WILLIE Minoga will bring excitement and experience in equal measure when he links up with Barrow Raiders for the 2019 Betfred Championship season, according to rugby director Andy Gaffney.

Minoga has become the third Papua New Guinea international to agree terms with the Raiders for next season, and partly fills the void left by the departures of Alec Susino and Joe Bullock.

Nicknamed ‘The Freight Train’, the 31-year-old will complement the signing of experienced forward Gareth Hock, along with retention of props Tom Walker and Glenn Riley.

And Gaffney is enthused by what he believes Minoga will add to the Barrow squad.

“He’s an international prop forward and he comes with the highest reputation, and I think he’s destined to excite the Barrow public with the way he plays,” said Gaffney.

“We had a talk with Cresta (Raiders head coach Paul Crarey) and he sees Willie as an importance piece to replace Joe Bullock and Alec Susino.

“With Gareth Hock coming in as well, I think he’s a really good signing for us.

“He’ll definitely make some breaks and break the line. He’s got an offload as well and now we’ve put these players in place, the rest of the back-line can follow on the shoulder of these players because we will get breaks this year. We just have to make sure the team is right to support them.”

Minoga has experience of playing in Australia’s Queensland Cup for both the PNG Hunters and Townsville Blackhawks, including scoring the match-winning try for the Hunters in the competition’s 2017 Grand Final.

He was part of the Kumuls’ squad for the Rugby League World Cup that year too, featuring in the group stages against Wales and Ireland, and against England in the quarter-finals.

He will link up with fellow Papua New Guineans Stargroth Amean and Wartovo Puara Jr at the Raiders, with the duo having already agreed to sign for the club last month.

The trio are set to link up with their new team-mates after the rest of the squad have returned to pre-season training this Saturday and Gaffney expects them all being together to help the process of settling into their new surroundings.

“It’s quite good to have three of them, especially with them coming over together and training together,” said Gaffney.

“They’ll soon be mixing with our lads and it will be better going forward, really.

“They all come really fit and ready to go, so it should be good and it’s quite exciting to have the front-line we have got.”