Pearls Trio Give Way To Naviniya Sivo And Roma Waqa
Naviniya Sivo and Roma Waqa debuted for the Fiji Pearls in their 74-55 loss to Tonga Tala at the USC Stadium, Queensland, Australia, on Sunday night.
Tuesday 18 October 2022 | 01:30
The Fiji Pearls at the USC Stadium, Queensland, Australia on October 16, 2022. Back (from left): Alisi Naqiri, Josephine Tabua, Reama Verekauta, Lydia Panapasa, Navinia Sivo, Jimaima Kete, Vaiti Waqatabu (captain), Roma Waqa. Front (from left): Unaisi Rauluni, Avelina Navue, Elina Drikibau, Maliana Rusivakula, Kalesi Tawake and Ledua Waqa. Photo: Netball Fiji
Naviniya Sivo and Roma Waqa debuted for the Fiji Pearls in their 74-55 loss to Tonga Tala at the USC Stadium, Queensland, Australia, on Sunday night.
The duo were last minute replacements to the side at the PacificAus Sports series which will end on Friday.
This was after three members of the Pearls who were initially named could not travel with the side due to commitments.
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The trio are Nina Cirikisuva, Kaitlyn Fisher and Kelera Nawai who is on rehab at her club.
Fijian Pearls head coach Unaisi Rokoura said the tournament was a build-up to next year’s World Cup in Cape Town.
She added that it was great to have a pool of players especially a mixture of local and overseas-based.
“We’ve got the two young girls that came in with Naviniya and Roma they came into the environment and have blended in and also having a different style of play.
“With this tournament it is an opportunity for us to also utilise such players that have shown interest to play for Fiji and of course the players from New Zealand as well,” she said.
“The goal is to come in here and pick up the first position, we were hoping to come up with a win and again you know, that did not happen.
“We’re going to put that aside we’ll be moving on to our next game and focus on.
“We make sure we limit our individual skills error.
We will work on maintaining possession and capitalising it.
“It is important that we finish off strong at the end and then finish off with the top two finish off in the finals at the end of the week.”
The Pearls have not won against the Tala since the inaugural PacificAus Sports Series in March.
“As you can see for the Talas, most of the plays are made up of Australian and New Zealand based players,” Rokoura said.
“They play a regular level and most of these players have just come out of the Australian National League competition and have represented their teams in the national champs.
Most have had the opportunity to be playing regular Premier League games competition.”
Rokoura indicated that shooter Maliana Rusivakula was injured and would not play against Samoa.
The Pearls played against the Samoa Tifa Moana at 7pm last night after this edition went to press.
Day One Results:
Australian Pathway Team 46-52 Samoa Tifa Moana
USC Thunder 60-47 Papua New Guinea Pepes
Tonga Tala 74-55 Fiji Pearls
Story By: sereana.salalo@fijisun.com.fj
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