JEREMIAH Simbiken hopes to leave Leigh feeling royally sick of Castleford – after he met King Charles III.
The Tigers’ Papua New Guinea connection – the back rower, Liam Horne, Judah Rimbu and Sylvester Namo – went face to face with the monarch at a charity event.
King Charles commissioned a new humanitarian aid plane which will be operated by the Mission Aviation Fellowship, the world’s largest humanitarian air operator which aids people in their homeland.
And Simbiken revealed being in the presence of royalty left him as nervous as facing the toughest Super League opponent.
He said: “I was very nervous, I didn’t know what to do!
“I was asking one of his guards, ‘What do we do? Do we bow? How do we shake his hand? What do we say to him?'
“They said, ‘He’s a pretty laid back fella so just be yourself and you’ll get along well.’ He was too. He spoke formally but knew we were rugby players and he talked a bit about it and how he used to play rugby.
“Not many people get to meet the King and I felt really privileged doing that.”;
The Cas quartet’s royal visit was part of the Tigers’ connection with Papua New Guinea, which sees a tribute shirt to the Pacific island nation produced for Magic Weekend.
PNG High Commissioner Betty Paloso was presented with one and Simbiken, 24, may have some saving to do to ship plenty to the town of Wewak in East Sepik province.
He added ahead of facing Kumuls colleague Lachlan Lam when Cas face Leigh tonight: “So many people from back home when they saw it all got around it and were really happy the club’s doing it.
“In the week when the jersey was released, my social media went up. Loads of people messaged me asking to put a jersey aside for them.
“It’ll cost me a fortune. I have a big family, there’s a massive fan base, they love the shirt and they’ll do anything to get it – but it’s for rugby league.
“I moved to Australia when I was young but there’s a big difference. PNG’s humid and I moved to Canberra in their winter.
“I went from 30-degree days to their weather. It was a cultural shock and it took time to adjust, it was the first time I had to buy coats. I was just used to walking around in t-shirts, if not worse!”;
