March 7, 2009
Australian Fijians go down fighting in Kiama 9’s semi-final.

The Australian Fijians went down courageously to a powerful Wests Illawarra side in the semi-finals of the Kiama 9’s at Kiama Showground. In a day that saw the AFRL team have a draw in their first match against Gerringong followed by a comfortable win against Coogee Wombats set the Aussie Fijians up for a showdown with hometown side Kiama Knights in the quarter-finals.
 
Surprisingly after nearly a four hour break from their last match the Aussie Fijians raced to a halftime lead of 16 – 0 only to give the lead up in the second half which saw the local side draw back level at 16 – 16 with one minute to go. A late bust from Esala Vute where he ran forty metres to score put the game beyond doubt as the hooter went.
 
A short turnaround and the Aussie Fijians then trotted out against tournament favourites Wests Illawarra coached by former Dragons player and Assistant Coach Paul Macgregor. A Wests Illawarra side that also had plenty of NRL experience amongst its ranks with payers such as Reece Simmonds and Kevin Mcguiness got out to a 12 – 0 lead early. The Aussie Fijians withstood plenty of pressure to hang in the match and quick spread to the left saw Junior Rika cross over in the corner to make it 12 - 4 with a minute to go but Sai Vakarau’s conversion narrowly missed and the game was out of the Aussie Fijians reach.
 
Newly appointed AFRL Head Coach was very proud of his young side that went into the tournament with the late withdrawal of captain Hamilton Hughes (rib cartilage) and fellow halfback Joe Delana on Friday. This to top off Mataika “Tiger” Vatuvei’s unavailability due to the passing of his father last week also had Coach Neville heap lot’s of praise on the team’s efforts.
 
“To think that we had to get up at 4.30am to be here for registration at 8.00am and just miss the final without a halfback in the squad was a huge effort. We were able to adjust our game plan and play fast around the middle for all of our games leading up to the quarters and had success doing it in those games. In the semi the opportuntities were out wide and we needed to get the ball there quickly and we weren’t able to react quick enough to do it and it probably cost us in the end. Our defence today though was brilliant and we really chased hard for everything but we ran out of juice in the end from this. It was a shame as the boys really wanted to win for Tiger but they should be really proud of their efforts today. I know me and the rest of the staff were.”
 
The AFRL will now break from there matches until the end of the season and board member Steve Driscoll who assisted Neville in the two Nine-a-Side tournaments said although the AFRL  didn’t win any tournaments this year, the board felt the campaign was a great success and an improvement on last year.
 
“We said after our dismal showing at the Valley 8’s last year that we would use these tournaments as a development exercise and blood some young guys. We’ve done that this year and when you look at the results we improved on them which is all you can ask for. We will definitely be coming back to Kiama every year and we would like to thank Neil Piper and the Kiama Knights for having us for the first time. It really was one of the nicer places to come to and play Rugby League at and hopefully next year we can find some accommodation availability and avoid the 4.30am get up again.” laughed Driscoll.
 
The Australian Fijians team was James Storer (c), Esala Vute, Junior Rika, Cyprian Ale, Sai Vakurau, Edward Storer, Warren Storer, Waisale Naiqama, Joseph Swamy, Adonis Gock, Alfred Mcgowan, Daryl Jang, Puna Rausabele, Lepani Waqa, Wise Vute.