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Opinion

Marika Koroibete on the Wallabies culture

Roar Rookie
30th October, 2020
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Roar Rookie
30th October, 2020
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Marika is a success story of listening, hard work and respect. These are the core values embedded in him from a very young age by his parents.

Hailing from the highlands of Namosi and Naitasiri, Fiji, Marika is well placed within his warrior genealogy to face off the All Blacks today. It is known that Koroibete grew up on a family farm, where he walked 20 kilometres to travel to and from school. He began his career playing for Nasinu Secondary School in both league and union.

The school is placed within the Suva to Nausori peri-urban corridor, with a bulging youth population, most who live in poverty, with makeshift sporting grounds for training and development. The school is well known for producing former Melbourne Rebel and Wallaby Sefanaia Naivalu, France’s XVs and sevens player, Virimi Vakatawa, former Fiji reps, Nacanieli Seru, and national sevens great: the late Lemeki Koroi.

When I spoke to Marika on the eve of Bledisloe 3, what I get is a very relaxed and reflective man, who is focused and determined to defeat the All Blacks. His journey of discovery begins at the age of 17. I asked him to share a moment about his humble beginnings and there is an outburst of laughter.

“Funny you should say that,” he says quietly.

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“We had a reflective moment during the training sessions today, between myself and Filipo [Daugunu]. We both said, ‘can you believe that we are here, playing for the Wallabies?’ Otherwise, where would we be? The answer to that is, we would be planting cassava back in our villages, for Filipo, in Vanua Levu and for myself, in the highlands of either Namosi or Naitasiri.”

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Rennie chose well in mixing the ‘Bula boys’ together. What many people don’t realise is that Marika and Filipo both come from provinces in Fiji whereby there is a special traditional relationship. This brings with it a communicative dynamic that is full of pranks, jokes and a lot of laughter. A very close relational dynamic. Knowing this, when both come into camp, they both share moments that have bought them closer. This and the new dynamic Dave Rennie has bought to the team.

“What I love about Rennie is that he has bought culture to the team in a meaningful way. Also, it doesn’t matter where you are from – we are all equally respected and he respects and acknowledges the indigenous culture here in Australia. We all learn from each other every day.”

For an impressionable 17-year-old schoolboy, who came to play in Australia and was spotted here, this has been a surreal dream come true. Marika said, he is grateful more than anything. Grateful to his parents being key to his success and equally: his wife, Emma, who took on both parental roles with their boys for 18 weeks, while Marika travelled with the team.

It is clear this young couple are both invested in growing their family with good values, and here is the thing about Marika, he is a young man who knows who he is, what he wants, and where he is heading.

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