@Realist90 this is the story behind Suliasi Vunivalu’s biblical reference..
Daily Telegraph
Date: October 26th 2020
Author: Nick Walshaw
Especially when you notice how, scribbled in blue pen on both those white boots that motored upfield, is the phrase ‘Isaiah 40:31’.
A biblical scripture which reads: But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
“My priest in Fiji gave me that,” Vunivalu explained, pointing to the same phrase written in black texta strapping tape around his left wrist.
“Every time I go home, I ask him to pray for me. Then when I made it big, he sent me that verse.
“Said the Lord had told him to give it to me. He said to always wear it when I play. So I write it onto my boots and my wrist.
“It’s about the Lord giving you strength. It’s something I hold close to my heart.”
Just as the little village of Bagasau, near Suva, does the same for him.
Indeed, from the moment this 24-year-old Fijian took his intercept, some 200 locals gathered in the village hall went nuts.
Which is beautiful yarn for rugby league.
But not so much Panthers fans.
Or Cleary, who afterwards could say only that he’d “let the boys down”.
Especially given by the finish, those six points would not only prove crucial – but the difference.