Benson out of the ‘den’

 By GABRIEL LAHOC

FOR rugby league mad Papua New Guineans who are familiar with Australia’s National Rugby League weekly telecasts on local station, EMTV, he is the Melanesian version of Matt Utai, the Polynesian who burst onto the scene as the electrifying winger for Canterbury Bulldogs in the early 2000s.

He is undeniably one of the form wingers currently in the Digicel Cup competition, the semi-professional rugby league competition in Papua New Guinea.

Electrifying is just one word, there are other adjectives like blockbusting and unstoppable to describe him. 

Two weekends ago, one expatriate fan at the Lae rugby league ground grand stand was overheard describing the Lae Tigers winger as at times an unstoppable force. 

“He’s a human train, look how he’s unstoppable at the first check point,” the Australian fan quipped to his friends around him.

His name is George Benson, he is 20-years-old and of mixed parentage of East Sepik (Maprik) and Enga (Wabag).

The first check point, the expat fan was referring to was the first opponent who Benson seemingly ignored by forcing him out of his path before attracting another three opponents to force him down 15m from where he first got the ball.

It takes two or more players to bring him down when he is in attack mode, with the ball in hand, and that is how the stocky former Mt Hagen Eagles player operates, just in his second year in the Digicel Cup.

Weighing 93kg and sporting a dreadlocked hairdo, “Blood”, as he is known to teammates is no easy target to put down by opponents and is the toast of the Tigers backline.

His signing into the revamped Tigers franchise is one of the best deals for the club which struggled last year, before a new team management and coaching staff this year put their heads together to restore lost glory.

Ironically, Benson as the first of three siblings first got into the sport by playing soccer, while his father was playing rugby union in Mt Hagen where he grew up.

He eventually took up rugby league like most other teenagers where he progressed through the ranks of the Young Guns rugby league club in the Gomes rugby league association, where he was plucked out in 2012 to play as a fresh-faced 19-year-old rookie by the Eagles.

Benson, in a recent interview, attributed his selection and debut into the semi-professional competition on his concentration and focus on the field which he still maintains. 

He says he is enjoying his football at the moment with one of the highlights playing alongside close friend in Tigers prop Mogi Wei Junior.

“My aim is to eventually wear a Kumul jersey one day,” Benson said on his aspirations.

His runs are noticeable and appreciated by the fans at the LRL now earning the reputation as the Tigers’ “den”. 

Despite the competition still not halfway through, Benson is confident the Tigers can make the top four and take on the star-studded sides in the Rabaul Gurias, Port Moresby Vipers, Goroka Lahanis at the business end of the season.