By Liam Cook

An Ashgrovian as a youngster, Ethan Rokoura might never have expected to now be thriving in first grade at arch-rival, Brothers.

In his first year back in Brisbane for some time, the young hooker is enjoying life at his new club.

“It’s been awesome coming back… Brothers is a good club and they offer a lot coaching wise,” Rokoura told Rugby News.

“I’ve learnt a lot while being up here from some great coaches and the great bunch of boys.”

Rokoura’s sporting exploits since leaving Brisbane for Canberra as a teenager would perhaps be unrivalled in Queensland premier rugby.

After a successful final school year with his first XV side in the nation’s capital, the powerful forward made the bold decision to pursue Gridiron overseas.

“I originally headed over to Minnesota to a community college called Rochester Community and Technical College in 2019-2020.”

Covid-19 put an end to Rokoura’s foreign odyssey, but it didn’t dampen his aspirations to play sport at a high level.

“2020 was the year I went back into rugby because gridiron was over, college was on hold and I had to get some fitness in somehow so I thought why not go back to rugby, the sport I grew up on.”

Following standout performances for the Canberra Royals premier grade team and the Brumbies city verses country competition side, Rokoura’s confidence and ambitions grew.

“I put all my tape together and sent a few emails out to some clubs up here, in WA and I was fortunate enough to get an offer to come play with Brothers this year.”

The young talent has enjoyed re-familiarising himself with Brisbane after attending Marist College Ashgrove as a junior.

“When I left that Ashgrove era it was sad to see it go and now coming back up here it’s definitely a nostalgic feeling seeing the areas I used to hang out in and playing against some of the boys down at GPS like John Downes, Ben Byrne, and Ben Geraghty.”

Rokoura’s intention to make a fast start at his new club was denied through injury.

The weeks spent on the sidelines were disheartening, Rokoura says.

“I came up here at the start of the year ready to give this one hundred per-cent and then I had a spanner thrown in the works with a knee injury in the trial game.”

“It took an impact on me mentally because I came up here for a reason and that was to play footy.

“Having an injury for as long as I did footy was quite a hard thing to get back into.”

Stints in the lower grades helped the hooker re-set his approach and re-claim his enjoyment of the game.

Having now pushed his way into the first-grade side, Rokoura is flourishing.

“Moving back into that premier grade side has just been a hell of a time for me, especially playing beside guys like Harry Hoopert, Ryan Smith, Ben Hyne and all those guys who have knowledge in the Super Rugby area.”

“Since coming back to first grade I’ve loved it, it’s where I want to be and it’s where I belong mentally.”

The dynamic hooker has injected his unique skillset into a team that currently sits third on the ladder with three rounds to play.

“We’ve got three big games coming up with Easts this weekend, Bond, and Sunnybank and then the finals are on,” he said.

“We’re looking pretty strong and feeling pretty confident that we can get to where we need to be before final’s time.

“Training is always strong, confident, and high-energy especially coming into the back end of the season because who doesn’t love a bit of final’s footy.”

Full of confidence and eager to learn, Rokoura says he has soaked up the knowledge of his new teammates and coaches like a sponge.

“A big one that I’ve learnt a lot off is Tom Moloney, T-Bone, our loose-head prop.”

“Our forward’s coach and ex-Ireland international Tom Court is who I’ve learnt the most from at the club especially in terms of scrummaging and also Niklas Superina who was a hooker in his day.

“That bunch of boys that have done Super Rugby and international tours are where you get most of your knowledge from just picking their brain from time to time.”

The final three rounds are a chance for Rokoura and Brothers to intensify their focus.

“For me it’s just doing the one-percenters and having the confidence to run the ball with my banged knees and do my job so I’m not letting down the other boys.”

“As a team, we just need to treat each game like it’s a final and play to what we do best with ball in hand.”

Despite having travelled far and wide in pursuit of his dreams already, Rokoura says he is only just getting started.

“I want to hopefully get a Super Rugby career out of this or if not go overseas to Japan or Europe.”

“With the rough start to this year I’m just putting that on hold and focusing on doing the job the team needs me to do.

“If I was to look in the long run than I’d definitely like to make a career out of footy.”