Viliame Kikau

Viliame "Billy" Kikau (born 5 April 1995) is a Fijian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row forward for the Penrith Panthers in the NRL, and Fiji at international level.

Viliame Kikau
Personal information
Born (1995-04-05) 5 April 1995
Nausori, Fiji
Height195 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Weight119 kg (18 st 10 lb)
Playing information
PositionSecond-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2017– Penrith Panthers 71 20 0 0 80
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2015– Fiji 9 5 0 0 20
2019– Fiji 9s 3 0 0 0 0
As of 16 November 2020
Source: [1][2]

Background

Kikau was born in Nausori, Fiji, and grew up in the small island of Bau.[3]

Kikau played rugby union in his youth and later earned placements at Queen Victoria School and Marist Brothers High School in Suva, where he played for their rugby union team and represented the Fiji Secondary Schools side against the Australian Schoolboys.[4] In 2013, Kikau who never played rugby league was scouted by North Queensland Cowboys recruiter Adrian Thomson in a schoolboy match and was one of three Fijian players who spent six weeks in Townsville.[5][6] Kikau was the only player to sign with the club and joined their Holden Cup team for the 2014 season. At the time Kikau was also being scouted by a number of French rugby union clubs[7]

Early career

2014

In 2014, Kikau's first season of rugby league, he played 21 games for the Cowboys' Holden Cup team, scoring 11 tries. A centre in his rugby union days, Kikau switched to prop after joining the Cowboys.

2015

In 2015, Kikau played in a pre-season trial game with the Cowboys' first grade team. He scored a try in the sides 24–12 victory over the Townsville Blackhawks.[8] On 2 May 2015, Kikau made his international debut for Fiji against Papua New Guinea in the Melanesian Cup match, playing off the interchange bench in the 22–10 win at Robina Stadium.[9][10] On June 10, 2015, Kikau signed a two-year contract with the Penrith Panthers.[11][12] On 14 September 2015, Kikau was named at prop in the 2015 NYC Team of the Year, finishing his Holden Cup career with the Cowboys with 32 tries from 42 matches.[13]

2016

Kikau spent 2016 playing in the Panthers NSW Cup team. On 8 October 2016, Kikau played for Fiji against Samoa, starting at second-row in the 20–18 victory in Apia, Samoa.[14]

Playing career

2017

In Round 2, Kikau made his NRL debut for the Penrith Panthers against the Wests Tigers, playing off the interchange bench and scoring a try in the 36–2 win at Campbelltown Stadium.[15][16] On 15 April, he re-signed with the Penrith Panthers to the end of the 2019 season.[17] On 6 May, Kikau played for Fiji against Tonga, starting at second-row and scoring a try in the 26–24 loss at Campbelltown Stadium.[18] Kikau would play most of the year playing in Penrith's NSW cup team where they won the NSW Intrust Super premiership against the Wyong Roos 20–12.[19] A week later on 1 October, Kikau played in the NRL State Championship match against QLD Cup winners the Papua New Guinea Hunters starting at second-row and scoring a try in the 42–18 boilover win.[20] Kikau finished his debut year in the NRL with 9 matches and 1 try for the Panthers in the NRL. On 7 October, he was named in the 24-man squad for Fiji for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.[21] Kikau had an outstanding tournament for Fiji playing in all of their 5 matches and scoring 3 tries and was rewarded with him being named in the World Cup Team of the Tournament.[22]

2018

After his impressive World Cup campaign, Kikau would cement a permanent place in Penrith's top 17.[23] He made 25 appearances in the 2018 NRL season as the club finished 5th and reached the elimination final against Cronulla-Sutherland before losing 21–20.[24]

2019

In round 23 of the 2019 NRL season, Kikau played his 50th NRL game for Penrith in their 24–10 defeat by the North Queensland Cowboys at 1300Smiles stadium. Kikau made a total of 18 appearances for Penrith in the 2019 NRL season as the club finished 10th on the table and missed out on the finals for the first time since 2015.[25]

2020

Kikau played 19 games for Penrith in the 2020 NRL season as the club won the Minor Premiership. Kikau played in the 2020 NRL Grand Final for Penrith in which they lost 26-20 against Melbourne.[26]

References
  1. "Viliame Kikau – Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 1995-04-05. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  2. NQ Cowboys Archived June 7, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  3. Sovatabua, Veronika (27 June 2017). "Player Profile VIliame Kikau". Fiji Times. Archived from the original on 6 April 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  4. Lee Grant. "Australian Schools beat Fiji Schools". Green and Gold Rugby.
  5. https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/panthers-forward-viliame-kikau-wont-forget-sacrifices-others-made-along-the-way/news-story/fb4fa93951517699bc2b8edaa964f4e1
  6. page lost - not archived on wayback
  7. "Kikau rise no surprise". TownsvilleBulletin. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019.
  8. NRL Digital Media. "post Blackhawks win". Cowboys. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  9. "FIJI BATI NAMED TO FACE PNG". Rugby League Week. Archived from the original on 2015-05-24. Retrieved 2015-05-30.
  10. "Koroibete delights in Fiji win over PNG". NRL.com. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  12. "Viliame Kikau signs contract with Penrith Panthers | Fiji One". 2016-02-02. Archived from the original on 2016-02-02. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  13. "2015 Holden Cup Team of the Year". NRL.com. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  14. "Brilliant Bati comeback steals Pacific Test win". National Rugby League. 2016-10-08. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  15. https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/penrith-panthers-bounce-back-to-thrash-wests-tigers-362/news-story/e252b4398e2b51a6fd9dd9bcacb8a233
  16. "NRL big hits: Viliame Kikau smashes James Tedesco, Panthers v Tigers". Fox Sports. 2017-03-12. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  17. "Penrith Panthers 2017: Viliame Kikau re-signed on two-year deal". Fox Sports. 2017-04-16. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  18. https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/unlikely-hero-leilani-latu-inspires-12man-tonga-to-a-thrilling-victory-over-fiji/news-story/bdd8f6d8c4d3f8530cf994b465d5609f
  19. https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/teams/roosters/jed-cartwright-stars-as-penrith-down-wyong-2012-in-nsw-cup-grand-final/news-story/d1ff7f087cb17fd6791e4ce5adea42e6
  20. https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/teams/panthers/intrust-super-cup-grand-final-penrith-panthers-smash-png-hunters-4218/news-story/830b9a143dff6eac3bc406262f7470a9
  21. "Hayne selected for Fiji". wwos.nine.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  22. "World Cup Team of the Tournament". NewsComAu. 2017-12-03. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  23. "Penrith Panthers' Viliame Kikau chose NRL over French rugby". National Rugby League. 2018-03-22. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  24. "Penrith Panthers 2018 season review". www.nrl.com. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019.
  25. "Blame game will not solve Panthers' problems". Western Weekender. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019.
  26. "Melbourne Storm beat Penrith Panthers as it happened". www.theguardian.com.
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