The Kumul King: Stanley Gene | By Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Rugby League World For almost two decades Stanley Gene has been one of the most loved and recogniable figures in Brithish Rugby League. In the first of a two-part interview, Jamie Jones-Buchanan sits down with the PNG Legend Catching up with Stanley Gene proved to be almost as hard as the rugby world getting his real age out of him. I finally managed to track him down at the Hessle Village Hotel located just after the Humber Bridge. Getting hold of him proved to be difficult because for the previous few days he was tied down with welcoming Gateshead Thunders latest signings - Gary Lo, Jason Tali, Mark Mexico and Charlie Wabo, four talented PNG Kumuls hoping to make the most of an opportunity in the UK. I had heard a lot about Stanley, though I had only previously met him in battle, trying to tame the powerful little rock that he is. Within five minutes of buying him a caramel latte, it was like we had known each other for years as he told me about his love of coaching and later the charity work he does for his fellow tribesmen in his native Papua New Guinea. Gene has dazzled the English leagues since he first arrived here in 1995 unable to speak a word of English, but he is the best known for his time as a red robin in East Hull, a club that according to his book Daydream Believer became his adopted tribe . Since his retirement from playing in 2010 he has taken up various coaching roles including being a big part of the Hull KR youth development staff, but he has recently taken the head coaching role at Gateshead Thunder on a permanent basis. My first interest however was that Stanley Gene has always been associated with folklore and legend about his age and his healing powers. Being a man of many knee operations myself he has been an inspiration for me getting back on the field early, because I heard he once went back playing after three days when he was told it should be three weeks. Fearing he doubled up as the local witch doctor back home, I asked him if there was any truth to the stories and where they had originated. In 2006 I moved from Huddersfield to Bradford because Bradford offered me a longer contract - two years with a third option, and I was surprised because I was getting old. I was really looking forward to it and they had just won the title and were due to play Wests Tigers in the World Club challenge. The surgeon did a clean out on my knee and said it would be six weeks rest, but I came and sat down with (Bulls Coach) Brian Noble in the office and I told him that this game might never come back and that I wanted to play. He asked how many days has it been? I said three! On the night of the game it would be eight days. Brian said, I know youre a tough kid and if its inside of you and your mentally, okay I will pick you. It didnt hurt on the night but the next two weeks it was mad - its killing me right now, ha! PLAYING COMEBACK? I retired at a time when Id had enough. I never miss it but the time it winds me up is when I coach the kids who are talented and you know they can do it but they dont. That makes me mad. I have told the Gateshead boss before that I might turn out for them next year. I said to the CEO that all the clubs that I have been at I have played, but I signed for Gateshead Thunder as a player in 2000 and never put on a shirt because they merged with Hull. So, I might put a Gateshead shirt for once next year. I would love to stay with Gateshead. In 1996, I came to Hull KR and we got promoted from the second division to the first. Now, as a coach, I would like to see Gateshead Thunder go through the same process and get into Super League. I would like to see Gateshead get up there one day and personally for myself as a coach I have loads of things that I have looked at to improve. Theres a lot to change . I still now and then think I am one of the players and I need that space in between. I would love to coach PNG one day, and be involved there. Theres a lot of politics that go on but I will keep my head down, work hard and try to be one of the best coaches here. I am privileged and pleased to have come from my country, come here and done my bit as a player. English is probably my fourth language, as PNG has 700 plus languages! I have been here years and I am still learning as a head coach, to look after 30 plus players and staff at Gateshead. With the help of our CEO Keith Christie, I am humbled and just want the desire to carry on. There isnt any other country in the world that can boast Rugby League as its national game, as PNG can. Having played with Marcus Bai and against both Adrian Lam and Stanley Gene Im actually left scratching my head as to why the PNG population isnt much higher in Super League and NRL. I know theres a geographical obstacle when it comes to signing players from the other side of the world on part-time terms, but given the opportunities it offers those boys in a country where League is number one, I am surprised more people have not ventured into PNG and the South Pacific islands to create sustainable pathways for their best players. It would without