Learning from past mistakes, the Fiji National Rugby League is taking preparations seriously this time around for the Pacific Championship later in the year.
Starting next month, they will be visiting Fijian players playing rugby league in Australia on their availability for the Fiji Bati.
“The preparation from next month, we will be going out to Australia, start speaking with the players and their clubs- players that we have identified and would like to engage during the Pacific Championship.
“We have a good list of players that are already playing in Australia, not only in the NRL clubs but NSW Cup, Queensland Cup even we are promoting our local competitions to get our local boys involved in the Bati,” FNRL chairman Akuila Masi stated.
Drawing from the strategy the Fiji Bati took last year, Masi pointed back to preparation as being a key factor in their performance and the results yielded.
“We only prepared for one week and we lost to Papua New Guinea; we thrashed the Cook Islands in the second game and that came down to preparation. We have learned from that, and I am thankful to both coaches for their plans to prepare the teams well.”
This year’s Pacific Championship will be held at PNG from mid-October to mid-November.
The specific dates will be released this week.
