It has been a rapid rise to representative honours for 21-year-old Sylvester Namo. After making his debut for Lae Snax Tigers under now Kumuls coach Stanley Tepend in 2020 and joining the SP PNG HUNTERS in 2021, Namo will make his Kumuls debut in tonight’s Pacific Test against Fiji.
“It has been a really good week,” the Goroka-born, Mount Hagen-raised prop told PNG Kumuls Media. “I’ve enjoyed the boys’ company and the camp here. We’ve got to know each other well and can’t wait to play together.
“I’ve particularly got to know Justin Olam, David Mead and Lachlan Lam, and one thing I’ve learnt from them is to enjoy every moment of this experience, because it’s an opportunity that doesn’t come around often and it’s a short camp that will just come and go.”
When he runs onto the field for the PNG LNG Kumuls tonight, Namo will be thinking not only of his parents back in PNG, but also of his mother figure on the Gold Coast, where he and his Hunters teammates have been based since 2021.
“Her name is Tessa and she’s our unofficial Mum up there,” he explains. “She’s there if we need help with anything, she cooks for us sometimes, and she’s like a mother to us on the Gold Coast, our home away from home. She has travelled down to Sydney for this match, so I’m looking forward to running out in front of her.”