Lae Snax Tigers duo Kitron Laka and Sherwin Tanabi who both debuted for the premiership winning club last year will now find themselves on the same side again this year as they prepare to debut for the SP PNG Hunters in the upcoming Queensland Intrust Super Cup.
Both lads whose rugby careers initially started in 2017 are the latest inclusions into the Mathew Church coached side and will be bringing in a fresh vibe into the squad as they go through the final leg of preparations down in Queensland.
Kitron who hails from Hagen only started playing serious rugby in 2017 when he was in high school back home in Togoba, Western Highlands.
The youngster made it through the local village competitions then onto playing representative rugby in university and other tournaments as well before making his big break in the Digicel cup in 2019 playing for the Moni-Plus NCDC Vipers.
Laka’s journey although a short one has been quite successful so far as he now has two Digicel Cup premiership wins under his belt in just 3 years of playing in the competition and finally about to make his debut in the Intrust Super Cup.
Laka in an earlier interview said that he was aware that there were many good players out there and that entry into the SP Hunters could be tough but that’s something he was willing to sacrifice his time and efforts for and his hard work has truly paid off with the announcement of the final 26-men squad earlier this week.
The young man who first made the Hunters pre-season camp in 2018 straight after the Southern Zone Confederate Championships but missed out on making the final playing squad then said that he is happy and satisfied now that he has made it into the Hunters on his second attempt.
“I first came into the SP PNG Hunters training camp in 2018 straight after a successful Southern Zone Championships and without any Digicel Cup experience so that was quite a big deal for me.”
“Being able to finally make the squad now is a dream come true and is a testament of the fact that as young people chasing dreams, we should never give up no matter the setbacks,” said the elated Hunters debutant.
Young Tanabi, who is the new kid on the block like Kitron, also kicked off his rugby league career in 2017 when he made the decision to switch from rugby union to league, joining the Royals under-20 team in the Lae Rugby League competition and also playing in the school boys competition.
According to the young man from Lae City, he had his eyes set on making it into the champion Lae Snax Tigers team since 2017 and finally got his call-up to the team in 2021 after a couple of attempts in the Lae Snax 9s tournament.
“Every young boy playing rugby in Lae wants to make it into the champion team (Lae Snax Tigers) and so when I look back on my journey now, I realise that it happened so quickly for me and for that I am thankful and blessed,” Sherwin said.
It has been 4 years since making the switch and Tanabi has gone from playing suburban and town competitions to making his debut in the semi-professional Digicel Cup competition last year, playing 6 round games and an appearance in the major semi finals to now debuting for the SP PNG Hunters for the upcoming season.
In an interview last October, when asked why he chose to switch from rugby union to league, Tanabi said, “I had to choose rugby league over union because I saw that there was a career pathway in league and if I did well, I could actually progress and have a future there.”
True indeed, Tanabi’s future in rugby is already looking bright and promising with his departure yesterday (Friday) with the final 2022 playing squad of the SP PNG Hunters to their home at Runaway Bay in Gold Coast, Queensland.
Both Kitron and Sherwin come in as young forwards for the SP Hunters side forcing the returning forwards to level up and lead by example as they go into yet another hunt for the coveted Intrust Super Cup championship title this year.
Image Sources: Pilai Piksa, SP PNG Hunters