In a thrilling encounter, Tupapa Panthers broke the Bears defence winning 36-24 at the Cook Islands Rugby League (CIRL) Domestic 13’s Competition on Saturday.

In Week 7 of the league competition, Aretere Park in Avatiu – the host for the week, was set for an exhilarating clash between the Tupapa Maraerenga Panthers vs Arorangi Bears on Saturday.

As the second round of the season progresses, the level of play has noticeably intensified, displaying the skill, determination, and passion of both teams.

The Panthers, known for their tenacity and strategic game play, faced off against The Bears, a formidable team with the reputation for strength and ability.

In a close, thrilling encounter, the Tupapa Maraerenga Panthers took the win 36 vs the Arorangi Bears 24.

Rugby veteran George “The General” George who was the emcee on the day announced: “It was an awesome game indeed”.

The Most Valuable Player for Week 7 went to the Panthers captain, brutal power house Eric Newbigging - for the second time this season.

Tupapa Maraerenga Panthers Mafu Kalas passes swiftly to captain Eric Newbigging - a brutal power house of a player. Newbigging won the Most Valuable player award for Week 7 of the Cook Islands Rugby League (CIRL) competition. MELINA ETCHES/25032304

According to the CITL, Newbigging is arguably the best defender in the competition for his numerous tackles, tackle assists, good ball runner and a strong leader. He pushed right through defence on the day to score a try.

In the second men’s premier match, Avatiu Eels took home the win with 44 points against the Ngatangiia Matavera Sea Eagles from the country with 24.

Avatiu Eels coach/player Clive Nicholas swiftly passes the ball to an Avatiu player. MELINA ETCHES/25032319

In the CIRL post-match interview, Sea Eagles player Junior Kirikava said the first half of the match was good and the boys had a good mind set.

“But, in the second half it didn’t go our way, Avatiu found where we were lacking and that was a downfall for us… but,  big ups to the boys… we have to work as a team and on our defence,” said Kirikava.

Eels captain Josh Motu was happy with the boy’s performance.

However, he noted that the first half was a bit scrappy with his team conceding to penalties and dropped balls.

“We managed to find our beat in the second half… but, we’ve still got to fix some things like our penalties and losing the ball but we can fix that coming up to next week’s game,” said Motu.

In a close match, the women’s 9’s game went to the Lady Bears from the west side scoring 12 points from the west side vs the Tupapa Maraerenga Panthers townies with 10.

The Most Valuable Player for the women’s teams went to the Iron Woman of the Lady Bears Stephanie Nooroa who scored a try, and two goal kicks scoring eight points.

Nooroa is a devastating ball runner, hard tackler, try scorer and goal kicker – a good all-rounder on the field.

On Friday afternoon, the Titikaveka Bulldogs from the countryside won with 54 points vs the Takuvaine Warriors from town valley high with 26.

Warriors captain Perry Ioane was proud of his boys’ team effort and their improvement throughout the season.

“Our boys had a good game with the boys from the country and now we can see our boys are putting in the effort and giving a good game… we are coming up slowly,” said Ioane.

Bulldogs captain Timothy Tangirere says this was a big game.

“We treat every game the same and we knew TKV (Warriors) have picked up their game since the first round. We still got a lot to work on but it was a great effort from our boys. I think we did a lot better this week, but we got to stay on guard and not get relaxed and play right through,” said Tangirere.

The Week 7 results are Tupapa Maraerenga Panthers 36 vs Arorangi Bears 24; Avatiu Eels 44 vs Ngatangiia Matavera Sea Eagles 24; Titikaveka Bulldogs 54 vs Takuvaine Warriors 26. Arorangi Lady Bears 12 vs Tupapa Maraerenga Panthers 10.