Viliame Kikau is excited ahead of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup to see a familiar name return to coach the Bati side.
The FNRL Executive Chairman, Rajesh Singh, announced former NRL interim coach and Super League mentor Mick Potter will coach the international side again and oversee their pathways.
Potter coached the Catalans Dragons, St Helens and Bradford Bulls from 2006 to 2012 before getting experience in the NRL with the Tigers in 2013-14.
He spent half of the 2022 season coaching the Bulldogs when Trent Barrett was sacked before Cameron Ciraldo took over in 2023.
2017 saw great success for Potter when he coached the Bati team to upset the New Zealand Kiwis in the World Cup and went to the semi-finals.
Since Potter's first stint, Fiji have had four different head coaches.
Matt Adamson took over in 2018 before Brandon Costin was hired in 2019 to 2020, overseeing three wins in the Rugby League Oceania Cup in 2019.
They won three games in Tier 2, earning them a promotion to the Cup tier.
The previous Bati coach, Wise Kativerata, led the Fiji side at the 2022 World Cup when Joe Rabele fell ill before he was supposed to coach.
Singh is expecting Fiji to achieve more winning results this campaign.
The current Bulldogs backrower has backed the former NRL interim coach to return to coach Fiji and hopes they can recreate the success from 2017, when Kikau debuted on the international stage.
"Mick is a great coach, and obviously, he's had the job before," Kikau told RLWC2026.com.
"He knows how to communicate and work with us Fijians, and he's obviously taken us to that semi-final in 2017, and he is going to do the job again.
"I think what is good is that he keeps it simple for the boys.
"When you get into camp, there's a lot of boys that come from different teams and different systems; they're used to different structures, and he just simplifies things, so it's easy for the boys to understand the game plan and all of that sort of stuff."
Fiji have made the semi-finals in three of the last four World Cups, and Kikau recalled what made 2017 special when they defeated the Kiwis 4-2.
"The Kiwis are known to be one of the big dogs in the World Cup, and we were definitely the underdogs going into that game," he said.
"I just remember the preparation through the week. We had a good balance of preparing well on the field, but then having that bit of motivation about what we were doing and who we were doing it for - the nation of Fiji - and that sort of just carried on into the game."
Parts of the 2017 World Cup side are expected to be alongside Kikau and Potter, with Api Koroisau and Jacob Saifiti up for selection, and Tui Kamikamica has remained in the NRL since being part of Potter's side nine years ago.
The future for the Bati is promising, with Latu Fainu and Samuela Fainu currently waiting for clearance to play in Potter's side for this year's World Cup in mid-October.
The Bati side has seen a transformation in the playing group and leaned into their youth since 2017, with the rise of talented players Jahream Bula, Kurt Donoghoe and Kitione Kautoga.
Kikau believes that despite losing to New Zealand in the 2022 World Cup, there's a lot to look forward to with the squad that could play in the upcoming Rugby League World Cup.
"Of all the World Cups, this is definitely one that we are flying under the radar because I think in previous World Cups, we've definitely had some great players and big names that have made the squad,” Kikau said.
"There are a lot of new boys in this one. They've been playing together in the last couple of Test matches, which is good for us, but we'd love to be known as underdogs going into games in this World Cup."
Fiji play the Cook Islands at McDonald Jones Stadium on October 18, before facing Australia and New Zealand at the end of October.
