Cairns rugby league 2022: Family ties behind Suavai’s code switch
The opportunity to play alongside his younger brother is behind rugby convert Ernest Suavai’s decision to suit up for Brothers in the Cairns District Rugby League this season.
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THE opportunity to play alongside his younger brother is behind rugby convert Ernest Suavai’s decision to suit up for Brothers in the Cairns District Rugby League this season.
Suavai has spent the past decade playing, and excelling, at the 15-man code, which included a stint at ACT Premier Rugby club Tuggeranong Vikings.
He returned to Cairns in 2020 to play for Mudcrabs in the FNQ Rugby competition, and last season suited up for the returning Southside Crusaders, who withdrew from competition in 2020.
THE TOP 100 PLAYERS IN THE CDRL’S 2021 SEASON
He hasn’t played much league, taking the field for NQ Samoa and NQ Cook Islands in one-off games, but now he has agreed to play his first full season of rugby league in more than a decade.
“I can’t remember the last time I’ve played a season of league, I’ve been committed to rugby since I finished school,” the 29-year-old Suavai said. “But I’ll stick with league this year, I’ll give everything to Brothers.”
Suavai, who played anywhere in the back line but primarily at flyhalf, inside centre or fullback in his rugby, will most likely shift to centre or the back row in his transition to rugby league.
He is one of several big fish Brothers have landed, and will bolster a squad coached by Jordan Biondi-Odo which is hungrier than ever before for glory.
Brothers were the minor premiers in 2021, with just one loss in the regular season, but they bowed out after a second straight loss in the preliminary final.
Biondi-Odo and the club were undoubtedly stung by the disappointing end to a campaign which has promised so much, but had kept their off-season moves largely quiet until now.
And what a way to do it.
Suavai’s code switch has been on the table for months, but he would have turned out in very different colours if the original plan had come to fruition.
He had agreed to play for Tully, a club stuck at the other end of the table with very little to show from the past few seasons, and it was when he tried to lure talented brother Elijuwhon to the Tigers that a change of plan was set in motion.
“I was a done deal,” Suavai said. “I tried to talk Eli into coming to Tully with me but he’d already signed for Brothers.
“I gave it a lot of thought but the chance to play with him is too good. I spoke to Colin (Wilkie, Tully’s football operations manager) and he was okay with it.
Eli played last year and gave it a really good crack. I don’t know how often this chance will come along so I’m hoping we get to play together.”
That is one of Suavai’s main goals for the upcoming season, earning the opportunity to play an A-grade game alongside Elijuwhon, an outstanding talent in his own right, and his other goal - to stay injury-free - will work hand-in-hand.
“I want to get a full season in, so I’ve got to look after the body," Suavai said. “It takes a bit longer to recover now so that will be a big thing this year.”
The CDRL season is rapidly approaching, though a finalised draw is yet to be completed.
It is understood there has been discussion about changing the length of the season, with a schedule set to be released soon.
MAREEBA FOCUS ON WITHIN
THERE is no shortage of talented Tablelands rugby league players, and they will be front and centre of the Mareeba Gladiators’ charge to the Cairns District Rugby League finals in 2022.
The Gladiators were just off the pace last season, several close losses compounding to leave Mareeba ninth and seven points outside the finals.
THE TOP 100 PLAYERS IN THE CDRL’S 2021 SEASON
They had the roster to compete but a combination of injury and unavailability – plus some bad luck conspired against the Gladiators.
That ingrained ability to fight for every inch, such a common attribute for any Mareeba team, is just part of the reason Chris Sheppard is excited to take the reins.
Sheppard, the Northern Pride premiership winner who played 65 NRL games for the Cowboys and Dragons, takes on the role from Trent Barnard, who first signed for the Gladiators for the 2020 season.
“I’m obviously close to the club, here’s a few people I was talking to and I said I’d put up my hand,” said the Mareeba-born and raised Sheppard.
He enters a club in the midst of change, with the junior and senior sections of the club working closer together than ever before to create a better aligned pathway.
Sheppard, who is also coaching the Pride’s under-16s this season, is looking to build the Gladiators’ roster around local footballers.
They have lost the likes of hooker and CDRL Gold Medal runner-up Clint Posselt, prop Kurt Jackson, Ezra Tokarahi and Jack Pedersen, which will take a chunk of experience out of the roster, but Sheppard is confident in what the Tablelands has to offer.
“It’s pretty much locals, we have some great young fellas in the club,” Sheppard said.
“We don’t have the money to pay players. We don’t have access to that, like some of the other clubs.
“We have lost some quality A-graders, but we’re looking to the future.”
Fullback and CDRL Rookie of the Year Trezman Banjo is on a development deal with the Pride but will return for the Gladiators when not required by the state league club. He won’t be the only Pride-affiliated player lining up for Mareeba.
“We have a number of players in the Pride system, there’s a lot of quality,” Sheppard said.
LEPS SET TO REVERSE GRAND FINAL HEARTACHE
INNISFAIL Leprechauns are arguably the most consistent A-grade team in the last decade of the Cairns District Rugby League, but a premiership drought dating back to 2015 has the club hungry for success in 2022.
Leon Hallie is back at the helm, the team already well into pre-season training as they eye another season towards to the top end of the league table.
But if there was any concern last year’s agonising grand final defeat would cause issues, think again.
THE TOP 100 PLAYERS IN THE CDRL’S 2021 SEASON
When asked of how his team could put the disappointment of that loss behind them, Hallie didn’t miss.
“We’ve had plenty of practice at it, losing three of the past four,” Hallie said.
“It hurts a bit but you have to put in perspective. A lot of people out there are doing it a lot tougher at the moment.
“When you put it in perspective, it’s not that bad.
“The players are similar to me, there’s no use dwelling on it. You put it behind you.”
Since winning the title in 2015, Leprechauns have made three of the past four grand finals but fallen at that final hurdle each time.
In 2017, they fell 31-22 to a Yarrabah side which claimed the first title in its history, then, in 2019, fell 30-24 to a Mossman-Port Douglas side which went back-to-back.
Last year’s 32-28 extra time epic against Yarrabah was, perhaps, the season they were most expected to break through for that elusive title.
They were the only team to beat Cairns Brothers in the regular season, won the major semi final to earn an extra break before the big dance, and had some of the best players in the competition under one of the most experienced coaches in the CDRL.
But they were brought undone by moments of sloppy execution on the game’s biggest stage, the Seahawks making Innisfail pay as they earned their second CDRL A-grade premiership.
A lot of the men involved in that successful season are back at Callendar Park, including Aaron Jolley, who finished in the CDRL Gold Medal top 10.
Livewire halfback Julian Christian is with the Northern Pride but may still be available for the Leprechauns if not required by the Hostplus Cup club, while Andrew Garrett is yet to decide on his playing future.
But much of the roster will remain the same, Hallie said, adding that their recent success has allowed the club to relax on recruitment.
“We haven’t really looked to be honest,” Hallie said.
“We’re a successful club, so we have people who want to come and play for us.
“Every year we’ll have a few players show up, and they’ll turn out to be half-decent players.”
While the A-grade side has returned for pre-season and has stability in Hallie, the women’s team is yet to appoint a coach.
Women’s players returned last week for an early session, as they determine numbers and a roster for season 2022.
matthew.mcinerney1@news.com.au
Originally published as Cairns rugby league 2022: Family ties behind Suavai’s code switch
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