The woman I never knew

By MALUM NALU

As I look into the face in the photo
Into the eyes of the woman I never knew, lying on her hospital bed, her mother beside her
I feel the hurt
The pain

She shows me the humiliation
Of being stripped naked
The most-excruciating  agony
As hot metal burns her body and razors cut through

I hear her cries
Which fall upon deaf dears
No one in this country can help her on Independence Day
They are oblivious to her pleas for mercy, as her life seeps away

I believe that this woman and many more, should never be forgotten
For they are victims of sanguma
And the Devil laughs as he takes control of this Christian country
The dark forces of evil take control of the land

***

-Dedicated to the memory of the two Enga women who were tortured with hot metal and cut with razor blades on Independence Day, on accusations of being sanguma, and subsequently died.

An ode to the PNG Hunters

This is a small piece which I wrote on my phone this morning. I hope you like it:

An ode to the PNG Hunters
By MALUM NALU

They came from north of the border
To the colosseum at Suncorp
Modern-day gladiators
Hunters from Papua New Guinea

They carried the hopes and dreams of a nation
Upon their shoulders
So much gloom, doom and despair
A little ray of sunshine was needed

All was lost, it seemed
When in from the cold came Willie Minoga
Like a runaway freight train from Enga
Grounding the ball at the last minute

And for a moment in time
All of Papua New Guinea erupted
A crescendo from the islands to the mountains
As the sons and daughters of this beautiful land arose as one, singing a new song of hope

Papua New Guinea Hunters win Queensland Cup Grand Final in last minute



by John Coomer, theroar.com.au
September 24, 2017

The PNG Hunters have scored in the final minute to win their first Queensland Cup in a thrilling finish at Suncorp Stadium against the Sunshine Coast Falcons.

Trailing 10-6, Hunters’ five-eighth, captain and man-of-the-match Ase Boas put through a grubber as their last throw of the dice. Interchange forward Willie Minoga won a desperate race for the ball, grounding it just before the dead-ball line.

Boas then calmly slotted the conversion from beside the posts to put the Hunters in the lead for the first time in the match.

The Falcons then went for a short kick-off that didn’t work. The hooter sounded seconds later, sparking wild celebrations among the Hunters players and many in the crowd. No doubt the entire population of PNG will be celebrating long and hard for the next few days.

Earlier, the Falcons had a dream start to the match, scoring two tries in the first seven minutes of the first half. The first came in their opening set, when they threw the ball wide to try and exploit the Hunters’ slide defence. It worked, with winger Matt Soper-Lawler crossing in the corner.

The Falcons scored again five minutes later when halfback Ryley Jacks put hard-running backrower Joe Stimson over.

The Hunters managed to steady their defence for the rest of the half, but couldn’t hang onto the ball for long enough to mount any attacking pressure. They went into the sheds trailing 10-0.

They needed to score first in the second half to get some confidence and the Falcons did them a huge favour when they knocked on from the kick-off. In the next set, Ase Boas put in a grubber and his brother Watson Boas ended up scoring from it to get the Hunters on the scoreboard.

Both teams were willing to throw the ball around in very warm September conditions in Brisbane, but were let down by their handling throughout the game. The completion rate of the Hunters, in particular, was poor. They looked very nervous. But the defence from both sides was also very willing. You couldn’t fault their commitment or desperation.

The win means the Hunters will play the winner of the New South Wales Cup in the curtain-raiser to the Melbourne/Cowboys grand final next weekend. Their opponent will be the winner of Penrith and Wyong, played tonight.

It’s the fourth season for the very popular PNG Hunters in the Queensland Cup, and this win is their history-making first premiership.

Final score
PNG Hunters 12 
Sunshine Coast Falcons 10

PNG Hunters into historic first grand final

THE PNG Hunters have made Intrust Super Cup history, after they advanced to their first grand final with a gritty 6-4 victory over Redcliffe today.

Michael Marum’s side put on a defensive masterclass in Port Moresby, denying the Dolphins the chance to score any tries in front of a packed stadium with more than 14,000 people.

All of Redcliffe’s points came from penalty goals, while PNG skipper Ase Boas scored the only four-pointer of the game to send the Dolphins back to Queensland without the much-needed win.

The massive effort from the Hunters will see them play in their first grand final on September 24 at Suncorp Stadium.

Redcliffe meanwhile will host the Sunshine Coast in a preliminary final next Sunday, with the two teams to battle it out for the other spot in the grand final.

A Father's Day gift

My babies gave me this today
And bring tears to my eyes
They are my strength
My inspiration
The wind beneath my wings