Moruya Sharks recruit Fiji trio for 2023 season

Mikeaele Serutabua, Ponijese Tawake and Malamala Manakosiale have joined the club after arriving in Moruya in November from Fiji.

The trio are working at Eagle Outdoors Moruya thanks to four-year visas through the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme.

They are applying the skills they learnt in Fiji fibreglass-laminating boats to campers in Moruya.

When they arrived in the area, they were keen to meet new people, make friends and get involved in the community.

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For the keen athletes, joining the Moruya Sharks was the obvious decision.

Manakosiale said they wanted to get to know the community as much as possible during their time in Australia, and saw rugby league as a fantastic opportunity to meet people.

Tawake said he was looking forward to seeing what playing rugby league in Australia was really like.

While Sharks training under new coach Mick Elliot doesn't start until January, the trio have started their own training sessions together to keep fit and retain their ball-handling skills.

Elliot said he wouldn't know the quality of the new recruits until they strapped on the boots during the squad's first training session.

"They are big boys and they look like they can play," he said.

"I'm keen to seem them play."

He hopes the new recruits will encourage others to come and play and build Moruya into 2023 title contenders.

"It shows the club is heading in the right direction," he said.