Yesterday marked a another milestone for the Fiji National Rugby League as two high school ruggers signed contracts with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, a prominent rugby league club in the National Rugby League competition in Australia.
Samu Ratavola, a Year 11 student of Vashist Muni College in Navua, and George Satakala, a Year 12 student of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial High School, signed contracts with the Bulldogs yesterday where they will join Fiji Bati forward and NRL star Viliame Kikau in Australia later this year.
The duo were chosen from the Vodafone Fiji National Rugby League schools competition and part of the Southern Academy before signing with the Bulldogs.
FNRL chairman Aporosa Lutunauga said the signings were a huge achievement for the sporting body.
“This is a very huge achievement for us. This is what we’re about, and that is to help young talented Fijians get opportunities to travel overseas, play the sport they love, and at the same time support their families back home,” he said.
“The FNRL is very happy about the achievements of these two young men, and we wish them the very best in their new journey.”
Lutunauga acknowledged the efforts of Kativerata for grooming these players in a short time before catching the eyes of overseas scouts.
“We also thank the Bulldogs for expressing their interests and for providing an opportunity of a lifetime for these boys.”
Bati forward and NRL icon Viliame Kikau said he was happy to be bringing two young talented Fijians under his wings to Bulldogs academy.
“Congratulations to the boys for catching the eyes of our scouts, and being offered contracts with the Bulldogs,” Kikau said.
“We hope to be signing more Fijians in the future as we have just started this academy,” he said.
The former Marist Brothers High School student said they were looking forward to working with Ratavola and Satakala and would return to Fiji soon to scout more players.
“The more the merrier, we will be coming back to get more players.”
