The final week of round one Cook Islands Rugby League 13s competition will have Arorangi Bears hosting Ngatangiia Matavera Sea Eagles at Raemaru Park this afternoon.

The Sea Eagles got walloped by Avatiu Nikao Eels a fortnight ago, but coach Ngatamaine Rongo (Maynez) said the players have put that loss behind to focus on the Bears game this afternoon.

The side went down to the Eels 0-64 at Nukupure Park on February 25.

Rongo said the heavy loss initially affected the morale of the team but the players managed to regroup and prepare for this weekend’s clash.

“Its been a hard week, the big loss to Avatiu Eels surely affected the players morale and we also had few injuries,” he said.

“The main thing was to take everything from the match (against the Eels) and work on the areas we need to.”

Rongo said the team had two solid training sessions this week on Tuesday and Thursday.

He was pleased with his younger players “who handled the loss well and were ready to move on”.

“This (loss) is part of learning, we’re still finding our footing in the competition and the main focus is to learn from every game that we play.

“We are ready to face the Bears. I ask all fans to come in numbers and support us.”

The Sea Eagles started the 2023 season with a win against Titikaveka Bulldogs in round one before going down to the defending champions Tupapa Panthers and the Eels.

The Bulldogs yesterday played the Eels who defeated the Panthers, the Sea Eagles and the Bears.

Fixtures 

Raemaru Park: 9am Juniors, U14 12.30pm Sea Eagles-Bears, 1.30pm U14 Panthers-Eels, 2.30pm U16 Panthers-Eels, 3.30pm U19 Panthers-Bears,

5pm Bears-Sea Eagles