The Fiji Airways Kaiviti Silktails’ call to join the Jersey Flegg Cup has been answered with the New South Wales Rugby League confirming their inclusion during the release of the 2024 draws.
The Silktails will take on the cream of the NRL’s rising stars in the Jersey Flegg, a level up from the third-tier Ron Massey Cup they competed in the last two seasons.
Head coach Wes Naiqama revealed their excitement with their season kicking-off with two trial matches in as early as February next year.
“We are at the back end of our five weeks camp; the boys get a break and there’s a lot of excitement across the playing group now that it’s been confirmed. To be playing in that competition, it’s important to us as a squad to use that excitement to fuel the boys to finish off this pre-season. Once we get back on January 3, we get about a six-week block before our first trial game.
“We are looking to have a trial game here in Fiji on the 24th and the second against the Gold Coast Titans development team before we stay there for another week to prepare for our round one game which will be confirmed over the next couple of weeks with regards to the draw,” the former Fiji Bati and NRL player stated.
Both matches are still under discussion.
“On the 24th the Melbourne Storm and the Knights have confirmed they will have a trial over at Churchill Park. So, there was initial talks with Melbourne with them bringing over their Jersey Flegg team for us to play a curtain raiser but there are some costs involved with that so if that doesn’t happen, we are looking to potentially a curtain raiser against a local development team of some sort which we will confirm in the coming weeks,” Naiqama added.
Joining the Jersey Flegg would mean more game time and a chance for Fiji’s best young rugby league players to face the rising stars of the NRL.
“It’s an exciting time for our club going forward especially off the back of the last two years regarding the boys that we are recruiting, we did well consider Ron Massey was an open age competition but now we are back to Under-21 as the Jersey Flegg facilitates the age group that we have.
“It’s also a strong competition, we’ll go from 18 rounds to 24 playing against all the NSW NRL clubs including Canberra Raiders, Newcastle Knights, and the Warriors. It’s a great advantage to the club corporately in bringing those teams over here to Fiji but also for us travelling on the road to face these premier sides.”
The Silktials first Jersey Flegg Cup match is against the Wests Tigers on March 9 at the Lidcombe Oval in Sydney, Australia.
