For those who have followed the Melbourne Rebels since the club’s inception, Kemu Valetini is a name which may seem a familiar one.
Born and bred in Victoria, Valetini entered the Rebels fray as a nineteen year old, when he was selected in the club’s trial match against the Waratahs in Hobart in 2013.
Valetini says his club days at Harlequins have been the foundation for his development as a player, and ultimately led to his selection in the Melbourne Rising squad.
“I was playing at Harlequins. I started there when I was about six years old,” Valetini said.
“That’s the first club my dad played for when he came to Melbourne, I’ve been there since forever.”
The family legacy at the club would have a new chapter in 2018, with younger brother Bill a permanent fixture in the Harlequins 1stgrade backline alongside Kemu. While the pair combined seamlessly to terrorise the competition all season long, one can only imagine how much stronger the side could have been if their youngest brother Rob was also available for selection.
At just nineteen, the backrow wunderkind now plies his trade with the ACT Brumbies after being signed straight out of high school – his ascension to higher honours shaped by the rugby mad family household.
Although Kemu’s own ascension hasn’t hit the peaks of younger brother Rob, it never the less proved a useful guide for his younger brother. After making state representative teams in the Under 16’s and Under 18’s, Kemu also earned national representation when he was selected for the Australian Schoolboys side.
After a solid performance in this year’s Dewar Shield competition, which ended in a grand final loss to the Unicorns, Valetini sees the NRC pathway as the perfect introduction to professional rugby.
“It’s pretty cool, there’s a different standard,” he observed.
“The environment is a lot more professional, the boys are pretty good around here. “
“The intensity at training is a lot higher and everyone expects a lot from each other and the speed of training and everything we do is up there.”
What makes his return to the Rising squad even more special is the fact Valetini is coming off a horror ACL injury.
The process of returning from his injury required Valetini to learn how to walk again and rebuild the muscles in his leg. It’s why a selection in the team’s round one game against Fijian Drua will be a special occasion.
“Yeah it’d be pretty cool if I get a game in the Rising,” Valetini said.
“It was a goal of mine from last year from having an ACL operation to come back stronger and put my best foot forward.”
“It’s probably the hardest one I’ve come back from (due to) just how long the process takes from learning to walk again, getting your muscles active and putting all the strength and conditioning work into your body is pretty tiring and pretty hard and time consuming.”
One thing Valetini is looking forward to is challenging himself against the best of Australian domestic rugby.
The playmaker hopes his form at training will show Rising coaching staff he is ready to perform throughout the National Rugby Championship.
“I feel like I’ve got a pretty good skill set that I can bring to the team. If the coaches see that and I get selected then I’ll be happy.”
Valetini says it’s been his dream ever since he began playing rugby to live and breathe the sport as a full time profession.
“Hopefully (I can) break into this scene of being around boys that are doing a job and doing something that they love, which is something I want to do and aspire to do at the end of the season,” he said.
“At the end of the day though, if you put a bit of hard work into it, it’ll pay off.”
