Still in the infancy of his NRL career, Rabbitohs centre Siosifa Talakai is appreciative of the opportunities that he has received to date and will be looking to learn from his time spent in the top grade.
Having only played five games in the top grade, Talakai will be looking to string together some solid performances to cement his position in Michael Maguire’s top seventeen in the coming weeks.
Despite only being involved in losses against the Wests Tigers and Sydney Roosters in 2017, the Mascot Jets junior is grateful for his chances to date and has remained positive about the experiences.
“I’m loving the opportunity,” said Talakai.
“It’s been a blessing to be on the field with these boys, so it’s been pretty good.
“That’s footy – you win some, you lose some. You can’t win them all.
“We faced a really tough side on Thursday and we were just unfortunate with the result, they put up a better performance than us.”
Making his debut against the Gold Coast Titans at nib Stadium in Round 13 2016, the past twelve months have seen Talakai make the transition from the NYC to the NRL – something he believes has taught him a lot.
“There’s a lot of pressure you’ve got to deal with.
“You’ve got to be mentally strong and accepting of what coaches say and what you need to improve on.
“It’s about challenging yourself and being comfortable being uncomfortable.”
Averaging 10 tackles and 125 metres with ball in hand in his two games this season, the young centre will be looking build upon his initial performances when he takes the field against the North Queensland Cowboys on Friday night.
