THE stakes are high for the Vusu Raiders rugby league team today when they meet the Namuaniwaqa Sea Eagles in the final of the Vodafone Cup.
The Raiders, being the defending champions, face a determined team from Ra that will not leave any stone unturned in their pursuit towards toppling their tauvus from Nadroga.
And Vusu Raiders’ strength and conditioning coach, Selo Sanawa says his team has the potential to come out firing but most importantly, eyes today’s finale as one with a favourable outcome.
“It’s a back-to-back final for us from last year and this year, this week’s final is not about footy. It’s about the battle of the vanua between the rivalry of Nadroga and Ra,” Sanawa said.
“The potential and the time that we have, we were able to come out and I’m sure this Saturday (today) is going to be a good, tough and a clean game.”
He also highlighted how the team’s earlier blunders in the season compelled them to perform even better going forward to continue maintaining their title defence.
“It’s been a long season for us. We started off with three losses in the round robin campaigns.
“But one of the key messages that I reminded the boys last week after the game was to leave your legacy behind.”
He added only with the vanua’s backing and sacrifices made would they be able to get the job done today.
Besides these factors, there were other areas pointed out by Sanawa which shone for them in their 18-14 semi-final win against the USP Raiders last week, such as their defence and possession.
Meanwhile, the final kicks off at 3pm at the HFC Bank Stadium in Suva and before that, the FNRLW final between Police Sharks and USP Islanders Raiders will take place at 1pm.
