My Son, My Life: Kikau

Recently, Austral­ians have been rumbling about the ball wrecking per­formance of Viliame Kikau in the NRL (National Rugby League).

Even the Bulldogs faced the brunt of it as the Fijian showed no mercy with his ‘beast mode attitude’, despite the fact that he will be joining them in the new season after securing a lucrative four-year contract.

It is reported by the Australian media that Kikau could be earning close to AU$800,000 (FJ$1.2 million) per year making him one of the highest paid forward in Australia.

Finally, in an interview with SUN­sports, Kikau revealed that the birth of his five-month-old son, Apeni­sa William Gucake Kikau, made him a changed man.

Kikau said his son now played a big role in his rugby league career.

“Having a son is very important because it adds another perspec­tive to my life,” the tough Penrith Panthers forward said.

“I’m no longer a young boy or just a guy who has a girlfriend. Now, I have a family. I must man up be­cause I have a lot of responsibility being a dad.”

The Bati vice-captain highlighted that now he had to think about eve­ry decision he makes.

“When I get to play footy, I always remember my little men, who is there at home waiting for me,” he said.

“He definitely holds a special place in my heart and my rugby league career.”

Why Fiji?

Looking at Saturday’s Pacific Test against the Papua New Guinea Ku­muls, Kikua said they had many promising players who played well for their respective clubs.

“I believe we will put together a good team against PNG,” he said.

“For me, representing Fiji is al­ways big because I get to represent my family, the people of Fiji and the kids back home.

“We still have a few months for the World Cup, hopefully everyone is healthy, injury free and ready to­wards the end of the year. We got to pick a strong side for the Rugby League World Cup.”

Kikau indicated that there were many things that made him play for Fiji.

“Firstly, I’m representing my fam­ily. Watching this game, growing up really inspired me to become who I am today,” he said.

“The past two world cups we came to Fiji and experienced the difficulties faced by the people and it made us work hard.

“It’s good to experience all the struggles and it has taken me to where I am today. So it means a lot to represent Fiji.”

Schools competition

Kikau also said it was great to hear that the Vodafone Fiji Sec­ondary Schools rugby league semi­finals were scheduled for Saturday.

“I’m pleased to see the competi­tion is still happening in Fiji.

“I remembered when I was play­ing back in the school competition. It wasn’t really that big but we did have someone coming over and scouting for talents.

“Today, it’s like a regular thing that clubs in Australia to send scouts to identify talents with our school boys and hopefully get another Maika Sivo or Mika Rav­alawa from Fiji to make a name for themselves.

“For the students, back home, nothing beats working hard, if you sacrifice, be committed and do all the little things right, you will get there,” he added

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