Stanton Albert (born 1995) is a Papua New Guinean professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who last played as a or for the

PNG Hunters The Papua New Guinea Hunters (PNG Hunters) are a professional rugby league football club based in Papua New Guinea. They were formed in December 2013 and currently compete in the Queensland Rugby League, currently called the Hostplus Cup, a seco ...

in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fo ...

and

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

at international level. He previously played for the

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at the Halton Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twenty-two ...

in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of ...

. He is the younger brother of fellow PNG player

Wellington Albert Wellington Albert (born 3 September 1994) is a Papua New Guinean professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the London Broncos in the Championship and Papua New Guinea at international level. He previously played for the North Wal ...

Early life

Albert was born in

Mendi Mendi, Papua New Guinea, is the provincial capital of the Southern Highlands Province. The Lai River flows by the town. It is served by Mendi Airport. The town falls under Mendi Urban LLG. Geography The town is located in the Mendi River ...

. Having dropped out of Mendi High School, Albert returned to high school while contracted to the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penri ...

, attending

McCarthy Catholic College, Emu Plains Penola Catholic College, Emu Plains (previously McCarthy Catholic College Emu Plains) is an Independent school, independent Roman Catholicism in Australia, Roman Catholic Mixed-sex education, co-educational Secondary school, secondary day school ...

as a 19-year old in 2015.

Playing career

Having previously played for the Hela Wigmen in the PNGNRL, Albert started his professional career with the

in 2014, during their inaugural season in the

. In June 2014, Albert represented Papua New Guinea in an under-19s

rugby league nines Rugby league nines (or simply nines) is a version of rugby league football played with nine players on each side. The game is substantially the same as full rugby league, with some differences in rules and shorter games. Nines is usually played in ...

tournament at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

; he was named player of the tournament as PNG won gold. In December 2014, Albert joined his brother Wellington at the

by a signing a two-year contract with the club. He played for their National Youth Competition team in 2015, and also played in their

New South Wales Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

team. Albert returned to the Hunters in 2017, and was a member of their grand final winning team. He played against his former club, the Penrith Panthers, in the 2017 State Championship. In January 2018, Albert signed a two-year contract with the

in the

, once again alongside his brother Wellington. He was dual-registered to play for the

North Wales Crusaders The North Wales Crusaders ( cy, Croesgadwyr Gogledd Cymru Rygbi'r Gynghrair) is a professional rugby league club based in Colwyn Bay, Wales. They are the successors to the former Super League club Crusaders Rugby League. Crusaders compete in Be ...

in the third-tier League 1 competition, where he played 4 matches. Albert made his first and only appearance for Widnes Vikings in their

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves a ...

match against League 1 side the

Coventry Bears The Midlands Hurricanes are a semi-professional rugby league club jointly based in Birmingham and Coventry, West Midlands, England. They were founded as the Coventry Bears in 1998 and entered the third tier of the British rugby league system, ...

. Albert was released by Widnes in May 2018 on compassionate grounds, and subsequently rejoined the PNG Hunters.

References

External links

NRL profile2017 RLWC profileSL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albert, Stanton 1995 births Living people North Wales Crusaders players Papua New Guinea national rugby league team players Papua New Guinean expatriate rugby league players Papua New Guinean rugby league players Rugby league locks Rugby league props Widnes Vikings players People from Southern Highlands Province