The National Rugby Championship (NRC), the third tier of Australian rugby beneath the Wallabies and Super Rugby, was designed with the objective of discovering talent.
And over the four years of its existence it certainly has been successful in that task with Samu Kerevi, Dane Haylett-Petty and Reece Hodge just three to emerge from the ranks.
But none are more exciting, or made more of an impact, than former Fijian goalkeeper, Filipo Daugunu. And yes, we are still talking about rugby.
The 22-year-old Daugunu played as a goalkeeper in the oval game but gave it up in 2015 to pursue a career in rugby, first making a mark in the Fiji’s sevens programme.
He only moved to Brisbane this year to play club rugby with the Wests Bulldogs but quickly caught the attention of Queensland talent scouts, who included him in the Queensland Country NRC squad.
Not a bad pick-up as it turned out, as his stats for the tournament show: top tryscorer with 13 tries, second in metres made in attack (792) and second in clean breaks (18).
Okay, pretty impressive but here’s the killer – the most amazing aspect of Daugunu’s feats are that he was suspended for the first three rounds of the competition. He did it all in just seven matches.
The 1.75m tall, 91kg winger announced himself as the latest Fijian flyer to put his stamp on Australian rugby with a stunning 75 metre solo try in his NRC debut against the Sydney Rays in Round 4.
Skipper Duncan Paia’aua had just scored the first try of his own hat-trick when Daugunu exploded into action from the re-start.
He evaded seven tackles in a curving long-range run for his first try and then darted onto an inside pass from fly-half Hamish Stewart for a second late in the game.
Since the double against the Rays, he scored a treble against the Melbourne Rising, one in the hardfought win over the NSW Country Eagles and then a stunning quadruple in the 57-31 mauling of the Greater Sydney Rams.
He became just the fourth player in four years to score four tries in a NRC match. He then topped it off with the crowning achievement – a searing second-half hat-trick as Queensland Country defeated Canberra Vikings in Saturday’s final 42-28.
Brad Thorn
His first came in the 43rd minute, tip-toeing down the sideline to put Country back in the match as they trailed 21-7. The second came 10 minutes later as he finished off a break by Paia’aua to make it 21-21.
His final try put the icing on the cake – a scorching 60 metre effort straight from the kick-off to complete the stunning come from behind victory.
Not a bad result for coach Brad Thorn (l), recently appointed as the Queensland Reds’ new coach in Super Rugby, who took Country from last to first in one season.
Daugunu certainly knows his way to the try line, indeed the only match where he was kept a little quiet was on his return to Fiji, Lautoka, when he and his teammates took on NRC new boys, the Fijian Drua. For Daugunu, who hails from Cakaudrove province, the match was a triumphant homecoming.
A big step for the youngster who began his sporting career playing for the Labasa football club. Queensland fans are already salivating picturing Daugunu in a Reds jersey next season. “(He’s) just a highly-talented young man,” Thorn enthused. “He does some special things out there.
“There’s no substitute for speed and he’s just a natural footballer. “You’d like to think having him in the (Reds) programme, he’s just going to flourish. “He can kick goals, like a lot of Fijians – they’re multi-talented.
He’s good in a ruck situation, he’s a physical guy. “It’s great to have him on board and good reward for him. He’s backed himself, come here, played club footy and got picked up. “And he’s a wonderful young man too.”
The challenge now for Daugunu is to continue his feats against the likes of Rieko Ioane and Waisake Naholo in Super Rugby next year.
