Despite the absence of key player, Nadera Panthers managed to come away with a 12-10 win over USP Raiders in their last pool match of the Fiji National Rugby League’s Vodafone Cup at Buckhurst Park in Suva on Saturday.
The side fielded numerous new players who have stepped up to fill in the role left by the senior players who are currently nursing injuries.
Captain Penaia Nadakuni said there are still room for improvements especially as they head into the nationals next weekend.
“USP gave us a really good game. They showed that there are things that still lack in both our defence and attack. We spoke about that after the match and the boys understood the direction we have to be headed to from here.
“The scoreline was so close. We have a number of new kids in this game, stepping in for our injured players. We communicated before the game and reminded them to just execute everything that we did in training, it was rocky throughout the match, but we managed to come away with the win,” he said.
Nadera Panthers has only lost once this season so far.
Nadakuni said they’re locked in on the target they have set which is to focus on themselves and grow their game.
In other results, Navy Albatross continued its unbeaten with a 38-16 win over Police Sharks, Davuilevu Knights beat Lami Steelers 16-6, Makoi Bulldogs went down 14-24 to Kinoya Sea Eagles, City Storm thumped Nabua Broncos 32-16, Namosi Highlanders thrashed Mataivalu Bears 30-8 and Vusu Raiders edged Serua Dragons 26-24.
