I cheer for Australia to win at every sport but I won’t be heartbroken if Fiji finds a way to eclipse Australia in the Rugby League World Cup semi-final played at Wembley early Sunday, AEST.
Of course such an upset would rank as the biggest the game has known, but The Bati have played some rousing football in this event and are seriously thrilled to be lining up against the mighty Kangaroos in a game of such magnitude.
No, I am not tipping Fiji to win – Australia should account for them by 20 or more points – but in sport it’s nice to dream sometimes on behalf of the underdogs. (I got used to that caper as a kid, following the North Sydney Bears).
An upset victory by The Bati would have an amazing impact on the island republic and its emerging rugby league culture.
Fiji’s population is up around the 850,000 mark and the interest in the team and its exciting run through to the semis has been phenomenal.
Veteran prop Petero Civoniceva told The Sydney Morning Herald’s Brad Walter yesterday: “People are waking up early in Fiji and kids aren’t going to school because they want to watch The Bati play.
“It is amazing. We are on the cusp of taking rugby league in Fiji to another level. I know this tournament in some circles has been criticised because of lopsided scores but I wish the people writing those stories would go to Fiji and ask people there what the World Cup means to them.
“They would get a totally different perspective on what this competition has done for the game and what it will do in terms of the game’s growth.”
For big Petero, this game will be his last before retirement.
However, a boilover win against Tim Sheens’s Kangaroos would set up the fairytale of fairytale finishes for a man who began playing the game as a commentator’s nightmare, but is finishing as one of their pet performers.
The former Brisbane Bronco, Panther, Queensland and Australian front-rower turns out for Redcliffe Dolphins in the Queensland Cup these days.
He was thrilled to be given the chance to represent his country of birth in this World Cup after making 45 appearances for Australia in a magnificent career.
The respect this man commands on and off the field wherever he has played is immense and I’ll be up early tomorrow raising a glass or two for one of league’s finest players and ambassadors.
Roarers, if you haven’t seen Fiji play in this series, I’d strongly recommend you take the trouble to stay up late, or at least seek out a replay of the semi-final in coming days.
Aside from Civoniceva, the Bati will parade many well known names from the NRL including Akuila Uate, Sisa Waqa, Jayson Bukuya, Marika Koroibete, Kevin and Waisale Naiqama as well as the Sims brothers, Ashton and Tariq.
The Fijiian coach is the highly-rated Newcastle Knights man Rick Stone who has given the team its structures and ultimately an unexpected berth in the final four.
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