THE high-flying Kaiviti Silktails rugby league team’s dreams of securing the prestigious Ron Massey Cup had been abruptly disrupted after the tournament’s cancellation because of a resurgence of new COVID-19 cases in the greater Sydney region.
The acting chief executive officer at Fiji National Rugby League Don Natabe said it was disappointing the flamboyant Silktails’ campaign had to end prematurely.
“The plan was to finish the entire season in Australia,” he said.
“The idea was to remain there after the conclusion of this year’s competition for off-season preparations also before competing in the tournament next year.
“We had anticipated of playing half the 2022 season in NSW before playing the remainder of our games at home.
“Pretty disappointing but it is what it is but we are proud of the Silktails achievements during the tough tournament.”
Natabe confirmed the Silktails would be departing the country for Australia in November to restart it’s 2022 preseason training.
Kaiviti Silktails created history last year and became the first team from Fiji to feature in the competition after being given the green light by New South Wales Rugby League however managed to complete one game before the event was shelved because of COVID-19.
The cream of 28 locally-based footie players and five support staff had relocated to Australia for the 2021 season; the Silktails were in the top-six and strong contenders to hoist the coveted Ron Massey Cup which was initially suspended at round 16 and ultimately abandoned last Tuesday.
The team is currently in mandatory 14-day quarantine at Nadi after arriving on Wednesday August 11 before reuniting with their families.
