Tela ‘The Organiser’
FLYING Fijians and Swire Shipping Fijian Drua flyhalf Teti Tela may have earned his ‘The Answer’ nickname from rugby commentators in Super Rugby Pacific by the way he had contributed immensely to the team’s performance this season, but his nuclear family knows him as ‘The Organiser.’
Tela’s father, Jiofiliti Tela, shed some light on the life of his son, who had been wowing Fijian rugby fans in the country and across the world with the way he played this year for the Drua and now the Flying Fijians.
“He is always humble,” said his father.
“He is the type of person who stays at the background and helps everyone around him, especially on the field. That is one thing I notice about my son.”
The 30 year-old Daliconi, Vanuabalavu, Lau lad with maternal links to Sawakasa Village in Tailevu, is the middle child in a family of five.
“Semiti is the oldest and Mika is the youngest. Because Teti is in the middle, he is what we consider at home a ‘go-between.’ He is very humble and between the three of them, he is the organiser. If we have a family lunch or get together, he is the one who will organise everything.”
The Tela brothers grew up at Levuka where Jiofiliti worked for the then Fiji Electricity Authority (FEA) which is know called Electricity Fiji Ltd (EFL). Their mother Rosi Dreu worked for the then National Bank of Fiji (NBF) which changed names from Colonial Bank to now Bank South Pacific.
The family migrated to New Zealand in 1997 and to Australia in 2004.
Transitioning from a carefree island life to the hustle and bustle of New Zealand was something Tela and his two brothers had to overcome. Jiofiliti said his sons faced culture shock.
“In Levuka, everything was free. They would run around openly on the park and when we went to New Zealand, everything changed for them. Our neighbour had kids and whenever they would hear noise coming from their backyard, they would climb over the fence and peep to know what was going on. I used to tell them it was not allowed to do that.”
The Tela brothers received sports scholarships from Ipswich Grammar in Melbourne, and it was where the Drua fly-half’s passion for rugby developed.
“While at Ipswich Grammar, Teti was appointed as captain of their First XV rugby team and I knew from there he was going to do well in the sport.”
Tela got his first taste of Super Rugby in 2016 for the Queensland Reds under former All Blacks and current coach Brad Thorn before getting the call to be a part of the Flying Fijians team in 2019 to take on the Barbarians at Twickenham in England.
“He came home from training one day saying Brad Thorn was contacted by Senirusi Seruvakula on his availability to represent his nation against the Barbarians.”
The Barbarians were laced with six South-African players who had just lifted the Rugby World Cup trophy a few weeks earlier and Jiofiliti’s message to his son was simple and clear.
“Before he left Brisbane for Fiji, I told him the Barbarians would probably field those Rugby World Cup winning players and he should not care about their reputation, but simply see them as normal opponents.”
The Flying Fijians went on to win the match 33-31 where Tela scored an impressive 100 per cent accuracy in goal-kicking.
“After the match, I called to ask him how he did it knowing he was not a goal-kicker from junior rugby right up until Super Rugby. He never kicked at goal before and got all his kicks through the post in international rugby. His reply was just a mere, ‘I just stuck to the basics and trusted the process.’
Tela played an instrumental role for the national side as they toppled a star-studded Tongan side 36-0 last week and Jiofiliti said his son lost his voice after the game.
“He lost his voice after the game on Saturday and it showed how he loves the opportunity of representing his nation in Super Rugby and now the Pacific Nations Cup.
“The yellow card he got in the game was his first ever in his rugby career since he started playing the sport.”
Jiofiliti shared the advice he gives his son whenever he gets ready for a game.
“I always emphasise to my three sons the importance of putting God first and everything will fall into place.
“This is God’s timing for Teti and it is one thing I would like to share with all aspiring athletes. If you work hard, you will reap the reward. That is the formula to every successful person and it is stated in the Bible and God’s word never fails.”
The Flying Fijians take on Australia A this afternoon at
Churchill Park in Lautoka in the second round of the 2022 PNC and Jiofiliti said he would be at the stands cheering his son and the Flying Fijians when they head out for battle.