By Jon Geddes; Photo – J.Mac Photography 

WARATAHS and former Manly Sea Eagles NRL back Tevita Funa is starting to make his mark in the Shute Shield, proving instrumental in the Western Sydney Two Blues breaking a 595-day drought with their stunning 25-15 defeat of defending Shute Shield premiers Gordon.

It was a memorable victory for the club – fittingly on their new home ground at Eric Tweedale Stadium – as their previous first grade win was on September 5 2020, when they beat Penrith 36-29.

The result also added an intriguing new dimension to the premiership.

Funa’s performance at fullback last Saturday, when he scored one try and set up another, demonstrated he is really starting to find his feet in rugby after being signed by NSW this season from the Sea Eagles.

While it would be an easy trap for Waratahs’ players to drop their heads and kick stones when they miss selection and go back to the Shute Shield, that certainly has not been the case with Funa.

“Tevita has been a big positive influence in our team, he leads from the front and is gaining confidence and growing as a rugby union player every week,” said Two Blues head coach Sailosi Tagicakibau.

“The transition for a rugby league player can sometimes be pretty difficult but Tevita has a pretty good skillset that can transfer directly into union. He’s got an awesome boot, he’s big and he showed a set of wheels on the weekend scoring a nice try.

“He just needed some rugby and the more rugby he gets, the better it will be for him and the Waratahs in the near future.”

Tagicakibau said Funa was also comfortable in the Two Blues environment, being a Blacktown boy who attended Westfield Sports High.
“And I think as the season goes he is only going to get better,” the coach said.

For the first time against Gordon the Two Blues were able to field the hard-edged New Zealand centre combination of Cardiff Vaega and Tino Mafoe and their experience showed out with their impressive performances.

Vaega has played Super Rugby for the Blues and the Hurricanes, while Mafoe played a lot of junior representative rugby in New Zealand and for Kagifa Samoa in Global Rapid Rugby. The pair are set to make things interesting for their rivals over the remainder of the season.

Tagicakibau said the team knew that they had the kind of performance they produced against Gordon in them.

“We’ve been pretty competitive in the three previous games and to get that win against the defending premiers was a massive result for us,” he said. “I think we can take a lot of confidence out of that.”

The Two Blues were always going to be a work in progress with only two players from last season in the top squad this year following a massive rebuild aimed at revitalising rugby in western Sydney.

“It’s a whole new group so we are still learning about each other and building our own unique brand of rugby that suits us,” Tagicakibau said.

But after that win over Gordon attention now turns to another big test away against Sydney University on Saturday.

“It doesn’t get easier,” Tagicakibau said. “That was only round four and we have a massive task ahead of us again against Sydney Uni.

“If we can back it up this week that will send a bigger message to the competition we are here and are serious contenders.”

The squad was right back to business on Monday, with a gym session, a review and a players’ meeting with a chat about the season.