Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: The Demitric Sifakula Yarn

Starting an NRL career in the rain against Roosters at Mt Smart and then facing Panthers in James Fisher-Harris' return isn't ideal for a young lad, although Otahuhu junior Demitric Sifakula's journey ensured he was well prepared for this rugged entry to NRL footy. These foundations were built through the Warriors-Redciffe era and signing with Warriors meant shifting to Redcliffe where Sifakula and a bunch of Warriors juniors dominated.

As part of the Redcliffe U21s team, Sifakula went from a bench forward to starting prop. Sifakula was behind Kina Kepu (Manurewa), Zyon Maiu'u (Te Atatu) and Lleyton Finau (Marist) as Warriors middle forwards during Redcliffe's finals push. Maiu'u and Finau were probably injured during that finals push, giving Sifakula a chance to start in the semi-final win over Capras. Sifakula then started in the final which Redcliffe lost to Townsville.

Two forwards from that final have made NRL debuts this season with Sifakula's debut followed by Kulikefu Finefeuiaki making his debut for Cowboys. Given how quickly the likes of Sifakula, Tom Ale and Maiu'u have progressed since returning to Aotearoa, Warriors probably weren't stressed about their young forward stocks when releasing Kina Kepu or seeing Finau join Panthers.

Let’s slide back a bit further. In 2019 Sifakula was named at fullback for an Auckland Vulcans Under 16 team who played against Future Warriors. A weird twist is that no player in that Warriors team is still in their system while Sifakula, Maiu'u and SG Ball forward Ben Peni (Papatoetoe) all played in the Vulcans team.

Other notable lads from that Vulcans team: Deine Mariner (Broncos), Salesi Ata'ata (Sharks), Keano Kini (Titans) Nathaneil Tangimataiti (Broncos), Fahmy Toilalo (Bulldogs), Sebastyan Jack (Redcliffe).

Sifakula also played midfield for De La Salle College 1st 15, finishing in 2021 and then shifting to Redcliffe straight out of school. Most Kiwi-NRL juniors have 1st 15 backgrounds and the crossover from union to league features ample positional funk. An enticing comparison for Sifakula is Knights middle forward Leo Thompson who played midfield for Napier Boys High School 1st 15. Matthew Timoko on the flipside played midfield for Auckland Grammar 1st 15 and is now an NRL centre.

This flows into Sifakula's versatility as an NRL forward as he can play middle and edge. Sifakula commanded attention with his performance at edge forward in the NRL trial against Tigers, before flowing between middle and edge in NSW Cup. The 19-year-old has played 55+ minutes in seven NSW Cup games with five 80-minute bangers, usually named in the middle but often popping up on an edge during games.

Recently, this has coincided with the promotion of 17-year-old Selumiela (Leka) Halasima who went from SG Ball to NSW Cup while still at Southern Cross Campus. The Mangere East junior was named on the bench for five of his seven NSW Cup games and usually played middle regardless of where he was initially named.

Prior to his NRL debut, Sifakula showcased sneaky mana. Sifakula was 18th-man for Warriors vs Cowboys at Mt Smart in a Saturday evening game. He then played 80mins of NSW Cup footy against Sea Eagles in Sydney the following day. Sifakula didn't just play 80mins, he scored a couple tries, averaged 11.66m/run off nine carries and made 22 tackles with one miss ...against NRL forwards like Sean Keppie and Samuela Fainu.

In his debut vs Roosters Sifakula offered hearty middle forward mahi against an impressive Roosters forward pack. 19mins vs Roosters was followed by a 'all hands on deck' performance against Panthers where Sifakula played 23mins despite being sin-binned. After playing through the middle against Roosters, Sifakula covered for Jackson Ford while he was sin-binned, on the left edge where he encountered Nathan Cleary.

Sifakula had three tackle busts, an offload and made 20 tackles without a miss against Panthers. During his NSW Cup footy and NRL opportunities, Sifakula's physicality stands out and this is probably why he quickly climbed up the Warriors-Redcliffe depth chart. Sifakula can handle middle forward duties in NRL while his mobility , sneaky skill and aggression suits edge forward as well.

Under coach Andrew Webster, Warriors love versatile forwards. During the chaos vs Panthers, Ale plugged a hole at right edge because Marata Niukore was covering centre. Ale is best suited to middle forward and while Maiu'u can play edge forward, his NRL opportunity will probably come through the middle. Wellington's Jacob Laban (Randwick) is the notable young edge forward but he's unlikely to debut this season, leaving Sifakula poised to cover edge when required.

The rise of Sifakula offers a lovely example of young folks from Aotearoa shining through adversity, without much fuss. Sifakula signed with the Auckland-based organisation which meant moving to Redcliffe where he dominated in one of Queensland’s best U21 teams. Seeds were planted during NRL trials and Sifakula has since played a major role in one of the best NSW Cup teams.

Sifakula sits behind Ale as the best local junior forwards in the Warriors system. There are plenty more lads just as good as Sifakula waiting for an opportunity, most notably Maiu'u and Halasima. All four could be playing NRL for Warriors soon, until then Sifakula will quietly go about his mahi as a robust bench forward doing whatever the team requires.

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