Concreter Semisi Kioa knocks back $1000 job to mark up on NRL, NSW Blues and South Sydney Rabbitohs star Latrell Mitchell
Semisi Kioa turned his back on a concreting job, and the $1000 payday that would have come with it, to mark up on Latrell Mitchell.
The NSW side took part in an opposed training session at the Blue Mountains Grammar School in Leura on Thursday, one of three scheduled ahead of Wednesday’s must-win game against Queensland at the MCG.
Their first opponents were a St Marys side from the third-tier Ron Massey Cup, comprised of a cast of amateur footballers who juggle training sessions and games in between their full-time jobs.
Kioa, for instance, knocked back two jobs scheduled for Thursday that required seven employees, with his Kioa Concrete firm in Hawkesbury, in order to oppose the man of the moment, Mitchell. St Marys three-quarter Christian Crichton would have marked up on his brother, Bulldogs and Blues star Stephen Crichton, but couldn’t get the day off work from Kennards Hire.
“I had to take the day off to face the Blues … it’s cost me a few bucks, but it was worth it,” Kioa said. “I marked up on Latrell and it was tough, he’s a tough player, the way he plays with mongrel.
“He was giving me some tips, showing me how he plays. To mark up on him was a good experience. He’s got the right-hand fend and I was trying to not get pushed off by that.”
Latrell Mitchell and Semisi Kioa after their scrimmage.Credit: Grant Trouville, NRL Photos
Having played lower grades for Blacktown, Mounties and Wests, Kioa is now part of a Saints side that leads the Ron Massey Cup table. NSW winger Zac Lomax said Kioa had given a good account of himself against the Rabbitohs superstar.
“I used to play a fair bit of footy with him. He played Harold Matts and SG Ball at Cronulla – he was actually a gun,” Lomax said. “I think he’s the same age as me, so we played a fair bit of footy together.”
