Papua New Guinea stalwart Rhyse Martin believes the time Gairo Voro has spent at London Broncos so far has aided the young Kumuls star both on and off the field.

Half-back Voro earned his first two Kumuls caps this time last year, but at that stage, had never played first-grade rugby league at club level.

12 months on, having made the move to London alongside head coach Jason Demetriou, the 22-year-old is now shining in the World Cup: following on from a campaign which saw him named the Championship Player of the Year.

Elder statesman Martin has made 22 appearances on the international stage to date and will retire once PNG’s World Cup campaign concludes, and is delighted to see the growth in Voro.

‘I think going over to London has given him a bit more confidence… that has definitely helped him coming into this tournament’

Voro made his Queensland Cup debut for PNG Hunters in 2024, and last year, scored seven tries in 19 appearances in the second-grade competition Down Under.

His arrival at London coincided with a number of Kumuls making the move to Plough Lane to join Demetriou, who is in charge of both PNG and the Broncos.

Speaking after Voro delivered a Player of the Match display in PNG’s opening World Cup win against Lebanon in Port Moresby, back-rower Martin said: “I think going over to London has given him a bit more confidence.

“Working under JD (Jason Demetriou), that has definitely helped him coming into this tournament.

“Last year, he was a bit quiet. But he’s come in and he’s a bit more confident around the team (this year).”

Voro scored 39 tries and kicked 57 goals across all competitions in 32 appearances for London this term en-route to a treble: lifting the 1895 Cup and Championship League Leaders’ Shield before beating Doncaster in the Grand Final.

While the Broncos wait to discover whether they will be promoted into Super League for 2027, the young playmaker is impressing on the biggest international stage of them all.

As PNG beat Lebanon 42-18, he grabbed the second international try of his career in just his third Kumuls appearance – with that the crowning moment of a scintillating individual performance.

Martin – who will become the Football Operations Manager of new NRL franchise PNG Chiefs once he hangs up his boots this autumn – added: “He (Voro) did some really good things today, he was on the front foot early.

“We need to keep focusing on our game plan and our strengths, and that’s going through the middle. It will open up for him then later on in the games.

“He did well, he did some things we all get excited to see. As a team, what we want to do is play a power game, play through the middle, and that will only help to bring those boys on.”