James Segeyaro says the honour of representing Papua New Guinea is equivalent to pulling on the maroon of Queensland as the Kumuls dream of pulling off a boilover against Samoa in Saturday’s Pacific rugby league Test.
For years, the Brisbane hooker vowed never to turn out for the Kumuls again over what he described as disrespect shown to his father by PNG league officials.
He returned to the fold to represent his country of birth during the 2017 World Cup before being handed the captaincy last year.
The 28-year-old describes his Kumuls teammates as his “brothers” and representing his culture as an “emotional” experience.
The 2014 Dally M hooker of the year has made it well known of his desire to play State of Origin one day but says the he holds the Kumuls’ jersey in just as high a regard.
“This equals playing for the Maroons – representing my culture,” Segeyaro said.
“This is where I belong and this is where my blood lies. The jersey is more than just a jersey. It’s my skin.
“To do it with your countrymen, you love each other and you’d do anything for each other. You’d go to battle for each other.
“It’s a massive honour for me. A couple of years back, I wasn’t going to play for them.
“Now I have the chance to be captain.”
Pressed on what he would do if he was forced to choose between the Maroons and Kumuls and called into Queensland Origin camp, Segeyaro said: “I can’t answer that, man. That’s a headache I haven’t had yet. I don’t know.”
Segeyaro feels like he has been given a new lease on life after landing at the Broncos, the club he had grown up supporting, after salary cap problems had scuppered a deal with Cronulla.
He made a barnstorming debut, scoring the winning try in the Broncos’ round-10 win over the Sydney Roosters before copping a one-week suspension for low-range drink-driving.
“I’m just very apologetic and doing everything in my power to make up for that,” Segeyaro said.
The Kumuls will start as $6.50 outsiders against Toa Samoa at Sydney’s Leichhardt Oval, but Segeyaro says he and his teammates are driven to do the rugby league-mad nation proud.
Asked about how big the game would be back home and how many of the country’s eight-million population would be watching, he said: “Probably all of them.
“On two or three teles. You can see how much they love rugby league – that’s my country.”