Naiduki eyes Flying Fijians after Skipper Cup return

From the NRL (National Rugby League), he moved to New Zealand to rep­resent Counties Manukau in the Na­tional Provincial Championship (NPC) before returning home to play in the Skipper Cup.

This is the sporting journey of former Ratu Kadavulevu School(RKS) star cen­tre Solomone Naiduki.

The 26-year-old made his debut for Fresh Choice Tailevu rugby team dur­ing their Skipper Cup clash against Kadavu at the Burebasaga grounds last Saturday.

Speaking to SUNsports, after their 30-10 win over Kadavu, Naiduki said he was excited to make his Skipper Cup debut.

Now he has set his sights on making the Flying Fijians squad for the Nations Championship in November and next year's Rugby World Cup (RWC) in Aus­tralia.

Naiduki played alongside Sireli Maqa­la, France-based No.8 turned centre Alivereti Loaloa in the RKS Under-18 rugby team that won the Vodafone Deans Trophy in 2018.

He left for Australia, soon after the Deans Trophy win to play for Parramat­ta Eels in the NRL Under-20 competi­tion and later made the Eels 30-mem­ber squad in 2022.

"This is my first Skipper Cup game," Naiduki said.

"I thank the Tailevu Rugby for giving me the chance to represent Tailevu. I'm part of the FTG (Force Training Group) rugby club and it's great to be back."

Naiduki thanked his uncle for his support and encouragement.

"He always encouraging me to achieve my dreams. I will take it a step at a time and since I have some other dreams to achieve, I will try my best to achieve it and use this Skipper Cup platform to be select­ed for the Flying Fijians," he said.

He said to play for the Flying Fi­jians remained one of his main goals.

"That is one of my main goals to wear the white jumper and to achieve that dream I have to re­flect where it all started back in school," he said.

BACKGROUND

Naiduki played for Parramatta Eels U20/21 side in the Jersey Flegg competition from 2019 to 2021 under the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL), making 14 appearances and scoring three tries for 12 points. He was selected into the Parramatta Eels 30 squad roster for the 2022 NRL season.
He later joined Counties Ma­nukau extended squad as a left wing from 2023 to 2025 in New Zealand's NPC and was also part of the Hurricanes pre-season side for the 2023 Super Rugby Pacific Season where he played alongside former All Blacks winger Julian Savea, former New Zealand 7s rep and Flying Fijians back Salesi Raiyasi, former Hurricanes U20 player of the year and former Fijian Drua winger Waqa Nalaga along with Hurricanes flank­er Du'Plessis Kirifi to name a few.