Fiji Bati debutant, Jason Qareqare has revealed that he is confident and ready for the challenge this weekend against the PNG LNG Kumuls.
Jason further expressed his excitement to run against his Castleford Tigers teammates in the likes of Liam Horne, Nixon Putt and Sylvester Namo as Jason thinks would be a really good experience for him.
“They’re such a physical team but in think I’m ready for the challenge and we’ll see what happens.”
Recapping last weekend’s game against the Cook Island Aitu, Qareqare said that the atmosphere was great as he watched from the bench how two small island countries battled each other for the win and congratulated NRL for its efforts to grow rugby in Melanesian communities.
“It was a really good stage for rugby league trying to grow rugby league in the Melanesian community.”
Qareqare stated that being in PNG has been a surreal experience for him as he has never seen anything like this anywhere else in the world.
He added that the peoples were so crazy for rugby and the rugby stars which they take it for granted.
“We’ll be in the bus and they’ll be shouting for Sivo and Tui. It’s just a surreal experience. I love PNG.”
“You don’t get that in the UK or anywhere else but here I’ve taken it for granted as well because you see a lot of people and they don’t have much but there’s always a smile on their faces.”
The Bati debutant was born in Lautoka village in Fiji but moved to Germany at the age of four when his father got accepted into the British Army. The family moved to England two years after.
Jason explained that he had started off his sporting career as a football player and at the time had really loved football [soccer] so he didn’t really play much rugby until I was about 11years old when he made the switch after the 2013 world cup went to England.
“That was my first ever time to watch a rugby game in a stadium and I loved it. A lot of players here and past rugby players such as Kevin Naiqama were playing and I just got inspired to play and I never really looked back at football. I wanted to play rugby for the rest of my life.”
He revealed that rubbing shoulders with Kevin Naiqama and Tui has been a surreal experience for him in his rugby career as he was just a little kid in the UK watching big NRL stars.
“I have to pinch myself sometimes. I stayed in camp for about two to three weeks with them and it’s a humbled opportunity that I got to train with them.”
Jason stated that he was inspired by the Fijian team that played Ireland at the Spotland Stadium in Rochdale, England.
“Just hearing the Noqu Masu [the Fijian hymn], it gave me chills. Ever since then I really wanted to play rugby and dropped football.”
He added that around that time, he was in the York City development soccer team as a winger and was making his way up in the sport that he did not really think about rugby until that the world cup game and he has not looked back ever since.
The Fijian explained that it was only right to play for Fiji being his parents’ homeland despite being eligible to play for England says he would.
“I asked my Granddad a year ago and he would have wanted me to play for Fiji. It’s too much of an honor for me to play for Fiji and I don’t think I could ever switch to play England rugby.”
Being away from home, Qareqare stated that he missed his family a lot and had to wake up early in the mornings to ring and check up on his parents the past weeks he’s been in the country.
“The time difference is bad so I have to wake up early in the morning to call my parents when they get home after work in the night.”
Meanwhile looking towards joining NRL next year, Qareqare said he had a year left playing with the Castleford Tigers and wanted to focus on making next year a big year for him in the team.
“I think right now I’m trying to focus on my rugby, I’ve got one more year left and I want to make it a big year after last season.”
“I really couldn’t share my best then but I’m just taking every opportunity that comes and we’ll see what the future holds.”