatives from various government partners such as Department of Prime Minister and National Executive Council, National Department of Planning and Monitoring (WaSH PMU), National Department of Health (NDoH), PNG Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA), will also be presenting on their WaSH Plans for the coming months and how they will work with the PNG WaSH Consortium to achieve the PNG government’s WaSH priorities.

Star halves Jarome Luai and Nathan Cleary cruised the Panthers to a comfortable 26-6 victory over the Storm at BlueBet Stadium on Friday night. The defending champs are closing in on another minor premiership after shutting out the Melbourne heavyweights, holding their place on top of the competition ladder over the Broncos for another week after making it eight straight at home. Losing Jahrome Hughes (ankle) and Xavier Coates (hip) throughout the week didn't help Melbourne's cause but errors (11) and missed tackles (41) cruelled any chances of causing an upset in Sydney's west. Melbourne surprised the home side early when they had the first four-pointer with centre Young Tonumaipea taking the ball from one end to the other with the boot before scooting over in the next play to score his second try of the season. Tonumaipea continued an impressive first half, when he came up with a try saver on Brian To'o in the 20th minute but the NSW winger couldn't be stopped again four minutes later, with a slick right-side raid creating an overlap in the corner. Cleary missed the conversion but with both sides kicking an early penalty goal the scores were locked 6-6. Errors began to creep into Melbourne's game and the Panthers began to steal momentum with Cleary mesmerising Storm defenders to send a weaving Luai over the line to score. A penalty against Storm forward Josh King for a crusher tackle on Matt Eisenhuth gave Cleary a shot from right in front and he converted for an eight-point lead. The Panthers' well-oiled machine was full of running at the back end of the first half with Cleary looping a nice pass over the top for Stephen Crichton who scored on the left to extend the home side's lead further. The Storm got into an arm-wrestle in the opening stages of the second term but the Panthers all but put the game to bed when Zac Hosking handed To'o a double with a nice catch and pass to the right. Melbourne stars Cameron Munster and Harry Grant tried to threaten the line through the game but in the end ran out of answers as the Panthers took another step towards a three-peat to defend their way to victory. Source: NRL.com

Broncos captain Adam Reynolds has withdrawn from Saturday's Queensland derby match against the Cowboys due to groin tightness. The Broncos have also lost forward Kobe Hetherington (back cork). "Reyno won’t be able to play and that creates an opportunity for Jock [Madden] to come into the side," Broncos coach Kevin Walters said. New Manly signing Matt Lodge suffered a suspected ACL injury during the first half of Thursday night's match against his former club, Sydney Roosters. Lodge, who is on a train and trial contract, clashed knees with Lindsay Collins and will undergo scans to determine the extent of the injury but Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold fears the worst. "He has done his ACL so he is going to be out for an extended period of time," Seibold told media post-match. "He is obviously shattered. We will pick up the pieces over the next couple of days but I feel for him and his family." Lodge's injury compounds Manly's forward woes with Taniela Paseka undergoing surgery to repair a knee injury after rupturing his medial ligament in Round 21 against the Sharks and Josh Aloiai set for a shoulder reconstruction. Source: NRL.Com

The Roosters had Nathan Brown sent off but still managed to send the Sea Eagles packing with a 26-16 win at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday night. Brown was marched in the 63rd minute for a high shot on Ben Trbojevic but the Roosters scored a try in his absence to put the finishing touches on a win that keeps their slim finals hopes alive. The Roosters launched an early raid in the seventh minute and Daniel Tupou looked set to cross for yet another try but some desperate defence from Haumole Olakau'atu forced him into touch. Manly marched down field and opened the scoring in the 11th minute through a penalty goal to Reuben Garrick but it was the home side who bagged the opening try when Tupou soared high to bring down a Luke Keary bomb for the 141st four-pointer of his career. The Roosters had a second try in the 23rd minute when centre Joey Manu exploded out of dummy half from close range and couldn't be stopped. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii's sideline conversion made it 12-2. Manly hooker Lachlan Croker went close in the 26th minute but strong goal line defence by James Tedesco kept the Roosters' line intact. A clever grubber by Keary earned the Roosters a repeat set late in the half but a dropped ball by Victor Radley let the Sea Eagles off the hook. With time running down the Roosters got another opportunity and made the most it with Billy Smith delivering a deft flick pass for Tupou to complete his 27th career double. Suaalii again converted from wide out to make it 18-2 at the break. The Roosters went further ahead in the 52nd minute when Smith disposed of Tolu Koula with a powerful fend and plunged over to give the Tricolours a 20-point lead. The Sea Eagles lost Toafofoa Sipley to the sin bin midway through the second half before Brown was given his marching orders by referee Ashley Klein in the 61st minute. Just three minutes later Josh Schuster chipped and regathered to score the Sea Eagles' first try to make it 22-8. With both teams down a man the Roosters went right and Suaalii slid in for the 20th try of his career. He missed the conversion and the score stayed at 26-8. Sipley returned to the field with 11 minutes to play to give Manly a one-man advantage and Schuster produced another pinpoint kick for Brad Parker to score to pull it back to 26-12. Manly continued to throw the ball around and Koula finished off a powerful run by Olakau'atu to give the Sea Eagles the final say but the night belonged to the Roosters, who move to 24 competition points with games against the Dolphins, Eels, Wests Tigers and Rabbitohs to come. Source:NRL.Com

