Kalo ruled out for rest of season

PAPUA New Guinea Hunters middle forward Seal Kalo has been ruled out for the rest of Hostplus Cup season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his knee.
Kalo, who made 17 appearances for the Hunters after making his debut in mid-2023 season, suffered the injury in round 11 match against Mackay Cutters on May 26.
The 2023 Digicel ExxonMobil Cup premiership winner with Enga Mioks was flown to Brisbane, Australia, over the weekend for specialist medical attention.
Kalo underwent surgery last Tuesday to start his recovery process.
Hunters media revealed that Kalo had one of Australia’s best known knee surgeons who operated him. The same doctor worked on fellow Hunters front-rower Epel Kapinias who suffered season-ending knee injury early in the year.
Kalo had an outstanding year in 2023 where he not only broke into the Hostplus Cup, but made his Prime Minister’s 13 debut for PNG in the match against Australia that September.
Though Kalo missed couple of matches in 2024, he played seven games and had been one of the top metre-gainers for the SP Brewery-sponsored side.
Losing Kalo and Kapinias earlier, the front-rowers next in line such as young Weiyah Koi, Koso Bandi, Manisa Kai and Anthony Worot would look to fill the void and maintain consistency in the middle.