News filtered through over the wireless yesterday that two of rugby league’s most astute minds, Brad ‘Brains Trust’ Fittler and Andrew ‘the Analyst’ Johns, had stumbled upon a major discovery.
A discovery so big, so paradigm shiftingly profound, that it would make the pair’s earlier unearthing of the 4-5 Happy Hour at the Coco Mungo Bar down the road look like finding Des Hasler in a bad mood by comparison.
It was… a big Fijian.
In Fiji, no less.
And, proving that the two footy greats haven’t lost their connection with the common man, they asked him the exact question every bloke does when they come across a big unit who looks just friendly enough not to punch them.
“Mate, do you play footy or something?”
In this case it was a negative response by the gentleman, a porter at the International Hotel (no relation to Scott).
Utilising the instinctive spirit that they were known for on the field, Fittler and Johns ushered the young man into the nearest Craig Gower chariot and whisked him off to a nearby park where they put him through a series of sprints, passing drills and improvised press conferences.
No sooner had the world’s most powerful Porter burned up the field, juggled three balls with one hand and proved an insightful yet deeply moving acceptance speech, that he was being auctioned off over the phone to the most desperate NRL club CEO. Sold! To the man with the swollen face and wispy white hair drinking the choccy milk.
And that, my friends, is that. A young bloke gets a chance, Fiji rugby league another hero and Rabs another name to mispronounce. Thank you ball boys, thank you linesman.
But, should it be?
Should blokes who live outside of hardcore rugby league areas only get a shot because someone famous bumps into them by chance? This is supposed to be professional sport, not hand modelling.
It’s not like the young man in question, Etonia Nabuli, is some bloke paddling a canoe off some distant island and has never seen a footy field before. He plays club rugby union in Fiji, a country that in the last couple of years has produced many high quality NRL players.
Why then no path for him to have a crack at the NRL, other than pure serendipity?
Fittler and Johns were in Fiji combining a family holiday with some skills clinics and charity work.
Great stuff, but they had no duty to headhunt NRL talent. What if they’d decided to have another go on the slippery dip instead? Would Nabuli still be hauling luggage up the stairs for pasty overweight tourists?
Every time a footy player from one of ‘the islands’ is uncovered everyone raves about it, yet further development is left up to the cash strapped local bodies with minimal NRL intervention.
The ARLC will argue this is an issue for the international body, but I wonder if the AFL felt the same way when they were kicking a ball around on a beach in Tonga with Israel Folau’s third cousin?
Frankly the NRL is one of only a few of professional sporting bodies in this part of the world, and if it knows the talent’s out there it’s time they went and bloody well grabbed it. Make any players recruited from the islands not count to the cap, a loophole that closes the minute they refuse to pay for their country of Origin.
Yes, this will be difficult to do.
But would it be any more difficult than hoping a former player on holidays isn’t sleeping off a hangover rather than bumping into the next Nandruku in the lobby?
The only other option I can see is to send Joey and Freddy on an NRL funded round the world tour, sending them to the four corners of the globe hoping to find talent in obscure places. Sure, the chances of them coming across a Sherpa in the Himalayas with a good cut-out pass is pretty slim.
But geez, film it and at least we’d have something funny to watch on telly in the Summer.
And that my friends, is a solution in itself.
Follow Chris on Twitter @Vic_Arious
Ra
Guest
you got the job with Johnno bro, start with Reuben Wiki
mushi
Roar Guru
Doesn't the little "ha" icon show up on your screen Scott?
