Bati go down fighting

[carlnz]

http://fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=36024

NEWCASTLE Knights lock Colin Clarke led the Fiji Bati side that lost 6-12 to the New Zealand Maori in a one-off Test at Coffs Harbour Stadium on Thursday night.
The aggressive Maori side which featured eight Australia-based reps pressured the Bati outfit with two tries and a conversion in the first half.

Saru Dragons skipper Semesa Cadrakilagi cruised in with a classy try in the 30th minute to score under the post with the conversion by Newtown Jets' Gilbert Modrau.

NZ Maori led 10-6 at halftime.

Fiji came back strongly in the second half and was unfortunate to miss three easy tries to Josefa Swamy, Apisai Masikerei and Cadrakilagi.

The Maori side tied up the win with a last-minute penalty three minutes from time.

Team manager Rusiate Ratakele said the boys performed well despite having trained for only three days as a team before the Test.

"I take my hat off to the boys who played their hearts out against a star-studded side," he said.

The Fiji-Maori Test was the first official rugby league international to be held at Coffs Harbour, which Ratakele said was played before about 10,000 rugby league followers.

"They settled in after the first try and kept defending and attacking," he added.

North Sydney Bears' Pio Rokomaqisa, Bill Baleilomaloma of Newtown Jets and Albert Junior were injuries in the game.

The Test was part of the International Challenge Day which kicked off the Big Week of League featuring the Orara Valley Axemen 7s tournament.

Cadrakilagi will lead the Bati in their first game at 11am today.

 

[Noel]

Excuse my ignorance but what is Bati? Is it the national symbol of Fiji?

 

[Mr_Ugly]

I think "Bati" might translate to "Warrior", and I understand it is what the Fijians call their "true" national side that includes local players, as opposed to Fiji A which is Australian based (I think) and the team made up of NZ-based players.

 

[screeny]

How good is it that naitons like Fiji are playing regular-ish Tests off their own initiative. And they seem to have a team that matches their excellent organisation (although I don't know the make up of the Maori line up, but I imagine it would have been strong).

 

[Noel]

Sounds like Fiji did well despite the loss. It would have been an entertaining match.

 

[Mr_Ugly]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]http://www.sun.com.fj/Previous_Days/Saturday/Sports/FijiSun_Sat_Sports3.htm[/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ratakele satisfied despite loss to Maoris[/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]By Lo Rasoqosoqo [/font]

The national rugby league side (Fiji Bati) failed yet again to defeat the New Zealand Maoris after their fifth attempt at the Coff’s Harbour International Stadium in Australia on Thursday night. Fiji went down to the Maoris 6-12 in a Test match that was watched by more than 10,000 spectators but despite the loss, they have proven that the sport has really developed a lot in the country having managed to hold the Maoris to a very close score margin. With the local skills and the combination of the experienced overseas-based players that joined the side in Australia, the Fijians managed to stop the raging Maoris from registering more points after they ran into two consecutive tries with in the first 20 minutes of the game.
Only a try was successfully converted. Fiji retaliated just after 10 minutes with a try to Semesa Cadrakilagi. Australia-based Gilbert Modrau converted the try to bring the score to10-6. Fiji’s chance of equalizing the score came with in the last five minutes of the first spell with the backline driving the ball forward but later failed to touch down when the finisher Jone Waisale dropped the ball. The game became intensified in the second spell with both teams tightening up their defence as they deny each other point. Fiji, however, gave a way a penalty in the last three minutes in which the Maoris got away with another two points to seal the game at 12-6. Manager Rusiate Ratakele was really impressed with how the team performed and said that they have really improved a lot, which was evidence in the score. “They played really well and they could have done much better but it was a good result knowing the strength of the Maoris,” Ratakele said from Australia yesterday. And he was more impressed with how 20-year-old Josefa Swamy played. “He is a very promising player and he played up to the expected standard.” Swamy is an Indo-Fijian and plays for the Western Tigers Club.


