Fijian’s pauper prepare for battle with Prime Minister’s XIII team worth $10 million
Of the Fijians who will take on the Prime Minister’s XIII, only one has a job and another has spent the last few months living on the street.
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They are the unemployed Fijians - which includes a petty crook - who will confront a star-studded Australian Prime Minister’s XIII worth up to $10m.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal the extraordinary circumstances where 17 of Fiji’s 18-man squad are jobless.
And it can also be revealed that Fijian fullback Josua Waqavesi was homeless on the streets after lapsing into petty crime.
This would appear to be the biggest mismatch in rugby league history - a PM’s XIII against Fiji, minus NRL stars, at ANZ National Stadium, Suva.
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Bati players will earn $300 Fijian for Friday’s game - $203 in Australian dollars – a pittance compared to the money earned by opposition players Jake Trbojevic, Cody Walker, Clint Gutherson, Wade Graham, Tyson Frizell, Ben Hunt and Payne Hass.
“Out of this 18-man squad, only one works and he’s in the Army,” said Fiji coach Brandon Costin. “There’s just no work in Fiji.
“Ninety per cent of players here are unemployed, they don’t work. There is no available work. They live in villages with their families. They might do some farming with Taro.
“Pate (Tombe, winger) is the only one who has a job. One of our players (Waqavesi) took time off rugby league because he was living on the streets in Suva. So he had to turn to petty crime to make ends meet.
“He was in junior rugby union systems ... just fell out of those systems and had to live on the streets.
“It was just fortunate that one of the Army commanders walked past on the street and said: ‘I’ve seen you play, you should be doing something with your life. They are having Prime Minister’s trials and you should go’.
“He is now our fullback. You should see him move. I have nicknamed him ‘magic’ because he glides over the grass.”
Unemployed local Fijian rugby league players are being forced to find a club in Australia – either at NRL level or bush footy - for cash.
Fijian players see Australia as the promised land for rugby league.
Costin said his players may not secure an NRL deal but can earn a healthy wage playing is rural NSW and Queensland.
“Like Maika Sivo, you have to use your rugby league to get you off the island,” Costin said.
“The biggest thing for them is to try and get a contract with a NSW country club where they can be a labourer and get $600 a week, which is equivalent to $1000 in Fiji,” he said.
“Throw in another couple of hundred dollars for a win each match and they live like kings. They use football as a vehicle.
“There are player agents who deal with country rugby league clubs where they get visas for Fijian players. I believe about 120 players left Fiji to go and play country football in NSW last year.
“And they are the better players, which makes it difficult because we are trying to get a Ron Massey Cup side up and running (for next season), which would be full-time on an allowance.
“The only goal any of these boys have is to send money back to their village. We had one guy who we asked to come back and play Ron Massey next season but he told us he earned $1200 a week in Australia. There’s no way he was coming back.
“It limits their growth as rugby league players because they can’t give up that $1200 to play semi-professional.”