doubt serve to improve the international game and the quality of players we have over here. Money has always been a problem over here but like so many people who come to work in the UK these boys give real value to the opportunity. PNG POLITICS Stanley has made some top quality PNG signings for Gateshead in Gary Lo, Jason Tali, Mark Mexico and Charlie Wabo for next season and beyond, and it wouldnt surprise me if you see Gary Lo in particular playing Super League at some point in the future. Some of them have joined from the new PNG Hunters club that plays in the Queensland Cup, and their move to Gateshead has caused quite a stir back home. Theyre good boys but theyre not on good money I can tell you, Stanley explained. They come for less money, but it gives them that opportunity to further their career, whether in Super League or not. That shows to me and Gateshead Thunder that we are a club that brings in players and gives them an opportunity to make them better players and people. There is a stepping stone here for the PNG players to come to Thunder like I did with Hull KR. When I gave them a call and told them I was head coach and interested in them coming over, I explained to them that we werent in Super League and hopefully they could come here and help us achieve our clubs goal and even their own future goals. All four of them said yes and I sent them a contract through. The money wasnt great. At least they were on better money than I was on when I came to the Rovers in 1995,1 was getting £50 per week then. They just wanted an opportunity. The four of them were very happy but when I went home the PNG Rugby League went mad, the Sports Minister wasnt happy, especially for Gary Lo,who is currently the top PNG player. I met him face-to-face and shared our differences. I personally think the Sports Minister should concentrate more on politics and all of the sports in the country, not just Rugby League. He should leave the rugby to people who know the game and play the game inside out. All the players back home have my respect and have known over the last 12 years I have brought local players in and looked after them. Ive heard that Gary Lo was going to have trials with Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys, which was promised by the PNG Hunters management. To this day, I havent seen anything in black and white as confirmation. Gateshead Thunder coaches an make him a better player In the next two or three years, I could rate him like Marcus Bai. Gary Lo and all of the other PNG Hunters were promised when they went into camp full-time, that education was going to be a part of the contract. But all this year, there was nothing and Gary wasted a year. Gateshead Thunder are going to provide education for him and the other three if they want to do any courses, because Rugby League is a short-term career. Were looking at life after rugby for these players. HUNTING PROBLEMS PNG Hunters want to give the best to the players that they have in camp, but how could they live on K600 per fortnight, which is about £120? A win bonus of K1000, which is about £250, what if they dont win in a month? They cant live on K600 alone. Moresby is a very expensive city. If they want to take care of the boys , pay them better, provide or a pathway for employment. I have seen my past peers and the players that I played with, and the young ones which are now playing, unemployed, not educated and broken families. I question myself - what is life after rugby? The government and all of the other companies have invested millions into Rugby League with the Team Kumuls Programme and the PNG Hunters - but where has it all gone? You cant just pay the big CEOs and coaches, its the players that you need to make happy, when theyre happy they play. They put their bodies on the line week- in, week-out. I said to the Sports Minister when I met him, Out of all of us, me and Marcus (Bai) are the very lucky ones who have made a living out of it in the last 30 years. Rugby League didnt give them a job or a future, but what I am trying to do is give the boys an opportunity to make a living in England. Hopefully, they can look after their families when they finish their career. With the Hunters players in camp full-time, the management can sort out coaching courses - Level One , Level Two and Three, so that these boys , who play at the highest level can become idols in their community and in the country. Theyre the ones who play at the highest level, then when they finish playing they go coach their local clubs. As they get older they get older they can become development officers in schools instead of paying overseas coaches and trainers and ex- players thousands of kina to come and do what these boys could do better as a full-time job. Its common sense . KUMULS DECLINE I must confess my ignorance when it comes to the PNG Hunters . A bit like Catalans playing in the Super League or New Zealand Warriors competing in the NRL , the PNG Hunters play in the Queensland Cup, which is essentially the second grade in Australia in that state. Its fantastic opportunity for PNG to have players aspire to play in the Australian