Bire set for Hunters debut

Bire following Olam’s footsteps

By PARKER TAMBUA
SP PNG Hunters new recruit Jokadi Bire says he will dedicate his debut season in the Queensland Intrust Super Cup to his people in Salt Nomane, Chimbu.
The 21-year old is following in the footsteps of his fellow Chimbu man and Melbourne Storm centre Justin Olam who also played with the Lae Tigers while a student at the Papua New Guinea University of Technology.
Olam would make the Hunters 2016 squad and graduate the same year with a degree in applied physics from Unitech. His rookie season in the ISC would lead to the Sinasina man being signed by the Melbourne Storm and playing for its feeder club the Sunshine Coast Falcons in 2017 and 2018 before he made his NRL debut in round nine that year against the St George Illawarra Dragons.
Bire is treading a similar path having also attained a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering last year and is set to graduate in the coming months.
He was recruited by the Stanley Tepend-coached, Lae Tigers in 2019 while in his third year of his engineering programme. Like Olam, Bire played for two seasons in the Digicel Cup before he was recruited by Hunters.
“I come from a remote part of Chimbu (Salt Nomane) and where I come from there is no one from that area that has ever played in the Hunters or Kumuls,” he said at a Hunters training session at the Oil Search National Football Stadium on Monday.
“If I happened to debut this season, I will dedicate the season to the people of Salt Nomane.

“When we (Salt Nomane people) come to our provincial capital Kundiawa, people use to make fun of us because we come from the last frontier of the province.
“People from my district are also not commonly known in rugby league, I want to make a statement to Chimbu and PNG as a whole that yes, a native from Salt Nomane can represent the province and the country.”
Bire grew up in Kundiawa and while in primary school and high school, he played in the local league and spent most of his time at Dickson Oval.
He said the 2020 NRL title winner and former Lae Tiger, Olam, was his inspiration and he followed Storm games closely.
Even coach Matthew Church can see similarities in the way Bire has trained, his style of play and intensity given he was the Falcons assistant coach and had a hand in Olam’s development.
Bire said he felt he was following a similar path to Olam.
“Justin Olam is my role model. The timing was perfect for him (Olam), he completed his studies while playing for Tigers and then straight to Hunters and later he got the NRL contract after one season,” Bire said.
“He was disciplined and he sacrificed a lot to make it that far and I want to try my best revolve my game around that.”
Bire said one of his short term goals this year was to make the PNG Kumuls World Cup squad for the tournament in the United Kingdom. He said his other goal was to win a contract with another ISC team and even an NRL club.
The youngster also gave a word of advice to upcoming players who wanted to juggle education and rugby league.
“It comes down to discipline and commitment,” he said.
“If you are going play rugby league while pursuing education, time management is very important.
“When you wake up every morning, always try to find an inspiration, set a goal and work towards it.
“Think big and don’t waste time,” he said.