Blake Ferguson has declared Maika Sivo the best winger in the game as the Parramatta flyer prepares for his biggest match yet in the NRL.
Just four years after being paid a miserly $120 per match to play for Gundagai in bush footy, Sivo will be the Eels’ strike weapon in Sunday’s elimination final against Brisbane.
A Fijian powerhouse who only moved to Australia and saw his first NRL game in 2015, Sivo has topped the try-scoring charts this year with 20 in his rookie season.
His recruitment has proved a masterstroke for the Eels, given he has proved near impossible to stop from close to the line and formed a lethal wing pairing with Ferguson.
“He is the best winger in the competition at the moment and he should get Dally M winger of the year,” said Ferguson, who won the award last year.
“I chat to him because I have done a fair bit in the game. He’s got to keep recreating it every week. And he’s absolutely doing that.
“That’s why he is playing so good. It’s not like he is going out there hoping it can happen. He’s going to make it happen because that’s the person he is.”
Sivo quickly rebuked the suggestion on Thursday and claimed Ferguson still deserved to hold the mantle.
The pair first crossed paths last year when Sivo marked Ferguson in a pre-season trial at Penrith.
The ex-Rooster also made a point of YouTubing the Fijian’s highlights when he arrived at Parramatta, with the pair having grown close since.
“I just thought he could be good (when I saw them),” Ferguson said.
“He’s got the right temperament to be able to handle people talking about him.
“He didn’t even have a pre-season. This is just all raw. It’s amazing what he can do.”
Sivo for his part is slowly becoming accustomed to his sudden stardom.
The 25-year-old has done his rise to the NRL the hard way, having progressed through the Sydney Shield and Ron Massey Cup at Penrith before making reserve grade.
This season is the first he has been able to make rugby league his full-time job, while negotiations have begun to extend his stay before 2020.
“It took me a while. I’ve done it the hard way,” Sivo told AAP.
“I was in Gundagai getting $120 a game. Coming up to Penrith, no one knows you.
“In 2015, I just knew a little bit (about rugby league). It’s crazy how much things have changed from that time to now.”
