Wellington Albert

Wellington Albert (born 3 September 1994) is a Papua New Guinean professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Featherstone Rovers in the RFL Championship and Papua New Guinea at international level.

He previously played for the London Broncos, Keighley Cougars, Featherstone Rovers, Leeds Rhinos, North Wales Crusaders and the Widnes Vikings.

Background
Albert was born in Mendi, Southern Highlands in Papua New Guinea. He is the elder brother of former PNG international Stanton Albert.

Mendi Muruks
He played for the Mendi Muruks and the Lae Snax Tigers in the PNGNRL before being selected to represent Papua New Guinea at the 2013 World Cup.

PNG Hunters
On 12 December 2013, Albert was named in the Papua New Guinea Hunters' squad for their inaugural 2014 season in the Queensland Cup, though he later signed a two-year deal with the Penrith Panthers starting in 2014. He was the second Papua New Guinean player to be signed by an NRL club without having played junior rugby league in Australia.

Albert played 5 games for the Panthers' NYC team in 2014 before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. In 2015, Albert moved into the Panthers' NSW Cup team.

Keighley Cougars
At the end of the 2020 championship Albert joined League 1 team, Keighley Cougars Prior to the start of the 2021 season he suffered a serious ankle injury in training which prevented him playing at all in 2021.

London Broncos
On 3 November 2021, it was reported that he had signed for London Broncos in the RFL Championship. On 15 October 2023, Albert played in the London Broncos upset Million Pound Game victory over Toulouse Olympique.

Featherstone Rovers
On 7 December 2023, it was reported that he had signed with Featherstone in the RFL Championship.

International career
He played for the Kumuls in their pre-tournament match against Scotland, where he scored a try. His only match of the tournament was against New Zealand on 8 November 2013, where he again scored a try.

On 2 May 2015, he represented Papua New Guinea in the 2015 Melanesian Cup against Fiji.

He is the largest man in the PNG pack standing at 196 cm tall and weighing in at 113 kilograms.

Personal life
In 2014, Albert started an economics degree at the University of Western Sydney. His brother Stanton has returned to Papua New Guinea from England to play for the PNG Hunters team in the Queensland Cup in 2018.