Meli Laddpeter 
After witnessing the first round of the 2025 Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby League zone competitions, Fiji Bati head coach Wise Kativereta is impressed to see many young player’s understanding of the game.
In previous years, Kativerata would notice players using the union style of rugby.
While attending the FSSRL Eastern Zone competition last weekend, he saw that many of the younger players showed a strong grasp of rugby league tactics, signaling a lot progress in their development.
Kativereta credits the recent efforts of FSSRL staff, who have been conducting clinics across the country over the past few months.
These initiatives, he believes, are beginning to pay off, as the growing understanding of the game is clearly evident among the players.
“The most improvement in the games that I saw is that they complete their six tackles. They understand now they have to hold the ball six times. And the defense, they’re more organized, the marker is working really well and they back up in 10 meters. Most of them as soon as they tackle they’ll be done they just stand there and they don’t move back. But this year, there’s much improvement.”
According to Kativerata, development academies will be set up for the under-14 to 17 grades after the FSSRL competition in the western, central and northern divisions.
The next round of the zone competitions will kick off tomorrow.
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