Rabele: Building Inner Man Vital
Building a better person will eventually produce a better player. This has been the drive behind the Fijian Bati side in their preparations for the upcoming Rugby League World Cup, says head coach, Josaia Rabele.
Rabele has coached the Bati to their first World Cup semi-final in 2008. He was also the assistant coach in the 2013 and 2017 World Cups where they (Bati) also reached the semifinals.
“We had started from the 2008 World Cup – we try to build players to be better people,” Rabele said.
“We want to build the inner man in all the players – if you’re a better person then you will be a better player; that is our team theme for all World Cups.
“Because we have been doing that in the past World Cups we have been in the semi-finals in the last three – that’s the team culture we have been building since 2008,” he said.
Rabele was yesterday assisting newcomers former sevens reps Taniela Sadrugu and Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist Iosefo Masi with a few fundamentals of rugby league.
The players are soon joining the North Queensland Cowboys for their off season training in November.
“We are so blessed to have these two now part of our Bati preparation for the World Cup campaign next year.
“They are here to learn the basics of rugby league hopefully when they travel to Australia for the off season they already know some of the stuff.
“They will learn more in Townsville, regarding game structure and all those things.
“If you look at Masi – he is a (Olympic) gold medallist and Sadrugu was also part of the squad. We are so blessed to add two of their calibre in our extended squad.”
The 2022 Rugby League World Cup will be held in England from October 15 to November 19.