West Tigers Marika Koroibete was discovered by a League scout not in the cities but in the highlands of Fiji. But more surprising to the scout was not his speed - his fastest was 10.6 s in the 100m - but that he has never lifted weights, leave alone being in a gym. All his training has been running and he was a scrawny figure - not the typical bulky athletic figure of a rugby player.
Joel Greig goes on to say - " In that first year of NSW Cup, the Tigers actually withheld him from the opening nine or 10 games. That's how worried they were he'd get hurt."
Two years later the Wests Tigers privately believe he is ready to make his mark as the fastest NRL player.
The Daily Telegraph has revealed Koroibete has added a staggering 6kg of muscle in preparation for his second NRL season.
This from the Herald Sun
From learning the art of bench press with that 20kg barbell two years ago, this transformed winger now has a 160kg maximum and can also bench two 60kg dumbbells for a staggering 15 repetitions. So drastic has this 20-year-old's overhaul been since Christmas, Tigers coach Mick Potter last week approached his club board for extra money ... explaining they no longer had dumbbells heavy enough for the Islander.
Then comes the great debate - do fast Fijian players loose speed when they bulk up playing league. Answer? The massive weight gains Marika has achieved under the guidance of strength coach Luke Portese has not affected the winger's pace.
In a trial match two weeks ago, Koroibete was clocked on his GPS system at 32.4km/h. To put this in perspective, when Usain Bolt broke the 100m world record, he averaged 37.6km/h. Unfortunately, with footy clubs guarding such information like rednecks do their moonshine, confirming exactly where such a time puts the flyer in terms of the NRL's Fastest Man tag is impossible.
On a lighter note Joel Greig says Koroibete "can get through an entire conversation by only moving his eyebrows".
