The Cronulla Sharks have signed a partnership with the Kaiviti Silktails by providing a direct pathway for young Fijian players.

Silktails ambassador Petero Civoniceva is excited about the partnership and the prospects for Fijian players.

“It’s been a long journey, six years in the making,” Civoniceva said of the Silktails,” he said.

“It’s an amazing opportunity for our local players to see a genuine pathway to further their careers in Australia.”

The senior players will begin with the Silktails in the Massey Cup competition in 2020.

Should they catch the eye of Sharks NRL coach John Morris, they can be elevated into the Canterbury Cup with the Newtown Jets as a forerunner to a possible career in the NRL.

Morris said: “I’m excited we will have a role in helping to develop that next crop of young Fijian players and through our partnership with the Silktails, to provide them with a pathway to the NRL.

“One day I’d love to see a Fijian player come through the pathway and pull on a Sharks jersey at an NRL level.”

The agreement will see the Sharks become the Silktails NRL partner club for the next three years, with the pathway to see Fijian players given the opportunity go from their local Vodafone Cup competition, to the Kaiviti Silktails and the NSWRL Ron Massey Cup, then potentially to the Canterbury Cup and to the NRL.

Edited by Osea Bola

Feedback:  simione.haravanua@fijisun.com.fj