Semi Radradra

Background

Hailing from the village of Somosomo in Taveuni, Radradra worked in the mines in Vatukoula and owned his own kava farm in Fiji. He played amateur rugby union for the Vatukoula Rugby Union club, and was selected to represent the Fiji national under-20s team at the 2011 IRB Junior World Championship, playing at centre in four matches. Later the same year, Radradra represented the Fiji national rugby sevens team at the 2011 Dubai Sevens, where he was scouted by the Parramatta Eels.

Early Career

Radradra played for the Parramatta Eels NYC team in 2012 before moving on to their New South Wales Cup team, the Wentworthville Magpies.

2013

In round 18, Radradra made his NRL debut for the Eels against the Penrith Panthers on the wing in the Eels 10-17 loss at Parramatta Stadium. In round 20, against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Radradra scored his first NRL try in the Eels 12-40 loss at ANZ Stadium. Radradra finished his debut year in the NRL with him playing in 7 matches and scoring 5 tries. Radradra was selected in the Fiji squad for the World Cup, playing in 3 matches and scoring a try in the 12-34 loss to England.

2014

In February, Radradra was selected in the Eels inaugural Auckland Nines squad and was the tournament's highest try scorer with 5 tries, alongside the North Queensland Cowboys Kyle Feldt. In round 1, against the New Zealand Warriors, Radradra scored a hat-trick in the Eels' 36-16 win at Parramatta Stadium, earning the nickname Semi-Trailer. In May, Radradra played for Fiji in the 2014 Pacific Rugby League International against Samoa at centre in the 16-32 loss. On 4 June, Radradra re-signed with the Eels on a 4-year contract worth $1 million until the end of the 2018 season. He was named 2014 Dally M Winger of the year. Radradra played in all of the Eels 24 matches and scored 19 tries. He was awarded the Fiji Bati International Player of the Year Award.

2015

At the start of the year, Radradra again played for the Eels in the Nines. In round 1, against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, he scored a hat-trick of tries in the Eels' 42-12 win at Parramatta Stadium. Radradra was the first player to score consecutive hat-tricks in the first round of two separate NRL seasons. In round 17, against the West Tigers, he broke a 61-year-old record by becoming the first player to score 2 or more tries in 5 consecutive games when he scored his double in the Eels' 28-16 win at ANZ Stadium. The previous record was held by Ray Preston. In the final round of the season against the Canberra Raiders, Radradra scored 2 tries in the Eels' golden-point 24-28 loss to finish with 24 tries in 18 games, making him the top try-scorer of the season. This was a club record, surpassing Steve Ella's previous record of 23 tries. Radradra was named the Dally M Winger of the Year, for the second year in a row, and was named on the wing in the 2015 RLIF Team of the Year, the first Fijian player to do so.

2016

On 1 February 2016, Radradra again played in Auckland Nines. On 13 February, he played for the World All Stars against the Indigenous All Stars in the 2016 All Stars match, playing on the wing and scoring a try in his team's 12-8 win at Suncorp Stadium. Early into the 2016 season, he declared that he wanted to play international football for Australia after he found out he was qualified for Australia on residency grounds, so he changed allegiances from Fiji, commenting "I want to be known as the best Fijian rugby player around the world and I want to be playing the top teams," Radradra said. "I want to play alongside all the big names. That's how I made my decision and Australia is the right team for me to showcase my talent". However, while being eligible for Australia, he was ruled ineligible for New South Wales because he didn't play junior football in the state before the age of 13. His decision to switch over to play for Australia drew plenty of criticism in the lead-up to the 2016 Anzac Test. On 6 May 2016, Radradra made his debut for Australia against New Zealand in the Anzac Test. He played on the wing and was sin-binned early into the match for a professional foul in the 16-0 win at Hunter Stadium. In June 2016, Radradra was charged with domestic violence which happened in 2014 and 2015 against his ex-partner and it was rumoured that he wouldn’t return to play for Parramatta. Radradra finished his highly published 2016 NRL season with him playing in 19 matches and scoring 12 tries for the Eels. On 24 September 2016, Radradra played in the Prime Minister’s XIII team against Papua New Guinea, where he played on the wing and scored a try in the 58-0 win in Port Moresby. In October 2016, Radradra was overlooked from Mal Meninga’s 24-man Australia Kangaroos 2016 Four Nations squad due to him being on trial for his domestic violence charges.

2017

In early 2017, Radradra was charged with 2 counts of domestic-violence related common assault toward his ex-partner Perina Ting.

In early May the charges were dropped when in court it came out that Perina Ting was lying in an attempt to blackmail Radradra.

On 11 January 2017, it was revealed by Radradra's manager that he had signed a 2-year contract with French rugby union side Toulon, starting at the conclusion of the 2017 NRL season. In round 2, against the St George Illawarra Dragons, Radradra scored a career best 4-tries in the 34-16 victory at WIN Stadium. Radradra was the first Eels player to score 4 tries in match since Jarryd Hayne during the 2006 NRL season.