“THE NUMBER ONE PLACE FOR RUGBY LEAGUE TALENT”

CAPTION: LONDON Broncos and PNG Kumuls Head Coach, Jason Demetriou. Supplied Picture

BY NIGEL MADO
LONDON Broncos and PNG Kumuls Head Coach, Jason Demetriou this week has hailed Papua New Guinea as the best place to seek Rugby League talent.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the FM100 Sports Desk, London’s mentor and architect of their undefeated run in the Betfred Championships Cup said PNG is probably, for him, the number one place to be looking for talent and believes is untapped.

JD as he is known, shared that he thinks there’s more talent in PNG than anywhere else there is opportunities for guys in PNG that just are itching to get that opportunity.

Rugby league is a huge part of Papua New Guinean society, and it is often touted as one of the main binders in bringing together a highly ethno-linguistical country.

He said it was interesting when he spoke to the players about heading over to the United Kingdom as quite a few of the players didn’t find out till after the Pacific Championships.

“It was only Morea and Finlay who were signed during the Puck Champs and the others I spoke to afterwards. Every conversation I had with each of them was that they were so keen on representing their country and at the biggest stage.”

“The key for that is, when they get here, and I’ve spoken to the players about, they have a responsibility for everybody back in PNG to make sure that they’re disciplined, their attitude towards these opportunities is where it needs to be, and they bring their best so that people over here and people in Australia understand, you know what, we need to go after some more Papua New Guinea players.”

Reflecting on previous PNG players that have travelled overseas to play in the UK, JD stated that one or two may have gone with a bad attitude but reiterated that this is not the case for many Papua New Guineans.
“I know that’s not true. I’ve spent enough time in PNG to know that.”

He added the part of his idea to bring the boys over to the UK was to showcase that not only that they are good footballers but good people as well.

“The boys have been excellent. They’ve not skipped a beat. They live on their own in a big city and they’re more than capable of getting themselves around and being disciplined in the group.”

He said this opens the door and is an opportunity for them to open the door for other players as well.