Brighton's Kumuls recruit fuels lofty club-wide goals

It won’t just be BRL ambitions being fuelled when 2022 PNG Kumuls representative Dilbert Issac makes his presence felt for Brighton Roosters next year. 

The 30-year-old former PNG Hunters prop is set to inspire the flock at the coop in 2023, bringing a new level of intensity to the top team and wowing fans of all ages in a quest to continue making the club a community hub. 

Issac has plenty to prove after missing out on the recent Rugby League World Cup despite selection in the mid-season Pacific Test against Fiji, coming to Brighton with the carrot of a Hostplus Cup train-and-trial opportunity at Redcliffe Dolphins. 

The drive and desire of a man from humble beginnings is what Roosters vice-president Tim Williams believes will be an ideal fit in head coach Andrew Wynyard’s vision to help players and coaches realise their potential. 

“He’s been through adversity himself with a few injuries and issues and fought his way back to a point where he got selected for the Kumuls and we’re hoping that experience and leadership from a different background can rub off on some of our younger guys,” Williams said.

“He understands nothing comes for free and nothing comes easy. You’ve got to work hard to get what you’ve got and what you want, so he’s the perfect role model you want around the club.” 

The club has fellow recruit, winger Jordan Millie to thank for convincing Isaac to make Brighton the scene of his attempt to forge his way back to elite level.  

“(Jordan) was friends with Dilbert and Dilbert had been staying in Australia with the Hunters and he was keen to stay in Australia and get picked up and expressed interest in joining Brighton for the year and seeing where it took him,” Williams said. 

“As soon as we met him and had a look at his credentials, through our affiliation with the Dolphins, we could send him there to train with the Cup side for the pre-season.” 

The Roosters have also recruited 21-year-old half Luke Punton, a product of the Bradford Bulls Academy in the United Kingdom, to help steer the BRL side around in 2023. 

While a climb up the ladder is one possible outcome of the Roosters’ recruitment, the club is hopeful a big name will foster excitement right down to the youngest participants. It’s how their pathway to the elite level will be lit. 

Regardless of the results to come, Williams said the focus of 2023 was continuing to do good off the field to make the coop a place the whole community wanted to gather. 

It has inspired an army of 20 people to put their hands up for organisational roles throughout the club to play their part to fundraise and grow the game, not just in their patch.  

This year the Roosters auctioned off specially-designed Indigenous Round jerseys to provide a funding boost to the fledgling Gowrie Warriors, based in the north Queensland town of Abergowrie.

The initiative helped provide the club training gear and new equipment. 

“We’ll look to do something similar next year and continue to build on fostering the game of rugby league as far and wide as we can, not only in our community,” Williams said.