FORMER Fiji Bati pioneer Joe Rabele has saluted Jowasa Drodrolagi on his inclusion into the France rugby league side for the 2026 Rugby League World Cup.
The Ekubu, Vatulele, Nadroga prop was named in the French squad earlier this week and the switch marks a defining moment for him.
He was part of the Fiji Bati squad to the 2022 RLWC and is understood to be the first Fijian player to join the French squad for the World Cup in Australia this month.
And one man who has been shocked yet so proud of the French switch is former Fiji Bati player and rugby league coach Jo Rabele.
Rabele applauded Drodrolagi for making the cut and emphasised how that move was testament to the high levels of discipline he committed himself towards.
“For him to achieve that (being named in the French team), I’m shocked because the way he’s handling himself is very professional and he is also humble,” Rabele said of him.
Rabele was once a coach of the Nabua Broncos, where he first knew of Drodrolagi when he and his family moved from Vatulele to live in Nabua.
He recalled Drodrolagi’s early days with the team and how being an attentive listener and player helped set the path he now followed into the French World Cup squad.
“This milestone is a big statement, especially for him, where he comes from and how he started.”
Drodrolagi has been at the French Elite One Championship rugby league club AS Carcassonne since 2020 where he has made 71 appearances, scored seven tries and bagged 20 points.
He had played for the Fiji Bati since 2016, appeared in the Fiji Prime Minister’s XIII in 2019.
