TEIVOVO.COM – FEATURE

Club feature – St John's Marist

25 September 2000

The Marist club have enjoyed a high profile year, winning a number of sevens tournaments home and abroad. They also clipped the ears of the national sevens team in February, giving their more well-known cousins a wake-up call just before the Wellington Sevens.



The St. John’s-Marist Rugby Club was formed in 1969 through a merger of the Albians and St. John’s. Pioneer and former Fiji captain Pio Bosco Tikoisuva, who has been involved with Marist continuously over the past three decades, said the merger came about through the hard work of the late George Reid.

Reid, known by many as the father of rugby in Suva, passed away in the late 1990s after helping to spawn the interest in sevens rugby in Fiji.

History
The Albians rugby club were made up mainly of part-European boys who were ex-pupils of Catholic schools around the country. The St John’s rugby club, meanwhile, consisted of players who had attended St John’s College in Cawaci, Levuka, of which Tikoisuva was a member.

“Talks of the merger of the two clubs started in 1968 but only eventuated in 1969 after George suggested that we seriously think about bringing the two clubs together,” Tikoisuva said.

The former national first five said this was also done after they realised that the St John’s Rugby Club had started to become a force to reckon with on the local Suva rugby scene.

“After taking all that into consideration, we decided to make the move.”

Marist Sevens
“We were drinking grog one afternoon and George Reid suggested we think up of something to occupy the boys at the end of the 15s season,” he recalls.

“That was when the idea of a sevens tournament was born.”

The first Marist Sevens took place in 1976 (the same year as Hong Kong's first torunament) with only four teams participating and the winner getting a carton of beer as first prize.

Eight teams competed the following year. “But a year later, we had 11 entries as well as two invitational sides,” Tikoisuva said. “And we never looked back.”

The Marist Sevens remains one of the biggest and best-organised tournaments in the country.

The tournament continued to grow in size, reaching a peak at one stage of more than 110 teams.

“This was all possible because of the huge heart that George Reid had. We would set the maximum number at 80, but when people still wanted to enter, he would persuade us to increase the number,” Tikoisuva explained.

The main objective of the club, according to Tikoisuva, was to enhance and upgrade club rugby as much as possible.

“That was why he always pushed for more teams and urged more club participation in tournaments,” he said.

Marist was also one of the major forces in the Suva club competition after Reid became Suva Rugby Union President.

“When he was in charge of the SRU, he used to really give his all to the sport. He would be there first thing Saturday morning to set everything up and would be the last to leave,” Tikoisuva recalled.

“Rugby was his life and he dedicated it to the advancement of rugby in Suva.”

Tikoisuva believes that the father of the Marist Rugby Club, George Reid, should have been a recipient of a Fiji Honourary Award for the work that he did in laying the foundation for Suva rugby.

“George was a great man and he deserves to be remembered for all that he did,” Tikoisuva said. “His life was rugby – he would always go out of his way to do things, not only for the Marist Club, but for the Suva Rugby Union.

“If it wasn’t for George’s idea that afternoon, I don't know where Fiji would be in sevens today. It was from there that the interest of sevens began and which later developed into something that Fiji would excel in, not to mention becoming world champions in the code,” Tikoisuva said.



All Blacks connection
While numerous Marist club players have gone on to play for Fiji, the current manager of the New Zealand All Blacks, Andrew Martin, also played for Marist.

Martin, a prop forward, had moved to Fiji in the late 1970s to work as a trainee manager with Stinson Pearce when he joined the club.

“He was only 20 years old and fitted in perfectly because of his knowledge of rugby from New Zealand,” Tikoisuva said.

He played for Marist from 1976 to 1978, but then had to go back to New Zealand.

“We heard that later he joined the SAS and became a Lieutenant Colonel,” Tikoi-suva added. “When he was here, Andrew was just like any of the boys and he used to like eating tavioka and corned beef just like the rest of us.”

Marist role of honour
Several names that have brought Fiji rugby fame come from the Marist club. These include the likes of Jone Raikuna, Lario Raikiliva, Setareki Tamanivalu, Peter Kean, Peniasi Nasalo, George Sailosi, Sakapo Vodivodi, Romanu Sakaraia, Tony Radike, Joe Veitayaki, Max Olsson, Sirilo Lovokuro, Desmond Whiteside and Walter Morgan.

On the sevens scene, players from the Marist Club that took Fiji to great heights at the Hong Kong Sevens include Paulo Nawalu and Aliposo Waqaliti.

“These players did a lot for Fiji and will always be remembered for the work they did even if they moved on to other places,” he said.

Current Marist coach Vilisoni Vakatalai

Looking ahead
Marist looks to have a bright future ahead. Young and enthusiastic players have started to join the club and Tikoisuva believes this will form the base of a very strong team.

“We are getting more skilful, enthusiastic and stronger players which should go well for us in years to come,” he said.

But for the man who has marshalled the Marist Rugby Club to many victories over the years, it’s time he handed the reins to someone else.

“I think it’s time I moved on and let someone else come in and take over,” he said.

“This is important because the trend of rugby is moving on and new ideas are needed to make the team more competitive.”

However, this does not mean that the former national rugby rep will stay out of the picture for good.

“I will come in occasionally to check on the boys and will also help out at times but I will definitely not stay for good.”