Home alone: Olam clone overcomes away game ban to earn PNG call-up

Kumuls centre Robert Mathias was on the verge of quitting the game just months ago as he struggled with health and visa issues that restricted him to only playing home matches in PNG.

Now Mathias, who has been compared to PNG legend Justin Olam, is set to complete a rapid rise from Digicel ExxonMobil Cup at the start of the season to the Kumuls after receiving a late call up from coach Jason Demetriou.

Mathias, who began the year with Lae Snax Tigers before joining the Hunters on a train and trial deal, was packing to return to his home village in Mount Hagen after last Sunday’s PM’s XIII game when told he would replace the injured Alex Max.

I am the first one in my village to make it in the Kumuls. That means a lot to me.

Robert Mathias

Given only a few hours to get to Port Moresby airport, Mathias will now make his Test debut alongside friend and mentor Rodrick Tai, who he went to university with at Lae while completing a Bachelor of Business in Accounting degree.  

The Pacific Championships clash with Fiji at Suva’s HFC Stadium will cap a remarkable season for Mathias, who became ill after signing with the Hunters and was unable to get a visa for travel to Hostplus Cup matches in Queensland.

Forced to train alone while his team-mates were playing away games, Mathias contemplated quitting but is glad he stuck it out as he has played finals with the Hunters, represented the PNG PM’s XIII and will now debut for the Kumuls.

“It's not been a good year for me,” Mathias told NRL.com. “Basically, I was sick during the pre-season, and I didn't play the trials.

“Then, because of my visa, I didn't play away games. I stayed back in Moresby and trained. I only played home games for the Hunters.

“My mind was filled with a lot of thoughts. I thought of giving up, but I kept on playing and continued training and finally I got a chance to play in the finals.

“My visa was approved so I went to play in two finals away from home [with the Hunters]. The feeling when my visa came through and I was able to play was unreal. I can’t explain it.”

Mathias played in last Sunday’s 42-20 loss to the Australian Prime Minister’s XIII at Santos Stadium but wasn’t initially selected in the Kumuls squad for the Pacific Championships.

However, he received a late-night phone call from Demetrious after Alex Max broke his hand scoring a try and flew out just hours later to join the squad already in Suva preparing for the Test against the Bati.

“I was packing up late in the evening and then the coach called me and said I needed to come to Fiji,” Mathias said.

“I got the phone call about 10pm. I was thinking of leaving then for my home village in the Highlands.

“Things are happening so fast, I give thanks to the good Lord above. I was with Lae Snax Tigers for two years and then this year, when I finished my study, I got a training trial with the PNG Hunters, and then I was selected into the squad.”

Growing up in Kuni Village in Hagen Central, Mathias did not play rugby league at school but took up the sport in Lae as a way to pay for his university fees.

He is following the same pathway as Olam and Tai, who now plays in Super League under Sam Burgess at Warrington.

“Rodrick Tai has always been a big help for me,” he said. “We both came from the same place in Mount Hagen. We both went to the same school.

"I have always seen him as a role model with how he has juggled studies and football.

“When I went to the University of Technology at Lae, that's when I saw that footy was a good future, and I could take both footy and studies together.

“During my second year, I was selected into the Digicel Cup competition with Lae Snax Tigers.”

The pair are now set to be centre partners for the Kumuls against the Bati in a match likely to have an influence on which nation qualifies for the promotion-relegation play-off against the third placed Pacific Cup team on November 10.

“When I started playing footy my sole dream was that one day I would put on these colours,” Mathias said.

“It is a big thing. My family only want me to play one Test - no-one in my community has done it. I am the first one in my village to make it in the Kumuls. That means a lot to me.”