After a tour of Papua New Guinea as part of the NSW under 16s Young Achievers side Malak Afuamua has experienced something he will never forget.
After having to make the “no-brainer” choice between playing in the Group 20 under 18s for Darlington Point-Coleambally or head off to PNG, it would appear that the young forward made the right choice.
Afuamua said he felt he played alright during the two games.
“I went pretty well I thought,” he said.
"I played in the second row during the first game and moved into the third row for the second and felt good about my performance.”
As a part of the tour the young DPC player was able to take part in the curtain-raiser to the Australia PMXIII v PNG game that was played at Port Moresby.
“That was a pretty amazing experience,” he said
“I think by the end of the game we had about 4000 people watching us play.”
Afuamua was surprised by the reception that they got not just at the big game, but also during the one-off park game they played beforehand.
“The ground wasn’t in the greatest condition with some holes in the playing surface,” he said.
“But I was pretty nervous playing in that game just because of the amount of kids that were there watching us play.
“They were lined from sideline to sideline and we just had people coming up to us and meeting us when we were out in public.”
We got to meet the Australian side before they played the PNG. That was a great experience to meet those blokes.
- Malek Afuamua
One of the highlights on the trip for the youngster was meeting some international stars.
“We got to meet the Australian side before they played the PNG,” he said.
“That was a great experience to meet those blokes.
“The highlight from that was meeting Aaron Woods, who is someone I look up to, and he was a really great guy and nice as well.”
Next up for the talented youngster is a trip back up to Sydney to take part in the under 16s Harmony Cup indigenous team camp.
Afuamua will then return to Sydney later in the month to take part in a under 17s indigenous camp that will last for five days.
That will wrap up a successful season for the talented youngster, who played almost every game for DPC during the year in both 16s.
He also made a number of appearances in the Roosters’ under-18s side when called upon.
