'He can create history again': Potter returns as Bati coach

Fiji star Viliame Kikau has backed the return of Mick Potter as Bati coach after FNRL Executive Chairman Rajesh Singh announced the former NRL and Super League mentor would take charge of the team for Rugby League World Cup 2026 and beyond.

Potter, who achieved success with Catalans and St Helens in the Super League before stints with Wests Tigers and the Bulldogs in the NRL, oversaw Fiji’s greatest moment at international level when they eliminated New Zealand at the quarter-final stage of the 2017 World Cup.

Singh, who confirmed that Potter would also work with pathways in Fiji as part of the long-term coaching appointment, said the Bati were aiming to achieve further upset results when they meet the Kangaroos and Kiwis during RLWC2026.

“As you know, Mick Potter was the coach when Fiji beat the Kiwis in the 2017 World Cup, and hopefully, we will create some history again there,”

“With a coach of the calibre of Mick Potter, I think he can build the players very quickly and most probably he'll create history again.

“Once we get his work permit he’ll be based in Fiji and start preparing the team.”

After making his Test debut at the 2017 World Cup, Kikau will be a senior member of the Bati team and the Bulldogs secondrower has a relationship with Potter from his longtime involvement with the club, where he played and has most recently been working with pathways coaches.

“Mick is a great coach and obviously, he's had the job before,” Kikau said. “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.”

Kikau, who had just completed his first NRL season after moving from Fiji to join the Panthers, recalled the Bati’s 4-2 defeat of New Zealand in Wellington during an interview with RLWC2026.com and said there was a belief within the squad that they could repeat the feat.

“We have made the semi-finals in three of the last four World Cups so the belief is always there. But that was a very special moment,” Kikua said.

“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.

"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.”

Wests Tigers hooker Api Koroisau, Knights prop Jacob Saifiti and Storm forward Tui Kamikamica are other survivors of the 2017 Bati team.

Former Bati captain Kevin Naiqama is set to be a member of Potter's staff.

After going down 24-18 to the Kiwis in the quarter-final of the last World Cup in 2022 after a 79th minute Jordan Rapana try, the Bati squad has undergone a transformation in recent seasons with the emergence of stars like Jahream Bula, Kurt Donoghoe and Kitione Kautoga.

The Fainu brothers, Latu, Samuela and Sione, who play for Wests Tigers, have also put up their hand to play for Fiji and are awaiting an eligibility clearance.

“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.”

The Bati open their RLWC2026 campaign against Cook Islands at Newcastle's McDonald Jones Stadium on October 18 before taking on the Kangaroos at Suncorp Stadium on October 25 and the Kiwis at Cbus Super Stadium on October 31.