shop window and thinking ahead maybe even the NRL once PNG develops as a Rugby League nation. Stanley had already given it much thought and whilst it may not seem like something to put on the urgent agenda on this side of the world, the quicker we can get hungry countries like PNG growing the more we can learn for our home nations. There are a lot of politics in PNG Rugby League right now, he said . We had a franchise called the PNG NRL Bid, which was to bid for a PNG team to play in the NRL , but it folded shortly after. The next bid to get a NRL team was the PNG Hunters . I dont know what all the fuss is about with the Hunters because a couple of years ago, we had our city team called Port Moresby Vipers who were playing in the Queensland Cup . There was no big money invested in the Vipers and they werent training full-time . The players werent getting good money, but they played with a lot of passion and pride like the PNG Kumuls players in the 80s and 90s. We put the PNG Shirts on with a lot of pride for the country and put our body on the line. Sometimes I question myself as a coach, now in England, that with all of the good coaching and sports science and training facilities- why dont we succeed better than our past peers? Those players with no good structure or full-time training put PNG on the map and fought in the world rankings. Why now when we have all the money invested by big companies and governments, are we falling away? It is very disappointing for PNG to be now ranked 11th, and you look at teams like Samoa, Fiji, Tonga,France etc who are now above us. The government gave out K20million over five years. Im sure it is a lot of money and hopefully it is put to the right use. This year the Hunters did okay, but if you look at the Queensland Cup its sort of a part- time competition where players work and train at night. With PNG Hunters, they are full-time and are the current international players. BRANCHING OUT Theyre all based in a camp with a gym so if you have this team everyday in your hands, they should better themselves . Its disappointing that the national team didnt perform well against Tonga and Australia, when you have the same players playing for the PNG Hunters who are playing for the country. They should improve as a team and individually. For me, I travelled all of the way from England to watch them play against Tonga and was very disappointed with there performance - and the crowd attendance. You can see their body mass and physique hasnt changed with there weights and fitness but in my time we didnt what know weights were. The basics have not been implemented on them. Another of my ideas five or six years ago was that every year PNGRFL should help sponsor four or five players at the end of every test match, to come and play in England or Australia, whether it be first or second division in England or the NSW Cup or Queensland Cup in Australia. These players will market themselves to play NRL or Super League . Maybe at the last World Cup, PNGRFL could have had a headache selecting the squad because of the players playing around the world. Thirty percent of the money they are getting from the government and the companies would go towards sponsoring the top players to go abroad and play, and 60/70 percent of that to develop the game back home. For example if a kid comes to play for Gateshead, the PNGRFL should say, we will pay for the accommodation and for flights, and look after them that way. If they come here and play for say Barrow, Batley or Dewsbury, six years from now out of say 20 players , probably 10 would be playing Super League or NRL . When the PNG coach wants to go in and select the players you have all that fruit to pick from. They experience different players and lifestyles and coaching by very good coaches, and bring that to the PNG team. Then, youre not wasting money investing it on consultants with their briefcases, who are on thousands of Kina and not doing enough. It winds me up but all I do is help the local kids back home and I have done for 12 years now. I dont get paid for doing it- its my own money and my own time, I just want to give them an opportunity . Now we have all the best coaches and full-time players getting paid and training almost full-time, yet we have dropped to 11th in the world rankings. Thats leaves me questioning myself. I believe in better coaches and structure but back in my day they played with pride and passion- now we dont have that and thats what I have to mix, to bring the best out of the boys the traditional way and mix it with the sports science . Its clearly a topic that Stanley had a huge amount of passion for and one he will continue to pursue in part two of this interview next issue, when we hear about how his remarkable foundation has begun to provide water, power and libraries for local communities in Papua New Guinea. The foundation uses the motto reaching the unrechable. Its virtually a reflection of Stanleys whole life. Read Part two next issue - on sale from Friday 23rd January 2015
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 09:21:51 +0000
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