Hailing from Bougainville, Beno signed with the Brisbane Lions in 2010 as an International Scholarship player after being earmarked as a promising talent from his junior days.
Earlier this year, he once again caught the eye of talent scouts while playing for ‘The World’ at the U16 NAB AFL National Championships, and is currently in Sydney representing PNG in the International Cup.
As it would turn out, the Lions Reserves are also scheduled to play their final NEAFL match for 2011 this Saturday against Sydney in Blacktown.
The NEAFL match will be the showcase event surrounding a range of International Cup matches and Beno has been invited to don the maroon, blue and gold for the first official time as a top-up player with the Reserves.
The 17 year-old will now line up alongside fellow PNG International Scholarship Player Don Barry in his maiden appearance for the Lions.
Lions Reserves Coach Nathan Clarke said he is excited about welcoming Beno and some of his PNG team-mates into the fold this weekend.
“I’ve got a good relationship with Mt Gravatt Coach David Lake and it just so happens he is also coaching PNG’s International Cup team,” Clarke said.
“When I rang him up, he said we should consider using some of the PNG boys as top-up players, and considering Brendan Beno is already signed with the Club, it absolutely made sense.”
“So Brendan won’t play with PNG on Saturday, he’ll play with us instead. But PNG have a squad of about 30 players so will be able to cover his absence.”
“We’re really looking forward to heading down there - particularly considering we’ll have the support of 40-odd PNG boys,” he said.
AFL Development Officer for the South Pacific Andrew Cadzow believes Beno has a genuine future in the game.
"He's a very good small forward, very smart on the field, a bit of a Stephen Milne-type player but with better hands. He's very elusive and always kicks goals off both left and right feet,” Cadzow said.
“We saw him playing in a representative carnival as an 11 year-old, but we weren't sure of his age so he played in our PNG under-14 side for four years.
"Now he's full time at Port Moresby at the PNG Academy. The Brisbane Lions saw him 18 months ago and signed him up. He'll move to Brisbane next year, I'd imagine.”
“I think he's got a genuine future. His endurance is very good at this age and Brisbane are pretty excited about him. He'll be there working hard next year."
There are 18 men's teams competing for the International Cup, with Tonga, France, Fiji and Timor-Leste (East Timor) all joining the competition for the first time. Among the 18 teams is the Peace Team, consisting of Israelis and Palestinians. Also for the first time, five women's teams are playing, from Canada, PNG, Ireland, USA and a combined indigenous/multicultural team from Australia.