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
You are reading from a completely different script or not understanding the point.. You stated quite clearly that rl takes from these other codes and it's OK ,and then went on to suggest rl fans complain when their youngsters are poached by other codes. Intimating that the reverse(other codes) does not happen when their juniors are pinched.One word :Bollocks Because it is rarely if ever mentioned in the media. I will give you an example,my old school was/ is a ru school.Kids came down from the bush and boarded,quite a few with a rl background.They became ru players,never went back.Where are the complaints by rl people FFS? The poaching of junior players rarely gets mentioned in print,except of course Keiran Jack being continually rammed down our throats by the Sydney media.Another young guy whose father was a well known rl player from Nth Sydney,similarly. You must get around to a hell of a lot of countries ,in a very short space of time.The code has been quite explicit in saying,we are looking for the best athletes for our 7s set up.And oÇoonor is involved. Of course you don't have a problem with the RFU signing up rl players,which is exactly my point.Glad to receive,not happy to give. You really don't understand why I mentioned K Beale,because rl followers accepted his move ,and got on with life. You are clearly not happy the publicity given ,for a guy in Fiji who worked in a hotel,plays ru,apparently has skills,being given a chance in the NRL. You are deluded, if you believe it poaching, is a one way street ,and it is only rl fans who complain. Sorry my friend,I will respond when I believe either something is BS,taken out of context or misunderstood.So yes I will use that line again,because that line happens to represent the facts.It is relevant.
RUGBY
Roar Rookie
No bitter, negative or talk positive at all times buttons here, sorry. We all know how the word opportunity works at least for other football codes except rugby league. When rugby union and AFL signed up youngsters from rugby league we hear the same button been pressed, there's no grassroot talents in rugby, why can't they use their own players, French rugby league juniors not allowed to switch codes buttons. Yet when rugby league signed rugby union juniors from NZ, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga or some rugby union hotel porter in Suva its all about sharing and opportunity. O'Connor must have alot of spare time and money to fly all over the place looking at league kids and also have time to watch rugby sevens, club rugby, super rugby, school sevens and take part in coaching clincs around Australia and fly around the world with his sevens squad yet I don't know any rugby league talents in the Australian sevens team at the moment except for Walker. I have never seen any NZ, Samoan, Fijian or Tongan rugby union scouts at rugby league tournaments or matches in Australia but there are many rugby league scouts from the NRL in NZ, and those Pacific Islands countries looking at rugby union kids or hotel porters. The RFU have more players than rugby league put together but we have no problem with them signing up players from league and rugby fans don't have any problems with it or said there was a problem with grassroots. Yo know you use that line more times than both rugby union and rugby league fans on this site put together so I gather you won't be mention it again. Poor Kurtley Beale his name is been mention more times this week by you than the media in Australia.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
I detect a bitter button being pressed.I also note the moderation button,hidden cameras everywhere. It's called opportunity .All codes are looking for players or potential players of outstanding athletic ability.The NFL can get players from other codes from overseas. Kurtley Beale was given a ru scholarship ,and he was a rl junior player.If a code misses out on players because their own code lacks the diligence or expertise to nab them.Tough.And that applies to rl in PNG. Mr OÇonnor a former Wallaby iis darting around the country side looking for talent for the Oz 7s.If there is a rl player ,he will be approached.Any one who has ability with the oval ball and can run well ,is open to offers from him.It's not a case of imagining anything,it happens. Scouts for all codes,are out there notebook in hand,and you are kidding yourself, if you believe ru is not in on the act. Maybe you should ask the same question about the RFU.The game in that country has huge playing numbers,yet are quite happy to poach rl players ,some even made the English team.What is the problem with grassroots there.Or the French ru that has 30% of players in their premier comp,from overseas,
The no. three.
Guest
I'd like to see W Lewis and A Langer or K Walters identify some rich talent too, might do a better job,then A Johns and B Fittler, as they did at State level. Ouch!! Having said that good luck to L Daley and his blues next year.
planko
Guest
You can see it now Chris "NRL Superstar" !Playing primetime in Summer and 50 times a week on FOXTEL
RUGBY
Roar Rookie
Imagine if some Wallabies go to PNG and sign a bricklayer who is a rugby league player and offer him a contract, rugby league fans will be having a field day on here saying there's no talents in Australia and so on but its ok to sign rugby union players and give him a contract without even seeing him play a game. Is there something wrong with grassroots RL in the NRL that they will buy many rugby union players and can't find any talents among 500,000 rugby league players in NZ, PNG and Australia? There are plenty of rugby league people out there who just need an opportunity and wish they can be taken to a rugby field and catch a high ball or fly in and fly out from NZ to Sydney every weekend without training with his teamates just so they can start a career in the NRL.
