More good news from Fiji

[Futtocks]

 

[The Rocket]

Fiji Silktails return to NSW rugby league - NRL

35 players plus coach Wes Naiqama have completed their 2 week quarantine in Sydney Hotel and will now begin preparations for this years Ron Massey Cup, the level below Canterbury Cup.

Silktails Club Chairman Petero Civoniceva said the club would be making some big announcements in the next couple of weeks including a feeder club arrangement with an NRL club.

Civoniceva said the potential of Rugby League in Fiji was " huge". 

There is a link to the Silktails Facebook and Instagram accounts in the above post.

[unapologetic pedant]

12 hours ago, The Rocket said:

Silktails Club Chairman Petero Civoniceva said the club would be making some big announcements in the next couple of weeks including a feeder club arrangement with an NRL club.

That announcement will be particularly interesting. Intuition would suggest it will be a club with a weaker junior league. So, Roosters, Sea-Eagles, Dragons, maybe even Raiders.

Whoever it is, I predict there will be players who start the season as a Silktail, and make their NRL debut before it finishes. Maybe not this year, but in due course.

[The Rocket]

The next Latrell? Sydney club sign highly-touted Fijian code hopper | Zero Tackle

The good news coming out of Fiji is getting a bit out of hand and I know a lot of people aren`t big on code-hoppers but god-dammit I still get a thrill when I read about a big one. This kid sounds like the goods. I really like the quote it would be like union signing Brad Fittler as a teenager.

The Roosters seem to have a knack for signing the next-big-thing and one day we will be big enough so that they won`t want to leave.

Edited February 25, 2021 by The Rocket

[Cumbrian Mackem]

5 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

That announcement will be particularly interesting. Intuition would suggest it will be a club with a weaker junior league. So, Roosters, Sea-Eagles, Dragons, maybe even Raiders.

Whoever it is, I predict there will be players who start the season as a Silktail, and make their NRL debut before it finishes. Maybe not this year, but in due course.

It would be foolish not to make the linkup. If I was in charge of an NRL club I’d be moving heaven and earth in order to make that partnership.

Is there a limit for the number of feeder clubs each NRL club can partner up with?

[Cumbrian Mackem]

18 hours ago, The Rocket said:

Fiji Silktails return to NSW rugby league - NRL

35 players plus coach Wes Naiqama have completed their 2 week quarantine in Sydney Hotel and will now begin preparations for this years Ron Massey Cup, the level below Canterbury Cup.

Silktails Club Chairman Petero Civoniceva said the club would be making some big announcements in the next couple of weeks including a feeder club arrangement with an NRL club.

Civoniceva said the potential of Rugby League in Fiji was " huge". 

There is a link to the Silktails Facebook and Instagram accounts in the above post.

We shouldn’t live in the past or say “what if” but imagine how healthy the NRL and Fiji RL and RL in general would be today if all this was done 15-20 years ago?

[Cumbrian Mackem]

1 hour ago, The Rocket said:

The next Latrell? Sydney club sign highly-touted Fijian code hopper | Zero Tackle

The good news coming out of Fiji is getting a bit out of hand and I know a lot of people aren`t big on code-hoppers but god-dammit I still get a thrill when I read about a big one. This kid sounds like the goods. I really like the quote it would be like union signing Brad Fittler as a teenager.

The Roosters seem to have a knack for signing the next-big-thing and one day we will be big enough so that they won`t want to leave.

That’s the nature of the beast in modern rugby in both codes but particularly RL because we have the weaker hand.

I honestly don’t have a problem with code-hoppers especially when it comes to tier2 nations like Fiji because they need all the help they can get. The key is for a nation like Fiji is to create a decent sized player pool/depth so when players switch back to union there’s another player ready to fill the gap and soften the blow.

There’s also the risk of Australia pinching a few of the potential world class players.

[unapologetic pedant]

6 hours ago, Cumbrian Mackem said:

It would be foolish not to make the linkup. If I was in charge of an NRL club I’d be moving heaven and earth in order to make that partnership.

