Fiji rugby sevens star Masivesi Dakuwaqa signs with Canberra

JARRYD Hayne is excited to see what former Fijian rugby sevens Olympic champion Masivesi Dakuwaqa can do in the NRL.

If that isn’t enough to get you excited about the 23-year-old, wait to you hear about his nickname in some pockets of Fiji where he is called the “Shark God”.

On that nickname alone, the Canberra Raiders’ decision to sign Dakuwaqa for the remainder of the 2017 season is a masterstroke.

Dakuwaqa’s journey to the NRL is fascinating.

A former teammate of Hayne’s, Dakuwaqa was actually selected ahead of the former NFL player in Fiji’s final 12-man squad for their Olympic gold-medal-winning campaign.

He’s also partly blind in one eye — something that he’s had since flicking a rubber band into his left eye when he was very young.

He’s had blurry vision in that eye ever since — but he’s never let it impact on his football career.

Before his call up to the Fiji sevens team last year, Dakuwaqa had never left his home country. He didn’t even have a passport.

In the space of a few months he was travelling the rugby sevens international circuit and eventually won selection to play in the Rio 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

Now he’s setting up camp in Canberra after completing a medical with Raiders officials on Monday.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/fij...497b610fbce01a