Big Time
Guest
Sorry, rubbish story. You have made it quite clear neither Johns or Fittler are up to your high intellectual standards, but as for their knowledge of League, I would suggest they are a few rungs above you on that ladder. What an advertisment for our game in that region. He might be a success, he might not, but why not have a go. Thats what League is meant to eb about. Johns and Fittler seen someone they felt may have the attributes to make a League player, rang some contacts, and Penrith took a punt. There are plenty of people out there who just need an opportunity, some get it some don't. Johns and Fittler have earnt their priveleged position in the game, despite some off field dramas (I am sure that would be your first comeback). Surely this gives them scope to identify talent and as you say, "headhunt" on behalf of the NRL.
Col Quinn
Guest
The Sorenson Brothers were Samonan, athough they represented NZ. I cant recall his name but Souths had a Tongan playing reserve grade and there was Jarrod Haynes father. There was an islander playing for Norths in the 60's. I am not sure of his name. To many years.
nzmate
Guest
Dean Lonergan and the warriors owners have made some rather bold claims of late - so i would say wait and see on this one. Lonergan starts shooting himself in the foot by claiming it will be bigger than the Wellington 7s (not going to happen - at least in the short-medium term if ever?), while the warriors have said they want to transform Mt Smart into a 60,000 seat stadium -what's their average crowd 12-15k? While i think the concept has potential, baby steps guys otherwise you make yourselves look like complete goons. Im also unsure of 9s as a concept, to me 9 on the field per team and the retention of 6 tackles would apply a structure to the game play that may? hinder the flow and selling point of the game which is surely to increase movement and continuity in a similar way, that makes 7s as a comparison to 15s so appealing as a variation. what im getting at - is there enough separating 13s and 9s - yes it will be faster but league is already a fast game. Perhaps 3 tackles then handover? and 6 players not sure...
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Hardly worth the paper to write on .Token at best. It was Rabuka who gave the offical go ahead in the 90s.That created some impetus.SL hindered it in the 90s. The real growth happened in the noughties.
The no. three.
Guest
They found Dally Bulla Bulla Messenger!!
The no. three.
Guest
Its Dally bulla bulla Messenger, they found him!!
Sailosi
Guest
There was League played in Fiji in the mid to late 80's. I can remember a PNG side touring in 1988. The biggest issue for sports in Fiji other than rugby union and soccer is funding for fields, uniforms, referees etc. The Nadroga Eels had to wait for the women's soccer team to finish training on a half field before a semi final this year as well as struggling for uniforms.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
What has that got to do with rugby league growing in Fiji,and the 2 NRL players doing something on behalf of the code.Do you disagree with the point rl is growing in that country and that there is talent to be had? You like this out of left field stuff.What other codes do they will do.It bears no relevance to the story nor the growth factor for the code.. I have earlier today come back from an Oz tag game for u8s,never seen so many kids playing a sport.Some of these kids have natural skills that left me flummoxed.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
My earlier post has spelt out exactly the negative impact of the SL war in these islands.SL did more damage than just the islands.There was no rl prior to the 90s in Fiji. That happened in the mid to late 90s.A lot of water under the bridge since.You don't get up to 45 teams for rl,unless there is genuine interest.And the surface has barely been scratched. Fittler and Johns intend to do this type of thing on an annual basis,rest assured,and rl admin worth its salt,will take note and assist further.
butross
Guest
Best thing NRL could do is set up a league academy for talented young islanders, particularly Papuans, who are deprived of genuine opportunities more than anyone. Also use it as a vehicle to promote social causes like better understanding of social/health issues like HIV.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Inosi and Apisai Toga were the famous brothers for rl(Fijian) who played in the 60s and early 70s for that club. John Fifita (Tongan) the 80s. You are correct there was indeed no rl in Fiji.the genesis of getting the code started was the World 7s in Sydney,where Col Rabuka ,gave his blessing. And of course the SL war stuffed things in 96/7.However things have changed remarkably since ,but the code needs to inject more funding into that country for real affect.
butross
Guest
For a "Guru" Scott your grasp of irony isn't very strong Not part American, are you?