sport, local-sport, Auckland Nines

Halauafu Lavaka isn’t good with secrets, so it’s easy to imagine how difficult he found keeping his selection in the Parramatta Eels’ Auckland Nines squad under wraps. The former Waratah Tigers junior found out last Friday he had made the 18-man side but was instructed to keep the call-up secret until the team’s official announcement on Monday. When the deadline passed, Lavaka quickly told his parents the news. “It was definitely a proud moment for my family, especially for my parents,” Lavaka said. “They were in tears. They’ve been waiting a long time for something like this. “They took me around at a young age, and to see me in the big league playing against some of the best players in the world, it’s a dream come true.” Lavaka starred in last season’s National Youth Competition to finish as its leading try scorer with 28 from 26 games. The 21-year-old winger was then invited to train with the Eels senior squad over summer, his performances catching the eye of head coach Brad Arthur. “His feedback for me was that I’d been training pretty well and that he wasn’t expecting me to be training the way I am,” Lavaka said. “I had a few weaknesses when I started, but now I’ve turned them into a couple of my strengths.” Chief among them is defence, with Lavaka’s tackling style and positioning addressed by Arthur during the gruelling pre-season sessions. “It (tackling) was definitely one of my main weaknesses in 2014, but he (Arthur) definitely took time out to focus on defence at training,” he said. “Not just for myself, but basically for everyone.” Eels supporters, however, will hope Lavaka doesn’t spend all his time on the field in Aukland performing grunt work. The imposing 195cm, 109kg flyer has the pace and power to star in the Nines format and can put himself in contention for an NRL berth if he impresses. “This is something I’ve been training for now for a very long time,” Lavaka said. “This is an opportunity, a door I can see myself entering. “But it’s not going to be the end of it. “I want to keep going and do what I’m doing and hopefully cement a spot in the starting 17 every week.” But Lavaka is wary about getting ahead of himself. He said his priority was to perform this weekend with his Eels teammates. “I’ll be coming up against the best players in the game, but with professional guys like Chris Sandow and Corey Norman beside me, that’s the thing that will make me more confident,” he said. “It’s definitely going to be challenging. “But I know the way we’ve been going and the pre-season we’ve had. “I’m pretty confident we’ll get a few wins.” The Eels’ first match is against the Manly Sea Eagles.

https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/dk7sjeXrpU52AxgJMUSyWi/5b57fdfd-ab54-49e8-93af-832ee1aa4aab.jpg/r0_627_2063_1793_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg