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\n Taina Naividi and Sereana Naitokatoka have been best friends since playing for Fiji together in the Harmony Cup.
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A social media post from the mother of Fijian props Daniel and Jacob Saifiti was the catalyst for Bulikula star Taina Naividi\u2019s journey to Sunday\u2019s NRLW grand final with Sydney Roosters.<\/p>\n
Naividi, who is set to play for Fiji in the IRL Women\u2019s Rugby League World Series 2025 in Canada later this month, will line-up on the wing in the premiership decider against the Broncos but she could play hooker or secondrow for the Bulikula after proving her utility value in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
Fiji play Canada in a sudden-death semi-final on October 21 at Terry Fox Stadium in Brampton, Ontario and if they win will then meet the victor of the Ireland-Nigeria semi-final on October 26 for the final berth at next year\u2019s World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Roosters team-mates say Naividi is capable of playing any position, but she may have been lost to a rival code if not for Beverley Saifiti urging her to represent Fiji in rugby league.<\/p>\n
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Taina the Hat-trick machine<\/p>\n
The Fijian community on the NSW Central Coast is tight knit and Beverley knew Naividi\u2019s parents, who had met in Australia after moving from Fiji.<\/p>\n
Beverley’s twin sons, Daniel and Jacob Saifiti, have played a combined 10 Tests for the Bati, and she was aware of Naividi’s sporting talent.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Saifiti brothers, their mum, actually tagged me on a story about the Fiji team playing in the Harmony Cup,\u201d Naividi said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to a trial for that competition for Fiji, and that is where it all started. I met my closest mates in that team, and it all went from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
After forming a close bond with Fijian playmaker Sereana Naitokatoka, Naividi followed her to the Dragons for Tarsha Gale Cup and Mounties in the Harvey Norman NSW Women\u2019s Premiership.<\/p>\n
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Naitokatoka, who plays for Canberra Raiders, and Naividi were reunited for the first leg of last year’s World Cup qualifying campaign in which the Bulikula beat Cook Islands but lost to Samoa, forcing them to play off in the World Series for a berth at RLWC26.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was my first time playing for Fiji and I was speechless; the whole experience was surreal. I literally had no words, I was just super grateful to put on that jersey,\u201d Naividi said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents are both from Fiji, they came over to Australia when they were quite young, in their early 20s. Dad is from the Coral Coast and mum is from Suva. They met on the Central Coast and that is where I was born and raised.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am very fortunate to go to Fiji every year to see my family. They are always watching me on the TV and for me going over there and them having the opportunity to see me play in real life was so surreal.<\/p>\n
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\n Taina Naividi makes a break for Fiji in the 2024 World Cup qualifier against Cook Islands.
\n \u00a9Kirk Corrie\/NRL Photos
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\u201cThey were very supportive, and they came to the hotel every day to see me. It was so nice seeing them. I was really emotional, but it was so cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Naividi is in her second season with the Roosters after being thrown an NRLW lifeline by coach John Strange last year following a long layoff with an ACL injury.<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old played for the Eels in 2021 but missed the 2022 and 2023 seasons before receiving a late call-up by the Roosters when Corban Baxter ruptured her ACL in a pre-season match.<\/p>\n
Strange was knew of Naividi’s talent from watching her play Australian Rules against his daughter Jasmin, a key member of the Roosters team, while they were at school on the Central Coast.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After playing six matches last year, Naivida has featured in all but one game this season, scoring 11 tries on the wing and also spending time at dummy half after Tarryn Aiken was injured and in the secondrow for the suspended Aliyah Nasio.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was definitely thinking I was not going to get a run last year and because it was such a late call up. I\u2019ve got to be honest, I wasn\u2019t really prepared fitness wise,\u201d Naividi said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year I have gone through a pre-season and through that I have gotten really fit so I was physically ready and mentally ready for this year.”<\/p>\n
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Two for Taina<\/p>\n
As the only Bulikula star in the NRLW grand final, Naividi is proud of the positive influence she is having on young players in Fiji.<\/p>\n
Emerging forward Naomi Tegu, who is a member of the squad chosen for the World Series in Canada, told NRL.com: “Women’s rugby league is getting stronger in Fiji and it is my dream to play in the NRLW like Taina Naividi at the Roosters and Cassie Staples and Talei Holmes at the Sharks. They are my role models”.<\/p>\n
Naividi said: \u201cIt is so good to know that we can have that impact. It will be cool if I get the chance to play with her”.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fiji Bulikula squad<\/p>\n
Teaghan Hartigan, Ebony Laing, Sienna Laing (Burleigh Bears), Sereana Naitokatoka, Isabella Waterman (Canberra Raiders), Ilisapeci Bari, Latisha Smythe (Canterbury Bulldogs), Talei Holmes, Cassie Staples (Cronulla Sharks), Tahlia Marshall (Easts Tigers), Elizabeth Naleba, Tanika Newton (Ipswich Jets), Asham Leilani (Newcastle Knights), Rory Muller (Parramatta Eels), Josiliva Vere Moceinacagi (Police Sharks), Kelilani Manu, Luisa Yaranamu (South Sydney Rabbitohs), Maria Paseka (St George Illawarra Dragons), Taina Naividi (Sydney Roosters), Mere Kilawekana, Naomi Tegu, Kinisalote Vusawa (USP Raiders), Joy Levy, Losana Lutu (Wests Tigers), Nunia Kawa (Yasawa Saints).<\/p>\n
IRL Women’s World Series 2025<\/p>\n
Venue:\u00a0Terry Fox Stadium, Brampton, Ontario<\/p>\n
Tuesday, October 21<\/p>\n
Semi-final: Ireland v Nigeria (3.30pm)
Semi-final: Canada v Fiji (6pm)<\/p>\n
Sunday, October 26<\/p>\n
Third-place play-off: Semi-final losers (1pm)
Final: Semi-final winners (3.30pm)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A social media post from the mother of Fijian props Daniel and Jacob Saifiti was the catalyst for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":181888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-181887","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}