Albert not first local contracted overseas

webmaster Letters, Normal
Source:

The National, Thursday January 9th, 2014

 I CONGRATULATE Wellington Albert for being signed up to play professionally in Australia. 

Is he really the first homegrown  player to do so as publicised in  the  PNG  media? 

I  do  not  think  so. He  may be the first local schoolboy picked, but PNG had Philip Ralda of Mt Hagen who may have been the first Papua New Guinean to be contracted to play overseas in England in the 1980s. 

We also had Bal Numapo who played for the Canterbury Bulldogs as well as Arnold Krewanty and Dairi Kovae for the Newcastle Knights, not to mention the ever popular Marcus Bai. 

Were they not homegrown too?

 

Rugby Fan 

Port Moresby