Probably not an easy way to verify this, but I’m hoping there’s some PnG history sleuths who might be able to answer: Is Jackson Christian the player with most games played in PNG history?
Unless I’m mistaken, he’s been a starter for the last four years. We played 13 (2021), 16 (2022), 16 (2023), and will have at least 14 this year. I know he missed the Port Arthur game in 2023. There may be some other games where he was injured and didn’t play. But, it’s pretty staggering to think about how many more played games he’s had than most players. A lot of guys get 10 whole games for their whole high school varsity career. He’s pushing around 59 (depending on what games he’s missed). For some sense of the scale, I think he was the only player from either Texas High or PNG who played in both the 2021 and 2024 games.
In summary, is anyone aware of the following? (1) what his actual games played number is; and (2) if there has ever been another png player to play so many or more games? I’m not sure it’s possible anyone has matched his number. The other long stretch we had with deep playoff runs was from 1974-1977 and we played a total of 58 games in that stretch. We’re about to play our 59th game in this 2021-2024 stretch. There could theoretically be a freshman starter from the 1974-1977 who played in all four years and had 58 games under his belt. If Jackson missed a few games, he won’t be quite at 59 games played (depending on how you count games where he’s on the sideline injured). I know he missed last year’s Port Arthur game.
Regardless of where he actually falls in the list, it’s clear he’s one of the best and most experienced players in PNG history. His leadership really showed last week.