Parramatta Eels winger Semi Radradra is playing in his final year at the Eels before going to rugby union, however despite plenty of external distractions, Radradra is focused on the Blue & Gold and their 2017 NRL campaign.
The Eels suffered a loss to the Sharks last week, and with two losses in a row, Radradra says the last two clashes have been filled with lost opportunities.
“The last two weeks have been lost opportunities. We lost possession and we need to hold the ball, complete our sets and we should be able to score tries later,” Radradra said.
“I was pretty disappointed (with my performance against the Titans). I dropped a couple of balls, I have never dropped that much ball in my career. But the week after I was pretty good in catching the ball, I worked hard on that.”
Radradra will be defending the inform winger Jordan Rapana this week, and the Eels winger is looking forward to the challenge.
“It will be tough this week, their outside backs have been playing well, especially Jordan Rapana and Joey Leilua,” Radradra said.
“We will need to work hard on defence but we are looking forward to this week.”
“You just need to defend well, I will have to keep chatting to Jenko and try to complete my tackles,” he added.
Radradra is unavailable to play for Australia and in the State of Origin, but with the World Cup approaching, the Eels winger said he was still open to playing for his home country.
“I can’t play Origin, they have the rules there from last year, and I can’t change the rules.” Radradra said.
“The rules have been set for a long time, and a lot of people have played before me. I can’t be the one to come in and change the rules just like that.”
“I haven’t spoken to anyone about the Fiji team, I have just been focused on week to week at the Club, and playing food footy,” he added.
“If there is an opportunity to play, I would love to play for Fiji Bati, but we will see what happens.”
“It would be an honour again to represent my home country, I represented Fiji Bati in the last World Cup, and if they picked me, I would love to play for them.”
And if selected, Radradra would be excited about playing alongside Jarryd Hayne.
“I would love to play alongside Jarryd for the last time. It would be pretty good to play alongside him,” Radradra said.
“It will be massive, especially for Fiji. We need him there and it everyone would love to play alongside him.”
However despite talks of the next World Cup, Radradra remained focused on the Eels and his job at hand.
“I haven’t watched any rugby union lately. I am focused on playing rugby league, finishing it off.” Radradra said.
“I would love to come back to this Club if the door is open for me. I would love to finish off with Rugby League.”
“I would love to win with this Club this year, and make the Grand Final. That is how we have been training, playing week to week and hopefully making the Grand Final.” Radradra added.
The Eels kick off against the Canberra Raiders at GIO Stadium on Saturday 1 April. Kick off at 5:30pm.
