Fijian legend Petero Civoniceva has admitted that the admission of a Fiji side into the New South Wales Cup can ultimately lead to the island nation having full representation in the NRL.
It was revealed yesterday that Fiji will have a Suva-based side in the second-tier of Australian Rugby League from 2016, and the former Fiji captain admits it is hopefully a stepping stone to getting a side in the top division of Australia one day, with talks already ongoing about it happening.
“Most definitely that is a goal,” Civoniceva said. “Everyone is prepared to take small steps first but no doubt one day into the future it would be wonderful if the island nations were represented in the NRL.
“What we are proposing is to have a fully professional team preparing and playing out of Fiji, and obviously commuting every second week to Sydney. This is such a huge step for Fiji sport so we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but if we can create this stepping stone who knows where it will lead.”
