Paiyo was named in the two-match test series against New Zealand in 1994 but was unable to take part as he was on a six-month national emergency deployment with 15 of his fellow Correctional Services officers and other police and defence force personnel, due to the eruption of two volcanos on the island of Rabaul.
Elias Paiyo's first Rugby League International Federation sanctioned PNG representative game was on 10 October 1995 against Tonga in Hull.
The team included Bruce Mamando, David Westley, Marcus Bai, John Okul and Stanley Gene.
That record stood for 22 years until it was broken by Rhyse Martin in 2017 in a World Cup match against Wales played in Port Moresby.
After solid World Cup performances, Paiyo and fellow Kumul, Bruce Mamando was signed to the inaugural Adelaide Rams team, a new club in the Australian Super League competition.
In 1996, Elias Paiyo captained the PNG team in the Super League World Nines held at Suva in Fiji.
The three professional players, Bruce Mamando, David Westley and Paiyo, excluded themselves from receiving any of the $15,000 in prize money, choosing to share it amongst the rest of the team.
When Paiyo finally fronted in 1997, after the Super League/ARL war, for the Adelaide Rams team he found that the Club had signed three experienced Hooker/Halves including Kerrod Walters, Steve Stone and Dean Schifilliti.