Parramatta Eels fan Laiakini Tikoibau shows passion for team with Ford Mustang
Some passionate rugby league fans don a jersey to show their support but one Eels diehard prefers to let the wheels of his high-powered car reflect his love for footy. And he’s the wheel deal.
NSW
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After years of saving for a Ford Mustang, Laiakini Tikoibau only had one ambition — to declare his passion for the Parramatta Eels and splash it with blue and gold.
The Guildford 45-year-old and lifelong Eels diehard only takes his “toy car” out on Eels game days and parks it safely in the Parramatta Leagues Club carpark, as he will do on Friday night when Parramatta clashes with Canberra Raiders in the sudden death semi-final.
“I’m a true supporter,’’ Tikoibau said.
“I just wanted to let everyone know I’m a true supporter and I will always be there if Parramatta needs me.’’
Adorning his car, which he christened Matuku after his home island in Fiji, into an “Eelsmobile” was a plan he hatched in 2010 when he migrated to Australia with his wife Josephine and their four children.
After growing up watching Parramatta on TV from his remote, volcanic island home, he was now watching the Eels play on home soil and in 2018, he forked out $8000 to have the artwork, including the team logos, emblazoned with the team colours on the Mustang.
The car was already blue with a white stripe, so Tikoibau turned it yellow but was not satisfied.
“It still didn’t fulfil what I wanted so I thought ‘I’ll come up with something’.’’
Bold yellow stripes run across the bonnet and roof and the number plate has an Eels theme too.
In the off season, Matuku is taken out on weekends, but normally it is a ritual Tikoibau, a transport business owner, saves for game day.
“I never do burnouts with the car, it’s like a precious thing to me,’’ he said.
“I normally keep it at home, I take it out during game day because I don’t want much damage to the logos.’’
After a home game this season, Eels powerhouse prop Junior Paulo and his family pulled up alongside the Tikoibau clan near the Church St-M4 intersection at Parramatta.
“He pulled down the window,’’ Tikoibau recalled.
“He said, ‘Mate your car really, really looks nice, it really, really looks cool’.’’
Like many big families, he and his wife have four-wheel drives to ferry their children Louise Esther, Laurence Daniel, Emily and Inia Moses.
Tikoibau, a former Parramatta Two Blues rugby union player, names Eels legend Peter Wynn and barnstorming Fijian winger Semi Radradra as his favourite players.
He is proud of his younger brother, Alifereti Joji Tikoibau, a pacy 31-year-old Wenty Magpies winger who he says will give Eel Maika Sivo a run for his money.
He also coaches the Guildford Owls women’s teams including the A-grade side which claimed a premiership against the Mt Druitt Lions at the weekend.
“I’m really into footy,’’ he said.
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