Potter confident in Bati leadership group

Fiji Bati head coach Mick Potter is confident his leadership group can deliver at the Rugby League World Cup (RLWC) in October. This follows the retirement of Bati captain Tui Kamikamica on medical grounds.

Potter will name his final 40-member squad on October 6, less than two weeks before Fiji faces the Cook Islands on October 18 in Newcastle.

“Our leadership group is still looking strong, we still have Api Koroisau and Viliame Kikau; when you think of how clever Api is with his knowledge of rugby league and his tactics,” Potter said. “Then you look at the leadership, the Kikau brings, by the way he leads. He leads by example, and I love that. I think that's, they're probably our two pillars that all stand us up.”

He added the Bati still have Jacob Saffiti, who’s enormous and his actions speaks louder than his words.

Potter is hopeful Jethro Rinakama can recover from an ankle injury in time for selection.

“He'll (Rinakama) be borderline to be back, and I've just tried to send him a message just a little while ago, but I think he's at training, so just to find out how he's progressing,” Potter said.

“There'll be probably some players that'll be right on the edge of selection.

“There's a couple other guys that have come back from injuries, but also there's still a couple of games to go, and we still need to assess. But we'll be selecting from the NRL, Super League and New South Wales Cup, and a little bit of Queensland Cup as well.”

Potter said he expects to have a clearer picture of his squad by September 20, when most players finish their club commitments and recover from injuries.

“We'll have probably four shadow players on the back of it, just in case some of the players don't pull through.”

Asked about local players, Potter said: “I’ve been watching a little bit of local competition, but I haven't really got them on my radar to be selected. Just for some of the local players, has to actually be in an elite system, it would be great for them to be in that, but they're not going to be as tuned as most of the players that are playing in those other competitions.”

He said he would like local players to eventually progress into the Bati setup through domestic competitions.

Fiji is drawn in Pool A with Australia, New Zealand and the Cook Islands.

The team will spend about six days in Fiji before training together for a week in Australia ahead of the RLWC.

Potter added that he has not sought an update on the documentation of the Fainu brothers regarding their eligibility to play for Fiji.