PNG students make Filipino finals

 A team made up of Papua New Guinean students has made it into the final rounds of the inaugural Philippines rugby league season.  

The Central Luzon Crusaders, previously known as the Indang Rebels, is made up of PNG students attending various tertiary institutions in Philippines.

Out of the teams that take part in the competition held at the Adventist University of the Philippines (AUP) in Cavite, only  four made it into the finals of PNRL’s inaugural competition and Crusaders was one of them. Gorden Asa, a 24-year-old PNG national taking a break from his third year civil engineering studies at Cavite State University, will lead the Crusaders when they take on Albay Vulcans in the finals series. 

The other match will be between Manila Storm and University of Batangas Toro. 

Asa, from Enga, has lived in Indang for over three years.

He started playing rugby league at the age of 14 while attending North Goroka Primary School in Eastern Highlands.  Asa played five-eighth for the Goroka International School team during his high school days.

In 2013 when he went to the Philippines to study, he helped found the Indang Rebels. 

“We took the offer to show many people our interest in rugby league,” Asa said 

“Our aim is to teach everyone what rugby league is and how it is played. The interest from Filipino students and surrounding community is high.”