Sharks rising star Briton Nikora’s tough journey to realise NRL dream
Rookie of the year favourite Briton Nikora is living proof that you should always listen to mum. The Cronulla Sharks young gun wanted to quit his NRL dream only a few years ago.
In the pitch black of winter, Briton Nikora would stand waiting for the 4.07am train from Sutherland train station.
Beneath a thick hoodie and with his hands stuffed inside his pockets, the then-teenager stood cold, alone and cursing a decision to ever leave his close-knit family on the Gold Coast.
Working two jobs — as a baggage handler at Sydney airport and collecting $25-an-hour at a Woolworths online warehouse in Mascot — Nikora would rest his head on the seat of a train bound for Wolli Creek, shut his eyes and ask how a boyhood dream ever came to this.
On a weekend where the NRL is selling magic, the story of Nikora, Cronulla's rising star and NRL rookie of the year favourite, has nothing to do with trickery or illusion.
Boasting more tackle busts than Latrell Mitchell and more linebreaks than Blake Ferguson in 2019, Nikora is the epitome of sacrifice, resisting the nagging urge to give up, and how to make dreams happen, even without a player agent.
Playing in the back row for the Tweed Seagulls in the under-20s as a 17-year-old, Nikora had heard there was an open trial at Cronulla at the end of 2015. Problem was, Nikora required an agent to gain a start.
“So the coach who I was playing for at the time for Tweed Heads, Paul Stephenson, he called his old manager (Sam Ayoub),’’ Nikora said.
“I’m thankful to Stepho and Sam because two days later I booked my own plane ticket to the trial.’’
In the Andrew Ettingshausen grandstand at Shark Park sat the entire Cronulla NRL coaching and recruitment staff, including former elite development coach and current head coach John Morris.
“I still remember the jersey number 32 Brit was wearing,’’ Morris said.
“He played about 60 minutes in the centres and back row. We all noticed him. He was making breaks, scored a try and was very impressive.’’
The next day, former Sharks football manager Darren Mooney forwarded a $5000 contract to Nikora.
The piece of paper resembled the beginning for the Keebra Park High student. But in reality, he hadn’t even got started.
In Cronulla’s premiership year of 2016, Nikora played park footy for local A-Grade side Cronulla-Caringbah, earning just one game for the under-20 Sharks that season.
While the rest of the Shire was buzzing in the hope of a historic season, Nikora was up before dawn, on a train, working two jobs, training and living with a homestay family at Yarrawarrah. As physically and mentally exhausting as it was, it was Nikora’s heart that ached the most. And so any spare moment, when a free weekend would emerge in his diary, Nikora would return to his family on the Gold Coast, packing his bag as though he was never coming back to Sydney.
“That was the hardest year, 2016,’’ Nikora said.
“Being away from family, not playing the level of footy I wanted to play. I was on nothing. I was working at the airport and I also worked at Woolworths warehouse in Mascot. All I could think of was going home. I didn’t have family and I didn’t know many people here. It was a struggle.
“I would try and go home and never come back.
“Every time I would go back, I would try and book a one-way flight to try and stay back there. But by the end of that weekend, Mum would be booking me a one-way flight back to Sydney.
“She’d be telling me to go back down there and that I would regret it in the long run if I didn’t take this opportunity.’’
With the prophetic words of his mother Tangiwai in his ears, Nikora played every game of the Sharks’ under-20s minor premiership season in 2017, culminating in his selection in the team of the year alongside the likes of Kalyn Ponga and Victor Radley.
The Tauranga-born 21-year-old, who moved to the Gold Coast with his family when he was nine, was also named in the Junior Kiwis’ 2017 team before progressing to the NSW Cup with Cronulla’s feeder-club Newtown last season.
LISTEN! Latrell-mania has hit fever pitch but can he be considered among the game’s best players? And Matty also recalls the day the legendary Steve Rogers knocked on the door of the Johns family home. Tune in for the Matty Johns podcast with Kenty and Hoops.
In the jersey worn by former Test star Luke Lewis, Nikora has quickly become a fan favourite among not only Sharks fans, but Supercoach players too.
He’s also on the radar of New Zealand Test coach Michael Maguire.
But perhaps the biggest fan of this raw-boned 95kg hole runner is Sharks teammate and New Zealand Test star Shaun Johnson.
Before Nikora was handed his NRL debut in round one, it was Johnson who called a meeting with Morris, to passionately campaign for the hard-running back rower, who runs the “most beautiful line you will see“.
“When Bomber (Morris) told me I was playing round one, I couldn’t believe I was about to play with people I looked up to,’’ Nikora said.
“Just playing NRL, my childhood dream, it’s still crazy for me.
“To hear (Johnson) he and the boys had faith in me that I could go out there and not let them down, is big.
“Just running out on the field is a surreal moment. Playing against people like (Titans forward) Kevin Proctor, who’s a Kiwi, is a dream come true.
“From where I’ve come from, I’d love to help kids from New Zealand or any players away from their family who are struggling,”
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