'I'm ready to go': Glenn set to end retirement for Aitu

Former Broncos captain Alex Glenn is set to come out of retirement to play for Cook Islands against Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby on Sunday.

Glenn is a member of Karmichael Hunt’s coaching staff, but Cook Islands applied for him to be added to their squad and he has been cleared to play after undergoing a series of tests last week.

The 36-year-old retired at the end of the 2021 season after 285 NRL matches for Brisbane, 12 Tests for New Zealand and two for the Cook Islands.

However, Glenn has remained fit and recently played in a tournament on the Gold Coast involving Cook Islands teams from NSW, Queensland and the Pacific nation.

“I'm an assistant coach but if needed, I'm ready to lace the boots up,” Glenn said.

“I obviously retired three years ago, but in that three years, I've had a lot of charity games. I played in the Cook Islands tri-series about a month and a half ago, so if the time came and they said I need to lace the boots up, I'm ready to go.”

Glenn has been wearing a GPS monitor while training with the Cook Islands team as if he is going to play and was named on the interchange when the Aitu squad was trimmed to 19 players on Saturday.

Even if the Aitu beat Papua New Guinea, they need to overcome a 76-point differential with Fiji to win the Pacific Bowl, but Glenn said the main focus was preparing for next year’s World Series and the 2026 World Cup, if they qualify.

“For me and Karmichael, it's about developing and trying to put Cook Islands on the map ahead of the World Cup in 2026. That's our focus,” he said.

“We want to bring the old in with the new and really tailor them, so that we're flying in 2026.”

As the only Pacific team to miss the quarter-finals of the last World Cup in 2022, Cook Islands need to qualify for RLWC2026 through the 2025 World Series, which will also be contested by France (Europe), Jamaica (Americas) and South Africa (Middle East Africa).

The top two teams will join Australia, England, Fiji, Lebanon, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga at the World Cup to be played in Australia and Papua New Guinea at the end of the 2026 season.

“For me, it's about passing the torch onto the next generation,” Glenn said.

“If you look at our team, we've got a lot of NRL talent and ex-NRL talent as well, so for us it’s about trying to familiarise ourselves with how each other plays.”

Hunt blooded four rookies in last weekend’s 56-6 loss to Fiji, including centre Delahia Wigmore, who played Jersey Flegg for the Raiders this year.

Souths Logan Magpies winger Rixson Andrews, Western Clydesdales fullback Esom Ioka and North Sydney Bears hooker Rua Ngatikaura.

Andrews is set to be replaced in the starting line-up by Dolphins utility Mason Teague.