Dewsbury give up on PNG star

Dewsbury have been forced to give up in their pursuit of a Papua New Guinea World Cup star.

The unnamed centre had problems obtaining a visa, and as such the Rams have pulled out of the signing, instead focusing their attention on an unnamed UK-based centre with Super League appearance.

In a statement on their official website, the club said: “Dewsbury Rams plan to sign an overseas centre for 2014 have unfortunately fallen through despite all the club’s best efforts to make things happen. 

“The player has to undertake and pass an English test prior to be granted the Visa but unfortunately this raised a number of issues that would have delayed the player’s arrival until after the start of the season which was far from ideal since he would also have had to undergo an equivalent pre-season before he could be considered for selection. 

“Unfortunately PNG players do seem to suffer more than most from Visa regulations and although the player met all the RFL criteria the deal couldn’t be completed.

“There is talk of the Visa regulations for PNG professional sports players being revised to enable more of them to fulfil their potential on a higher stage than they can do so at the moment but unfortunately this doesn’t help either the club or the player in this instance.”

Hull KR have also experienced problems in gaining visas for PNG pair Francis Paniu and Enoch Maki, who they signed during the World Cup, when the Kumuls were based in Hull.

But there is good news at least for one Papua New Guinea star – Larsen Marabe has secured his visa to enable him to play in the Championship for Whitehaven in 2014, where he will line-up alongside international team-mate Jessie-Joe Nandye.