With Dyldam Parramatta Eels winger Semi Radradra in camp in Brisbane with the World All Stars side for the week, we checked in to ask him about what it means to represent Fiji in the World All Stars.
As a proud Fijian, how does it feel to represent your country in the inaugural World All Stars team, picked by Wayne Bennett?
It’s a complete honour for me to be picked in my first All Stars weekend. I know that the people in Fiji will be proud as well, and will be watching the game with excitement.
You first represented Fiji in 2013 during the Rugby League World Cup. What did that mean for you and your family?
Representing Fiji is something I value dearly, being my country of birth and where I lived until just a few years ago. It was a great experience for me playing in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.
Can you give us a little bit of background into your early years playing in Fiji?
I’ve always been a rugby union fan and I still am today. I started playing rugby union when I was four years old, and played for it a long time. I played rugby union for the Fiji Under 20s in the World Cup in Italy, and also in the Rugby Sevens. And then I was noticed by the Parramatta Eels and moved to rugby league in 2012.
How did you wind up playing for the Parramatta Eels and what do you love about Rugby League?
I was playing Rugby Sevens for Fiji when I got a call saying someone from the Parramatta Eels had noticed me and that I should come to play there. I had never played rugby league before, I had only watched the games on TV in Fiji.
Last season you broke Parramatta’s try scoring record, held by Steve Ella – how does it feel to break a record that stood for 33 years?
To break a record that had stood for so long was one of my career highlights, as well as being the top try-scorer last year. Parramatta is a club with a great tradition and history so it was incredible to break a record and be part of the history books.
Who was your sporting hero growing up?
Rupeni Caucaunibuca, a great Fijian rugby union player