Is there a limit for the number of feeder clubs each NRL club can partner up with?

The Storm have Brisbane Easts and Sunshine Coast Falcons, so presumably the only limits are practical i.e. the money the NRL club pay, and the willingness of the feeder club to make their players available when needed. The article posted by The Rocket indicates it`s the Roosters whom they`ve linked with, who already have North Sydney as their feeder club.

Perhaps when we return to normal times the Silktails could partner with more than one NRL club if they have a supply of talent on the islands to replace any they lose upwards. Raiders and Sea-Eagles would be the most likely because, now I think of it, the Dragons can probably rely on the Illawarra side of their venture.

[DoubleD]

15 hours ago, The Rocket said:

The next Latrell? Sydney club sign highly-touted Fijian code hopper | Zero Tackle

The good news coming out of Fiji is getting a bit out of hand and I know a lot of people aren`t big on code-hoppers but god-dammit I still get a thrill when I read about a big one. This kid sounds like the goods. I really like the quote it would be like union signing Brad Fittler as a teenager.

The Roosters seem to have a knack for signing the next-big-thing and one day we will be big enough so that they won`t want to leave.

How's he going to fit in with Tedesco and Suaalii? 

From what i've seen of Suaalii, I expect he'll play in the centres initially

[Futtocks]

19 hours ago, The Rocket said:

The next Latrell? Sydney club sign highly-touted Fijian code hopper | Zero Tackle

The good news coming out of Fiji is getting a bit out of hand and I know a lot of people aren`t big on code-hoppers but god-dammit I still get a thrill when I read about a big one. This kid sounds like the goods. I really like the quote it would be like union signing Brad Fittler as a teenager.

The Roosters seem to have a knack for signing the next-big-thing and one day we will be big enough so that they won`t want to leave.

Looks lanky but with potential. It seems he can kick points pretty well too, which is always a useful bonus.

 

[The Rocket]

3 hours ago, DoubleD said:

How's he going to fit in with Tedesco and Suaalii? 

From what i've seen of Suaalii, I expect he'll play in the centres initially

It is getting awfully crowded over there at the Roosters with young and old `superstars` poor buggers, the superstars that is ..not the the Roosters.

I was exchanging posts on here the other day about the benefits of levelling off the comp so that lower teams at least have a chance of winning comps, it seems that a lot of people seem to think that we don`t have the equivalent of your big four over here. I reckon straight up if the cap wasn`t strictly enforced over here, teams like the Roosters wouldn`t just have 4 or 5 stars like they do but they would have 7 or 8. Broncos are another one, if they got their act together off-field they are another team who could afford to stack their team.

So the point I`m making we do have clubs that are much wealthier than the rest, you could probably throw in Storm there now as well, but fortunately they generally have to keep shedding stars which in turn brings them back to the pack, otherwise we would end up with a situation like yourselves, same teams every year winning, and we aren`t that far away from that situation as it is, but fortunately in our comp there is still that chance for outliers to come through most years, which of course makes a big difference. Any way mate way off topic again great news about Fiji.

[unapologetic pedant]

The Silktails have just posted some footage on their Facebook page of a Fijian women`s triangular comp from the weekend. Looks a good standard. One terrific passage of play from the Nadroga Broncos.

 

Edited March 15, 2021 by unapologetic pedant

[Cumbrian Mackem]

Any details of the silktails win against mascot jets at the weekend?

[unapologetic pedant]

Just now, Cumbrian Mackem said:

Any details of the silktails win against mascot jets at the weekend?

I was just in the process of editing my post to include that they beat the Mascot Jets 46-16. I know no more than that.

[Cumbrian Mackem]

I also see that former dragons and wallaby winger eto nabuli is back in league playing for wentworthville magpies.

[Cumbrian Mackem]

2 minutes ago, unapologetic pedant said:

I was just in the process of editing my post to include that they beat the Mascot Jets 46-16. I know no more than that.

Was just a friendly I believe as they had a bye. Next weekend is the real thing.

