Vuate Karawalevu: Sydney Roosters’ signing could be Kaiviti Silktails first NRL success story

The names of Fijian flyers Radradra, Vunivalu and Sivo roll off the tongue for any footy lover. Now, a new name may soon enter the rugby league vernacular. Meet Vuate Karawalevu.

The names Radradra, Vunivalu and Sivo roll off the tongue for any footy lover, a trio of game-changing Fijian wingers whose blockbusting style had fans fixed to the edge of their seats.

Now, a new name may soon enter the rugby league vernacular.

Meet Vuate Karawalevu, a 20-year-old Fijian native who will join the Sydney Roosters NRL squad for pre-season training next month.

Vuate Karawalevu. Picture: Richard Dobson

The towering outside back, standing at 195cm, was a rising rugby union prospect in his home country but was recruited to rugby league through the Kaviti Silktails program, in partnership with the Roosters.

The Fijian-based program, supported by the Australian government, was the brainchild of former Queensland Origin star and Fijian international Petero Civoniceva who wished to provide stronger pathways for promising footy players.

Karawalevu made an immediate impression in rugby league, running in nine tries in four games for the Roosters’ Jersey Flegg team after impressing with the Silktails in the third-tier Ron Massey Cup.

The Silktails 2021 Ron Massey Cup squad on Sydney Harbour. Picture: Richard Dobson

Silktails CEO Steve Driscoll said he was hopeful the prodigy could become the Kaiviti outfit’s first NRL success story, comparing his unique combination of power and finesse to South Sydney’s Latrell Mitchell.

“He is a tryscorer,” he said. “He just has an unbelievable knack of being in the right place at the right time.”

“Even when he is on the wing he is trying to create opportunities, he isn’t just trying to run over the top of people … but he does have a power element to his game as well.”

The Silktails played a pivotal role in poaching the talented rugby union goalkicking fly half, who had been selected for the Fijian extended Rugby World Cup squad and was once signed with the ACT Brumbies.

“The Roosters wanted to try and recruit a Fijian to the club,” Driscoll said. “Ando (Roosters’ recruitment manager Daniel Anderson) wanted to get one young as opposed to getting an established name and (Karawalevu) was the best of the young ones coming through.”

“The Roosters said let’s try and use our Silktails program and our resources in Fiji to try and lure him across.”

A three-hour trip across Fiji with his parents to one of Silktails’ three Centres of Excellence in early 2020 saw Karawalevu agree to switch codes and join the program, with the move potentially about to pay dividends.

The Fijian-based outfit was based in Sydney for this year’s abandoned Ron Massey Cup season however, there are early discussions about a homecoming for the final three rounds of the 2022 season.