Round 1 Sunday wrap: Hunters rain on Clydesdales' parade

The PNG Hunters – and the weather – rained all over the Western Clydesdales’ parade, as the Hunters triumphed 20-10 in wet conditions at Clive Berghofer Stadium.

It was a historic day in Toowoomba as the Clydesdales played their first game in Cup since 2006.

The new team certainly fought hard and showed plenty of resilience with two second half tries, but the Hunters came in to ruin the party, proving to be just too strong for the home team.

Backrower Sherwin Tanabi was full of praise for the Hunters’ debutants in particular, after the club underwent a large turnover for 2023.

Fullback Morea Morea was named the Hastings Deering player of the match, standing up for his side as the rain poured down for the majority of the match.

“It’s exciting … I really can’t express it because half of the team, they are new boys who came up from Digicel Cup,” Tanabi said.

“All the boys, they were amazing. Most of the new boys, they were in the middle, but they just kept backing themselves up.

“We had to defend three sets in a row but everyone was good and stood up for each other and we got the win in the end.

“Our fullback, young Morea Morea, he was Digicel Cup player of the year last year and he did some good things out on the field.

“He had good ball returns, he was safe at the back. But everyone stood up for each other.”