[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Bati effort commended [/font]

Fiji National Rugby League (FNRL) acting chairman Peni Musunamasi believes the Fiji Bati is closer to ousting New Zealand Maoris after Thursday nights (6-12) loss. “I was the manager when the Bati last played Maoris in April 2000 and we lost by (6-70).’’ He said Maoris was a world rated team and had services of players from top clubs in Australia and New Zealand. “The close loss speaks for itself and has renewed hopes of an upset win when we meet again on February 21.’’
“The halftime score was (10-6), we managed to keep them at bay apart from the penalty goal in the second half and it was a great effort from the players and officials,’’ he said. “I was hoping we could win to get the much needed publicity to attract sponsors but the Bati had its fair share of problems before the game,’’ he said. “Upon the inclusion of overseas-based players the side trained together once on Tuesday, travelled whole of Wednesday to Coffs Harbor, played on Thursday and coach Shane Morris had commitments and only joined the team briefly,’’ Musunamasi said.
The Test was intended to give the players a buildup game for the Pacific Cup in February, the management will return with videos of the loss so that we can annalyse it and better prepare the Bati for the second test. In the absence of Morris, Joe Rabele Dakuitoga and former Kangaroo Phil Brown guided the Bati side. The Bati have played the Maoris on five different occasions and is yet to register its first win.

 

[brendothejet]

More awesome news from the PI nations.

how is it that these nations can organise so much without the help of any federation?

It pains me to think how great things could be with a proper organisation at the top.

 

[griff]

Fiji are playing regular-ish Tests off their own initiative.

Tell me they haven't got to you too?

 

[screeny]

Tell me they haven't got to you too?

Ha ha! What a disgrace....I shall give myself 50 hail Mary's.....

 

[roopy]

It was a fantastic game, marred somewhat by poor handling by both sides due to heavy showers of rain at times.
10,000 crowd? I don't think so. 4-5000 tops.
I'd say the standard of play was about Premier League standard, but I've seen worse games of firstgrade.

 

[hutch]

How good is it that naitons like Fiji are playing regular-ish Tests off their own initiative. And they seem to have a team that matches their excellent organisation (although I don't know the make up of the Maori line up, but I imagine it would have been strong).

test or not, do you think the rlif keeps records of scores, test caps, individual points of games involving fiji etc. do you think they even know the game was played? IF they had a website, would games such as this even be posted? i dont think so!

 

[BatiFan]

Was a great result for the Bati considering it is the first game this year that the players had played in and also that it rained for the majority of the night. In the reports it failed to mention that the Maori's scored both their tries within the first 10 minutes of the game and it was looking like it would be a walkover for them. To Fiji's credit though, they played great after that initial flurry from the Maoris and missing some of their more experienced or young up and coming players such as Namila Davui (Bulldogs), Puna Rasuabale (Cronulla), Akuila Uate (Knights), Suli Koroi (North Sydney), Samu Wara (Balmain), Netani Suka (Wests Magpies), Semisi Tora and Iowane Divavesi (both Fiji based), I think that the ati are well placed ahead of the Pacific Cup. Hopefully some of these before mentioned players and others OZ based players that played on Thursday night such as Joe Swamy and Col Clarke will be available for the Pac. Cup which will ensure that the Bati team is again strong and competitive.

After the moral boosting performances from the Bati squad at the 7's event played over the weekend I know that the boys are hungry to taste more success.

 

[screeny]

Was a great result for the Bati considering it is the first game this year that the players had played in and also that it rained for the majority of the night. In the reports it failed to mention that the Maori's scored both their tries within the first 10 minutes of the game and it was looking like it would be a walkover for them. To Fiji's credit though, they played great after that initial flurry from the Maoris and missing some of their more experienced or young up and coming players such as Namila Davui (Bulldogs), Puna Rasuabale (Cronulla), Akuila Uate (Knights), Suli Koroi (North Sydney), Samu Wara (Balmain), Netani Suka (Wests Magpies), Semisi Tora and Iowane Divavesi (both Fiji based), I think that the ati are well placed ahead of the Pacific Cup. Hopefully some of these before mentioned players and others OZ based players that played on Thursday night such as Joe Swamy and Col Clarke will be available for the Pac. Cup which will ensure that the Bati team is again strong and competitive.

After the moral boosting performances from the Bati squad at the 7's event played over the weekend I know that the boys are hungry to taste more success.

Batifan, there's been a lot of speculation on here about the make up of European WC qualifiers in 2006 and 2007 with the word on the street that two qualifiers will make the WC finals in 2008 from a final six team group, along the lines of the ENC.

Do you have any inkling of what's happening in the SH, and the Pacific in particular? Is the RLIF wanting to use the Pacific Cup for qualifiers, and has the Fijian RL federation been informed officially of the structure of the qualifiers?