New Red owes it to Sam

JIM TUCKER NEW Reds halfback Moses Sorovi has never met Sam Thaiday but the Broncos stalwart showed him it was possible to make it from tiny Yam Island to Suncorp Stadium.

There wasn’t even a rugby team on the tiny speck in the Torres Strait where he first flung passes for fun and messed around with his natural footy skills and speed.

His rise to face the NSW Waratahs tonight proves again that indigenous talents, when given a proper pathway, can make it to the elite levels of rugby.

For Sorovi, 22, that chance came through his scholarship to St Peters Lutheran College, a Brisbane school that has now enhanced support for more than 30 indigenous kids as boarders.

“There were not great facilities or even any rugby on Yam Island so it wasn’t until I moved to St Peters that rugby started for me,” Sorovi said.

“I knew Sam Thaiday was from there, every kid on Yam Island knows that, and he pretty much set the pathway for other players.

“I grew up with my mum as a single parent.”

With six brothers and sisters, the Sorovi fan club has plenty of volume on their own to go with proud mum Phyllis Sampson.

Sorovi’s livewire darts were a hallmark of his game when he helped inspire St Peters’ upset 2012 AIC premiership.

More consistency with his pass has created tonight’s chance but those dashes, at the right time, can also make better value of the Reds’ pack power.

Sorovi is thankful for the benefits beyond rugby that his school, and now the Reds, have created for him and he quietly talks of a plan to give more boys on Yam Island a chance to succeed.

“When I have the opportunity I share my story and I’d like to get a Rookies2Reds visit to my island to get other indigenous kids on the right track,” Sorovi said.

“There are lots of talents up on the islands.”

Coach Brad Thorn has fearlessly backed Sorovi and 20year-old Hamish Stewart as his halves pairing.

A little extra speed and an eye to the future are part of it.