Australian Fijians win NSWRL U/16’s Development Cup: 11 October 2008

The Australian Fijians u/16’s team created history on the weekend winning the inaugural NSWRL Development Cup held at Western Weekender Stadium on Saturday October 10 defeating Tonga in the final 28 – 4.
 
The team coached by Sydney Roosters Academy Coach Joel Greig and assisted by Australian Fijian legend Manoa Thompson went through the weekend undefeated and were the standouts on what was a hugely successful tournament.
 
Coach Joel Greig was ecstatic with the boys performance and believes this may open up some opportunity for a number of the players.
 
“ These boys have done the Fijian community proud with not only the way they played on the field but also how they conducted themselves off the field. Our preparation was fanatastic in the two and a half weeks we were together and it really was the reason we were so successful. I’m just so happy for these boys. They really were head and shoulders above the rest”
 
Assistant Coach Manoa Thompson was also delighted with their performance also.
 
“For me it was fitting that we won this on Fiji Day and the boys deserve all the accolades they get. For a lot of them this was the first time they had been given the chance to represent at any level. We had a short but intense preparation and we tried to touch on skill areas that the boys had never been shown before and it really paid dividends. We also wanted to put them in touch with their cultural side and this was evident with the amount of passion they put into their war dance when they did it.”
 
The team was led by captain Viliame Ratucadre and vice captain Tim Naraga. Standouts for the team on the day were Paul Rokolati, Kane Evans-Davies, Phillip Tuinuku and Apisai Koroisailo with Kemueli Seru named the Australian Fijians player of the tournament.
 
The AFRL would like to thank all their sponsors Flight Centre, Mascot RSL,Auspak, Errea, Sport Plus, Inshape and the Moore Park Broncos as it weren’t for them we wouldn’t have been able to provide the best for these young, up and coming Fijian boys.