South Sydney Rabbitohs flyer Alex Johnston will miss the Rugby League World Cup, with surgery required for multiple injuries.
Johnston is the game's greatest every try-scorer, and one of PNG's favourite players, but will be unable to line up for the Kumuls at the World Cup, to be hosted in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
Instead, News Corp reports he will need surgery after battling both a finger and knee injury towards the end of the NRL season.
The island nation would have picked Johnston for the tournament without a doubt, but will now likely rely on Cowboys duo Zac Laybutt and Robert Derby, Super League club-hopping veteran Nene Macdonald, Manly youngster Josh Feledy, and a host of lower grade players led by Dudley Dotoi and Robert Mathias who both played for the Kumuls at the Pacific Championships last year.
Johnston is joined on the injury shelf by Xavier Coates, with the Melbourne Storm superstar failing to play a game this year owing to multiple injury issues.
He will not be back until the start of 2027 and is out of contention for the World Cup, where the Kumuls will host both of their group stage games in Port Moresby against Lebanon on October 17 and Samoa on October 24.
Johnston is one of seven players already signed by the PNG Chiefs for their entry into the NRL in 2027, with the tournament set to take on extra significance for the nation given what is to come.
At this stage, Johnston is the only PNG-eligible player who has been signed by the Chiefs, with the other seven being Brian To'o, Zac Lomax, Joseph Manu, Matty Lees, Connor Watson, and Jarome Luai who became Chief number one back in April.
It was tipped Coates could have joined him after re-signing with the Storm to the end of 2027, but the Chiefs have since signed a number of backline players and that now looks an unlikely scenario.
