3 years ago Naulia Dawai moved to New Zealand not knowing where the town he was going to would be. Jekope Maiono from Rugby-Career.com had recruited him to play in Southland rugby competition for Midlands. The deep South as they call it is often covered in snow and that's what he found himself in.
Despite the hardship Dawai has worked hard in the three years. Being away from his family is the hardest and he flies back to them in the off season. In 2012 he returned early to play for Southland in the Sevens competition and impressed Southland Coach David Henderson. But Henderson wanted Dawai to move from hooker to flanker after seeing him at the New Zealand Sevens in Queenstown.
"After the sevens, we thought he was a guy with special talents, that could run with the ball," Henderson said. "He seemed to have something different. He could step into contact and through contact, he's quite powerful. We encouraged him to go into loose forward and he's done enough to warrant selection, so we are pretty happy with where he's at, but he's still got a long way to go."This year he was finally selected to play for the Stags alongside other Fijian mates Nemia Kenatale and Tuapati Talemaitoga.
"I've learnt a lot, just how to train and what to eat. Focussing on skills like my passing and tackling technique, running lines. I've learnt heaps."
Congratulations Naulia Dawai.
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