[Gomersall]

 

[The Rocket]

ADF supports Fijian NRL dreams | Defence News

For too long League was discriminated against in the armed forces, and it`s great to see League really getting its foot in the door.

Defence Force personnel are posted all over the world and can take the game where ever they are stationed.

I like the sound of what`s happening in the last two paragraphs.

Edited March 19, 2021 by The Rocket

[Cumbrian Mackem]

Lots of links between the various institutes of both countries like the military, police and governmental programs etc.

All positive stuff.

[Futtocks]

On 15/03/2021 at 14:10, unapologetic pedant said:

The Silktails have just posted some footage on their Facebook page of a Fijian women`s triangular comp from the weekend. Looks a good standard. One terrific passage of play from the Nadroga Broncos.

https://www.facebook.com/kvtsilktailsrlfc/videos/274466790750348/ 

[Cumbrian Mackem]

The kaiviti silktails round 2 match in the Ron Massey cup has been postponed due to the torrential rain in Sydney

[Copa]

52 minutes ago, Cumbrian Mackem said:

The kaiviti silktails round 2 match in the Ron Massey cup has been postponed due to the torrential rain in Sydney

Parts of Sydney are facing 1 in 50 year flood events.  Dams are overflowing, people are evacuating and the rain continues to fall.

Edited March 21, 2021 by Copa

[The Rocket]

Having a second Brisbane team and a match in Brisbane every week in the NRL season is a business no brainer and will expand the interest in Rugby League and indeed over time the number of youngsters playing the game as well as the finances of the NRL as a whole.
I have visited Fiji several times over the years and noticed the huge shift toward Rugby League in what used to be pure Rugby Union territory. Fijians treat their players in the NRL as national sporting heroes. I understand that it is similarly the case in Tonga and Samoa and certainly PNG loves the game.
There are also New Zealand players spread throughout the NRL competition. A second New Zealand team also needs to be in the mix to spread the game in New Zealand.
The critics of the proposal are lost in the past. To be able to grow and compete with the AFL in Australia and Rugby Union in New Zealand extra teams are essential and are in the long term interest of the code overall.
To confine Brisbane, a huge Rugby League market, to one team while Sydney has nine teams is sheer economic and marketing madness.

Graham Middleton
 

This is a comment taken from the Australian newspaper today written by Graham Middleton, who you might know as the editor for 34 years of the Big League magazine and is also the NRL Chief statistician.

NRL 2020: Big League Annual moves online at NRL.com - NRL

Interesting story behind this bloke, started keeping stats about League for a hobby as a kid got a reputation, and was employed part-time by the ABC on weekends on their radio League coverage where they used to call him the Rugby League guru, his fame spread was eventually given a job by the NRL. Talk about your dreams coming true.

Could of posted those comments on any number of threads but I thought his comments about the Pacific and Fiji in particular were most interesting. This is a bloke who lives and breathes League and I think he`s got a bit of cred.

[unapologetic pedant]

2 hours ago, The Rocket said:

Graham Middleton

Hate to be picky, but don`t you mean David Middleton?

Possibly the name of Graham has got lodged in your mind from the TRL Australian forum.

BTW, this is edited because I originally put TTR - that must have got lodged in my mind. 

Edited March 25, 2021 by unapologetic pedant

[The Rocket]

5 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Hate to be picky, but don`t you mean David Middleton?

Possibly the name of Graham has got lodged in your mind from the TRL Australian forum.

BTW, this is edited because I originally put TTR - that must have got lodged in my mind. 

Thanks Pedant my mistake the bloke quoted in the paper was `Graham` Middleton, and the way he made his post was like the sort of post people make when they expect people to know them, exactly as I posted above, with name fully posted, most people only put their first name or a pseudonym. that`s why I jumped the gun and have got him confused with David. I wonder who he is, could he be a brother, the way the post was laid out was like someone associated with the game.

Anyway enough excuses, sorry to all about the mistake, I don`t like to mislead but gee he certainly sounded like he meant what he said.