THE defending champions of the Under-16 Weet-Bix Raluve competition, Ratu Latianara Secondary School have adopted a humble approach heading into the 2026 competition, choosing to label themselves as underdogs despite defending the title.
Head Coach of the side Ratu Seru Kuriyalavou said the team is grateful for the opportunity to compete again and stressed that last year’s success would count for little this season.
“We are coming in as the defending champions, but we prefer to be the underdogs. We know that History is history. We have to really work hard again in order to defend our under-16 title,” the coach Mr Kuriyalakalou said.
The coach highlighted that the recent international encounter against Tonga played a key role in preparing the team for the new season.
“It was a massive exposure. We learned a lot moving into international level and we hope to bring whatever positivity we’ve learned from the match against Tonga into the secondary school competition.”
He added that the team expects tougher competition this year and would approach every match with a finals mentality.
“We believe the competition will be very tough. We will take each game as a final and work on improving our weaknesses and strengthening our strengths.”
The team has been preparing over the past months, using rugby league in Term one as off-season training. The coach added the players are now ready for round two of the Weet-Bix Raluve competition and he also acknowledged there are still areas for improvement.
“The girls are ready at this moment. We’ve been preparing for the past month. We used rugby league in term one as off-season training and we are thankful for those matches provided for the girls.” He said fitness, strength and conditioning as well as basic skills such as passing and catching remain key focus areas moving forward.
“Some areas that we need to improve on are our fitness, our strength and conditioning and we need to work on our basic skills, catching and passing,” he said.
The coach also urged supporters and the wider school community to continue backing the team throughout the season.
“We urge them not to lose hope. Keep on supporting the girls as they begin another rugby season and the 2026 journey.”
