Nauru Chiefs are Stawell’s gift

FOR THE past three years, Mal Batsiua has traded the sunny, temperate weather of his homeland on a small atoll in the South Pacific, for the icy winter of country Victoria.

Batsiua’s native Nauru shares little in common with the town of Stawell, 235 kilometres north-west of Melbourne. But for their mining backgrounds – Nauru in phosphates and Stawell in gold – the regions are distanced in every conceivable way. Except for football.

Since the 1930s, when Nauruan children were sent to schools in Victoria to obtain a secondary education, something that wasn’t available at home, Nauruans have loved the Australian game.    

Footy in Nauru had such an impact that it became its officially recognised national sport. Its eight senior clubs have adopted the names and colours of their favourite Australian-based teams. The locals name their children Jesaulenko and Akermanis. Now, after generations of bringing the game to Nauru, Australia is importing its players. 

Seventeen Nauruans from national side, the Chiefs, have based themselves in Victoria to train with local football clubs in preparation for the International Cup in August and September. Players have spread across Stawell in the Wimmera Football League – where Chiefs coach Wes Illig is club secretary – the Great Western Football Club and the Stawell Swifts in the Horsham District League, and Navarre in the Lexton Plains League.

Batsiua, who is Illig’s brother-in-law, has come across to Stawell three times but has never been able to complete a full season because of visa restrictions. This year, in the spirit of the International Cup, all of the Nauruan players have been granted extensions allowing them to complete a full season with Australian clubs. The situation is a win-win, as clubs battling for members get a boost while the Nauruans get the benefits of coaching and playing in football’s heartland.

“When you offer a club four senior footballers, I’ve had probably 10 clubs ring me up and ask, how do they get in line and how do they get some players,” Illig says.

Fast and athletic, Nauruans are naturally gifted footballers. But not one member of the national side is taller than six foot. Illig is hoping what they lack in height can be redressed with their inherent pace, and skills they are gaining from their season in Australia.

“A lot of them are about the 5’7”, 75 kilo sort of mark but their fitness level has improved, their skill level has improved, their understanding of football has improved, and just everything that goes with playing a whole season of footy,” Illig says.

Batsiua has been a proud member of the Boe Lions, in the south-west of Nauru for seven years, wearing the Brisbane Lions guernsey with the pride of having being born and bred in the Queensland capital.

“I just love football. It’s the main sport in Nauru, so that’s the only sport I play there. Once I started football I loved it, and want to play it just for having fun,” he says.

“I go for Brisbane because of the jersey we wore in Nauru.

“I love Simon Black – the way he keeps on running all through the game, and Jonathan Brown, for his marking in the forward line.” 

Traditionally a rover, Batsiua has been playing forward pocket for the Stawell Warriors. Adapting to footy in Victoria has highlighted some stark differences between his old and new leagues.

“A lot of running,” Batsiua says of footy in Stawell compared to back home. “In Nauru it’s a lot of stop-start footy. So I’ve found a lot of running here in Australia.”

The running could be attributed to the climate. Illig says the grounds in Nauru are rock hard and lack grass, presenting a dry and dusty surface compared to the slippery conditions winter rain can produce in country Victoria.

But acclimatising to such conditions should hold the Chiefs in good stead for the International Cup, if their hope of playing in the wet – to work their size to their advantage – should eventuate. 

Win, lose or draw, Batsiua is just thrilled to be here, competing in his first International Cup.

“I’ve learned a lot about how to kick a footy. I didn’t kick the footy very well when I first came here, so I’m getting the hang of it now.”

“I don’t know, actually. We’ll just see how it goes. I reckon we’ll be up there.”