(crowd cheering) - [Announcer] For Cashmore. Vidiri. Here's a chance! (crowd roars) This could be one of the great tries Yes it is! - To watch someone like Joeli
was just a joy, you know? Joeli was probably the
first one where you go, wow, that's just-- 'You can't coach that
shit,' as we would say. - [Announcer] Well when
you're hot, you're hot. Like I said last week, if he
hasn't got a lotto ticket, he should get one. - Good afternoon. How are you today? - [Customer] Good. Where could I find work gloves? - The work gloves? - Gloves, yeah.
- Yep. Right down in aisle 17, last aisle there. My full name is Joeli Vidiridiri. Natabua Nadriubalavu Nalewavada. I was born in Fiji in the
village called Nausori Highland in the province of Nadroga-Navosa. That's when a lot of people,
when I grow up who's closer to me, my uncles and my aunties
and my cousins and all that, they said that I had
a little bit of talent and you're gonna be, you know, go further on your sports. When I first came to New Zealand in '94 I was playing for Pukekohe Rugby Club. It was during the wintertime
here in New Zealand. It was something else, you know, with the wet, the cold, the mud. I was lying down in the ruck and someone on the
opposite side said 'welcome to club rugby in New Zealand. - When he played his second
game he got the ball in his 22, I believe, ran over a
couple and sprinted away, no one could catch him
and then we thought, he's got some skills, he's fast. I think that's the first
impression was the speed that he had, was horrendous. - Joeli was incredibly fast
but you didn't really know how fast he was until you
were on the field with him. - [Announcer] The flyer, Joeli Vidiri, being chased by Duggan, I don't think he's gotta stop him, he won't! - I was playing for Pukekohe Rugby Club and then Counties Manukau. Playing alongside Jonah
in the Counties team, we form a great friendship. We're just like brothers and
to rub shoulders with him and to learn from him was great. And to know the big man. - Both Jonah and Joeli
changed the landscape around how a wing should play. - [Announcer] Joeli Vidiri,
Murray we'd love to see him in space with the ball in hand today. Well that's where he's so
exciting, Vidiri ball in hand is sensational because he's got, well, perhaps he's the fastest man in the NPC, he's really got speed. And that's the man on the other wing, back for just his second
game in the starting lineup. - You sorta knew what Jonah
was going to do, right? And then you tried to stop it, but then you didn't really know
what Joeli was going to do. Which made it just a
different sort of excitement. - [Announcer] It's desperate
stuff here for Counties. Joeli Vidiri! Bursting through! He's got pace, he's got room, he's gone! Joeli Vidiri's got his second and once again it's come from nothing! - There were some great wingers back then. You've got the late Jonah Lomu, Eric Rush, one of the best in the world, Jeff Wilson. For me to come in to fight my way through these great players is gonna
take a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication. I thought he had things in his game that he would have to work on, like looking at it from a
pure technical point of view. But I certainly thought he
was going to be an All Black, would be an All Black. - [Announcer] Although
he's been overshadowed by that other Counties
winger, Fijian Joeli Vidiri has been one of the stars
of this season's NPC. He's now a wanted man. Fiji wants him for its
tour of Wales and Ireland, while the All Black selectors
originally placed him on their list of standby
players for the French tour. But as far as Vidiri is
concerned, there's no contest. Right now I said to be available for
the New Zealand All Blacks. - But therein lies the problem. While Vidiri has made his home here at the Pukekohe Stadium
over the past two seasons, he can't play for the All Blacks. He played for Fiji earlier this year and under current rules
must wait three years before he can change countries. I've got plenty of time, I
still young now, I'm still 22. Got plenty of time to go for that. Joeli played his best rugby, I believe, in that stand down period
of those three years. I think that was when he was in best form. For me to stay watch and
stand down for three years was pretty hard for me. To make that decision,
sitting at home watching them was pretty hard. - [Announcer] Jonah Lomu is off, and replaced by his
great mate, Joeli Vidiri. - My first All Black test was in 1998 at Eden Park. - [Announcer] Now Mehrtens,
missing out Spencer, straight to Ralph, now
