Star Hunter Appo buys jerseys for junior club

**Eastern Highlands and Chimbu native Kevin Appo taking on Bears five-eighth Tanah Boyd and rake Sam Coster.**

By ZACHERY PER
SP Hunters forward Kevin Appo presented two sets of uniforms to his foundation Eastern Suburbs rugby league club in Goroka, Eastern Highlands, earlier this month.
The back-rower worked hard to secure the jerseys for the Gahuku Offseason Rugby League club after seeing them still wearing a set of apparel which had been bought a decade ago. Appo said he was moved when the club each year used the same uniforms which were donated by former Kumul and Papua New Guinea schoolboys rugby league administrator, the late Ifisoe Segeyaro, in 2012.
“I also wore the same uniform on my debut in 2014, the same old set remains with the players up to this day,” he said.
Appo said while with the South Pacific Brewery-sponsored Hunters on Gold Coast, Queensland, he had searched for opportunities to get uniforms for his local club.
He said through Hunters assistant coach and Kumuls legend Paul Aiton, who had connections with a French tailoring firm, he was able to get two sets of rugby league uniforms.

**SP Hunters back-rower Kevin Appo defending against Burleigh Bears in round five of the Queensland Intrust Super Cup at Pizzey Park on the Gold Coast last season. – kpmimages**

“Through Aiton, I bought two sets of jerseys for my home club,” Appo said.
He said since the uniforms were customised, he engaged Goroka-based Aful Graphics to re-design the jerseys to PNG standard.
Appo thanked Aiton for assisting him as well as Aful Graphics for re-designing the uniforms.
“The donation to my club is not to seek glory,” the former Port Moresby Viper said.
“It is a token of appreciation for what the club has done for me to come this far.
“I’ve given to the club with a good heart and in good faith, hoping that it will boost the morale of the players.”
Appo said himself and Enga Miok Gillmeister Maima were Eastern Suburbs players who had reached the country’s premier rugby league competition, the Digicel Cup.

**SP Hunters forward Kevin Appo tackling Burleigh prop John Palavi.**

He encouraged upcoming Eastern Suburbs players to refrain from drugs, alcohol and negative behaviour, and train hard and wear the apparel with pride.
Appo has been a regular feature in coach Matthew Church’s side in recent Queensland Intrust Super Cup seasons.
The 180cm, 94kg hard-running second-rower – who turns 23 on Jan 9 – was recruited from the Moni Plus-sponsored Vipers while he was pursuing a science degree at the University of PNG in Port Moresby.
Appo’s greatest inspiration is his father and former Highlands Zone rugby league representative Jackson Appo.
Continuing the family’s rugby league legacy, the Eastern Highlands and Chimbu native hopes earn a spot in coach Michael Marum’s Kumuls squad for next year’s Rugby League World Cup in England.