'A massive honour': Leeds Rhinos' Rhyse Martin proud to captain PNG in Rugby League World Cup

Papua New Guinea is the only country where rugby league is the national sport and Martin has been a stalwart of their side since 2014, skippering them to a famous win over Great Britain three years ago.

But this tournament is especially poignant for the Queensland-born forward, who qualifies for Papua New Guinea through his late father.

He said: “This is what I have been hanging out for for the last couple of years. Any chance I get to wear the jersey is a massive honour.

“This year is a bit different because I get to represent my dad and honour him after I lost him at the start of the year.

“To be able to represent him and my family is a great privilege and I can’t wait to do it. I am honoured to be captain for the Kumuls, I have been part of the team for a long time now and to be able to lead them out is a very proud moment for me.

“It is good to be in the Kumuls camp, these are where the best memories start and so far it has been enjoyable.”

Papua New Guinea have a real chance of progressing through their group, which also includes Cook Islands and Wales, into the knockout stages.

Martin said: “I think this is probably one of our best teams in a while. I don’t want to give too much away, but playing Tonga in round one we will see where we are at as a team.

“I am very confident . We have got quality players all over the park, in the front-row, the halves, at nine, centre, wing, some of the best outside-backs in the game at the moment.

“I think it’s going to be a different World Cup, I think you might see a different winner this year and it is exciting. You don’t know who’s going to win on the day.”

Tonga were semi-finalists five years ago and are the world’s number two ranked nation, but Martin insisted: “PNG are always underdogs.

“We have been ever since I’ve played for them, no matter who we come up against. Tonga are probably one of the biggest teams, if not the hardest team to play in the world at the moment, it will be a test for us to see where we are, but we have all the confidence we can get that win.

“I think round one is about preparation and who’s ready to turn up so it is exciting times for PNG.”

Martin is one of only five players from Leeds’ 2022 squad involved in the World Cup, along with Ireland’s Richie Myler and James Bentley, Zane Tetevano of Cook Islands and England’s Mikolaj Oledzki.

The captain hopes Rhinos fans will adopt the Kumuls as a team to support when England aren’t playing. He said: PNG seems to be everyone’s second [favourite] team.

“We get a lot of support everywhere we go in the world, but our own supporters are the best. Hopefully we get a few Leeds supporters who jump on to our side and support us for this World Cup, but I think everyone’s looking forward to seeing every team play.”

PNG face Cook Islands at Warrington next Tuesday before rounding off their campaign in Doncaster against Wales six days later in the final match of the group phase.

“There’ll be a bit of banter with Zane,” Martin predicted of next week’s tie. “I know how he plays, he will be interesting to tackle, I know that much.

“It will be good to see him and to play against him. I think it will be quite a physical game and I don’t know how we’ll feel after that.”

Prop Wellington Albert, who played six games for Rhinos in 2019, is also in the Kumuls’ 19-man squad for the game against Tonga.

Their ex-Leeds teammate Tui Lolohea could be on the opposite side, but Tonga have omitted former Rhinos centre Konrad Hurrell.