After going down 32-18 to the Brisbane Tigers last weekend, the SP PNG Hunters will return home to the Santos National Football Stadium this Saturday, 5th August to host the Redcliffe Dolphins in Round 20 of the QRL Hostplus Cup at 3pm. Saturday’s game will mark two weeks to the day since the Hunters last played at the spiritual home of rugby league in Papua New Guinea, having observed a bye in Round 18 before meeting the Brisbane Tigers at Totally Workwear Stadium last week. The Tigers proved too good in that most recent contest, despite the Hunters running out to an early lead. Tries to Rodrick Tai and Solo Wane gave the Hunters a 12-0 lead after 11 minutes played, but the Tigers showed great resilience to fight back under pressure. Ill-discipline proved to be the Hunters undoing in that loss, as penalties and sinbins hamstrung the PNG-based side in the second half. There are positives to take from that loss to the Tigers, though. As they’ve done all season, the Hunters continued to show the improvements they’ve made under Head Coach Stanley Tepend this year. Halfback Jamie Mavoko – playing in just his 24th Hostplus Cup game last week – had a hand in a number of positive actions as he grows in confidence at this level. And Judah Rimbu – plying his trade at dummy-half as he transitions into the starting hooker role – also impressed with his workrate and service around the ruck. In the outside backs, Tai was his usual dynamic attacking self with one try, one assist and 16 tackles for just one miss while his centre partner Brandon Nima was also busy, posting 127 running metres from nine carries in yardage. The Hunters did everything right in the opening quarter last week and only need to replicate those efforts to be a chance against the 4th placed Redcliffe Dolphins on Saturday. The Dolphins are in a purple patch of form of late, having registered convincing wins over the Tweed Seagulls and Burleigh Bears in recent weeks. Fullback Trai Fuller was in inspired form for both of those wins, but mightn’t feature this weekend as he prepares for a potential NRL-debut for The Dolphins. Even if Fuller doesn’t run out for the Dolphins Hostplus Cup side this weekend, the Redcliffebased club will still field an established and dangerous outfit. Players like Robert Jennings, Mason Teague, Poasa Faamausili and Harrison Graham will all give Redcliffe NRL experience when they run out on Saturday afternoon. The last time these two clubs met was in Round 9 last year, when the Hunters were still based out of the Gold Coast and playing at Bycroft Oval, Runaway Bay. Redcliffe ran away 30-16 winners in that contest, but they will field a very different looking side this Saturday. With a finals berth still just in reach, the Hunters must respond this weekend. No doubt a full crowd at the Santos National Football Stadium will inspire their best efforts and help the Hunters finish the regular season on a high. Team List: 1. Morea Morea 2. Siki Konden 3. Brandon Nima 4. Rodrick Tai 5. Solo Wane 6. Joshua Lau 7. Jamie Mavoko 8. Junior Rop 9. Judah Rimbu 10. Epel Kapinias 11. Benji Kot 12. Whallan Tau-Loi 13. Ila Alu (c) 14. Warren Glare 15. Seal Kalo 16. Casey Dickson 17. Valentine Richard 18. Sanny Wabo 19. Joshua Mire

Businesses for Health (B4H) is joining forces with the PNG Cancer Foundation to encourage people who want to end their chewing habit to sign up for the “World No Buai Day” campaign to be held on the 6th of October 2023. B4H and the Cancer Foundation will kick off the campaign on the 4th of August to get the workers of PNG to consider the career, health and financial costs of chewing buai. The campaign is set to run for over 8 weeks. Although the mission of B4H is to end TB, chewing buai has a negative effect on so many aspects of a person’s health and well-being, especially spreading infectious diseases and facial cancers. The team understands that chewing is part of many people’s usual routines, so planning is required if people are going to be successful in reducing their dependency on PNG’s favorite addictive drug – betel nut! B4H Campaign leader and participant TB HEO Teresa said, “The sooner people reduce their chewing, the better it is for their health.” “We also recognize that chewing is an addiction and it’s not something they can successfully achieve without talking to family, friends, and colleagues.” “Addicts need encouragement or friends to join them in the campaign.” “To reduce buai chewing, they need to be surrounded by people who recognize that chewing is associated with so many threats to long-term health and well-being.” “In supporting people with TB or HIV we use care, kindness, and support to help people to achieve better treatment compliance, and it reduces fear.” “We recommending people wanting to quit chewing use the same strategies.” Meanwhile, the PNG Cancer Foundation Executive Manager Ms. Kimberly Kapigeno said, under the ‘Hope for a Healthier PNG’ campaign, the PNG Cancer Foundation is supporting B4H’s ‘No Buai Campaign’. The initiative is in line with the key message of making healthy lifestyle choices to reduce one’s cancer risk. The PNG Cancer Foundation also highlighted a recent finding by Port Moresby General Hospital Head & Neck surgeon Dr James Naipao, which stated 50% of the new mouth cancer cases are Highlanders - giving his best advice, he added to reduce the volume, frequency, and interval of chewing. “PNG Cancer Foundation believes that the No Buai on Workdays is a practical healthy lifestyle challenge that encourages participants to gradually reduce their chewing habit over a period of 8 weeks.” “This can potentially be incorporated into the foundation’s current awareness campaigns.” “We commend B4H for the great work they do in the awareness space, especially with TB and HIV.” Furthermore, B4H Project Manager Dr. Ann Clark said, the campaign specifically aims to quit workweek chewing. “We are not advocating for a global lifetime buai ban.” “It would be disrespectful and foolish to expect people not to chew at a haus krai or other events at which chewing maybe an ancient tradition.” “We want people to learn to better manage their habit and to be successful.” “We recommend registering with the B4H campaign to get reminders and encouragement along the way to NOT chewing in the working week by World No Buai Day.”