Gayanendra ‘Gunner’ Prasad is the first IndoFijian rugby league referee in Fiji, New Zealand and Australia as well as the first from Fiji to attain a Level 3 referees qualification, an achievement unparalleled to this date in the annals of the sport.
He also has the Level 1 and 2 referee qualifications under his belt.
Shuffling over the years between studies and work in three countries – Australia, New Zealand and Fiji – Gunner has managed to achieve professionally what he set out to do, first as a civil engineering graduate and a lecturer/teacher, and most importantly, transform his passion for rugby league into a channel for young people to challenge themselves, and even shape their future.
In the beginning
Born and raised at Vuniyalayala Village in Labasa, Gunner was offered a scholarship to study in Australia a year after studying Foundation Science at the University of the South Pacific.
In the Land Down Under, he pursed his civil engineering degree from 1989 to 1993
Upon his return to Fiji in 1994, Gunner worked as a lecturer at the Fiji Institute of Technology, now known as the Fiji National University, where he taught students pursing a Diploma in Civil, Building, Quantity Surveying and Architecture and Advanced Diploma in Civil Engineering.
Growing up, Gunner like many Indo-Fijian kids, played soccer in his village and school.
When he went to Queensland to study, he also took up playing tennis and golf socially. He also played soccer and cricket at club level in Queensland.
Being in a rugby league state (Qld), Gunner also started to follow the sport, watching matches on television and attending several live games.
Upon his return to Fiji after his studies, Gunner played soccer, cricket with the Nanuku Cricket Club and tennis in Suva.
In January 1996 an advertisement in The Fiji Times by the Fiji National Rugby League to recruit new referees caught his eye.
After some thought, he figured he would give it a try.
He believed he had watched enough games as a student in Australia to know some of the rules, and this gave him confidence to give it a go.
After a day long course, the new recruits were put through an exam and Gunner attained the highest marks.
Two weeks after completing the course, he refereed his first rugby league game in late January 1996 at the USP’s Maritime grounds.
Two years later, in 1998, he refereed his first FNRL grand final between Nadera Panthers and Lautoka Foodtown Crushers.
Decision time
In July 1999 he migrated to Australia, however, he decided he wanted to do further studies. So, it was off to New Zealand for a year and half.
After completing his studies in New Zealand, Gunner moved back to Australia in December 2000 and began job hunting.
The first job offer that came his way, he grabbed with both hands.
It was a job as a mathematics, science and sports teacher at a Catholic school in Rockhampton, Queensland. It was also then that he decided he wasn’t going to do civil engineering despite the financial potential a career in this field promised.
The demands of relocating to various places during his working life would make it impossible to purse his passion – and that was to become a semi-professional rugby league referee and playing sports.
In 2006, Gunner relocated to the Gold Coast where he taught at various private schools teaching Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Science, Design Technology, Graphics, HPE, Sports and coaching the school’s rugby league teams. At the end of 2019, Gunner received a job offer as a rugby league sports administrator, so he resigned from the Catholic school and took up the offer.
“Unfortunately, COVID-19 hit, and everything went downhill,” Gunner lamented.
So, in March 2020, Gunner returned to teaching.
Remembering his roots
Meanwhile, after plying his trade on Australia’s rugby league fields from 2001 to 2009, Gunner was invited to referee the 2010 grand final of the FNRL Vodafone Cup between Sabeto Roosters and Saru Dragons.
Since then, he was invited to referee in a further five Vodafone grand finals and two FNRL secondary schools finals.
Gunner was also given the honour of refereeing numerous international matches in Fiji over the years, including a number of Battle of the Bati matches.
One of these matches was in 2013 between Fiji Residents and Overseas Fijians that had approximately 14,000 spectators at the National Stadium in Suva.
As a senior referee with 27 years of experience, Gunner today devotes part of his refereeing hours acting as a mentor to several up-and-coming referees in Fiji and Australia.
He also undertakes numerous Professional Development workshops and clinics to help lift the standard of his fellow referees in Fiji.
Gunner believes one should never forget his or her roots and it is his duty to help lift the standard of rugby league in Fiji.
Gunner acknowledges his success to the opportunity he was given through the “Godfather of Rugby League” in Fiji, Culden Kamea, the late Peni Musunamasi, Iosefo Bele and pioneer referees, Vito Qaqa and Takana Nunu.
Project for the young
He presently is involved in a project that involves bringing Australian rugby league clubs to Fiji to play a few matches as well as enjoy the Fijian hospitality and experience the Fijian culture. He believes these tours bring a two pronged benefit – it helps in the economic recovery of Fiji as well as provide opportunities for young Fijians to be recognised for their talent, and hopefully get an opportunity to play in Australia through scholarships.
Through his connections in rugby league, last year Gunner brought over a group of 80 people – Beaudesert Kingfishers Junior RL under-12 and 15 teams, and the players’ parents and siblings.
The Kingfishers had the opportunity to play three games and visit Nawamagi Village in the Sigatoka Valley.
Through this initiative, the Conua Kingfishers Rugby League Club was established and they now have a sister relationship with the Beaudesert Kingfishers.
Next year and beyond, Beaudesert Kingfishers is looking forward to selecting three Conua District players from the under 15 and 16 sides to play for Beaudesert State High School – an elite rugby league school and feeder school for Brisbane Broncos, Gold Coast Titans and Dolphins.
Beaudesert Kingfishers is also looking at taking the whole Conua RL club on an all-expenses paid tour of the Gold Coast. Gunner says also in the pipeline is the inclusion of other schools and clubs in this project.
“The more rugby league clubs and schools I can bring to Fiji the better it is for Fiji on a number of fronts.”
Gunner has also embarked on another project – which involves starting new rugby league clubs in Fiji.
This has resulted in the establishment of Tuva Seahawks RL Club in Natadola. Through his donations with the help of Tugan Seahawks (Gold Coast), Tuva Seahawks RL club has been able to field three teams in the Sigatoka Zone competition.
Gunner’s future plans includes helping the soon to be formed rugby eague clubs on Vanua Level and building additional sister relationships with rugby league clubs in Australia and Fiji.
He says all these efforts and hard work is summed up and can be explained in “Gunner’s motto”.
And that is to “provide opportunities to our kids and young adults in Fiji”. What a man!
