Quote: Call Me God "Without a shadow of a doubt I am not in agreement with the stereotype but this is the reality of players plucked from Port Moresby and dropped into the NSW limelight....I believe 7 of the first success hunters were picked up by clubs (panthers took 3 IIRC)....all were dropped back inside 7 months with "training ethic" cited as a great reason.
Sir Stanley of Hull was a true exception to the rule!'"
Could it be age rather than culture? It being more difficult to adapt for players stepping up at ~23/24 than having been involved with an NRL team since their teens? That rather falls down, if those picked up were 19-21.
When Stanley Gene came across in the mid-90s, Rovers were part-time and outside of SL so in fairness the learning curve was likely less steep - rugby wise at least. His autobiography is an interesting study in culture shock and adjustment. Arriving in winter, he was stunned to see a blighted country in which all the trees were ‘dead’, and admired the bravery of a people facing such devastation so calmly.