Spencer gets involved. And Vidiri with pace! Joeli Vidiri! First test try. - It's the start of a new journey for me. - You know, I thought he'd
carry on getting from strength to strength and getting better and better. But he had a bit of a flat
patch around that time, I think. He just lacked energy, I
think. Lacked concentration, and he started dropping a bit of ball and missing a few tackles
and stuff like that. (solemn music) - I start to struggle
a little bit on running and all that and yeah, I was not that-- My energy was just drained
out of me and all that. - Back in those days they'd do the 3k runs and stuff and Joeli
just hated it, you know? And so I'd run it with him
or talk to him about it and he'd just say, 'I'm
tired, JK, I'm tired'. - That's when we started
to have a conversation with my doctor, he had detected
that I had a kidney problem. Yeah. For me, when Joeli was
unwell but no one knew, he was just a lazy bastard. And that's unfair on him. But how else do you react, you know? We're thinking that Joeli's
popping off home to Fiji and eating too much and
lying around doing nothing, being lazy, so we stereotype him. And he's genuinely tired
and then he does the 3k and he gets lapped by, you
know, the coaching staff even, then it just mounts
pressure on the poor man. Joeli never complained,
Joeli never told anyone, we didn't even know. For us when you look back you think, wow, did we treat him fairly? To be honest with you, I
struggled at the hospital. The nurses and the doctors,
they were not happy about me because I was arrogant, because I was stubborn. I think any major illness,
regardless of who you are or whatever you're doing,
there's a period of disbelief, a period of not wanting to believe and also when it's attached
to your livelihood. So you've got a life-threatening illness and then you're not allowed to do the job that's bringing in your income, that's a pretty traumatic time for anyone. It was hard for me to absorb that. It was hard for me to accept that. Because I knew that there
was plenty of me left. It was a hard time to hang my boots, to come away from something I love and try to look after my life, yeah. In 2008 was the first time I experienced for me to go and have a kidney transplant. Mum was here with me. So we went together because we haven't had the chance to sit down and explain to her what's going on and all that. That's probably the thing
that sort of make me change my mind, when I was in
Auckland hospital ready to go. Because she was there crying by my bed. And to see her like that, I had to tell my doctor
for me to pull out. I don't think you can truly
understand the strength of a culture unless you
are brought up in it. And you know, I think for a Pākehā or Pālagi, view of that would be very
difficult to understand. You got a life-threatening thing, you're turning down a
kidney because of your mum, when the first response would be, well, wouldn't your mum want you to do that? In her mind, that's probably the last time we'll see each other. - My older sister, she passed in 1987. She said that she was gonna
drop me back to school. And on our way we had
an accident on the road. On our way to the hospital they took her straight to the
operation room and all that and they couldn't do anything. Because she got a broken ribs and that broken ribs poked her heart. And for me it was hard to farewell a friend and a sister. that supported me all through my life, during my growing up. It was hard. For me and her, we're brought up by a hardworking woman. It sort of gave me no option but to
work hard and support her. [Dean] In 2010, Jonah's old
manager called me to see if I had a job for Joeli. [chatting with customer] - Staff love him, customers love him. They all come up, shake his
hand and he gives them time, kids, gives them time. The kids come up and say
hello and give me a high-five and all that and I really
enjoy that I can interact with the young kids, the
young people in the shop. (laughs) See you later. How are you, sir? - Good, how are you? - [Joeli] Not too bad. - It's a bit hot. - In 2015 was the year that I finally have a kidney transplant. Mum was here again. We were sort of lying
down here and all that. I was sleeping and she was by my side. She woke me up at about
three o'clock in the morning. She said 'your phone's been ringing'. I said, 'the hospital just rang, I got a kidney waiting for me.' And she said, 'what are you waiting for? Prepare yourself.' I think in the same
year, too, the big man, the late Jonah Lomu
passed away that year too. It was hard when I heard
the news about Jonah. And it was hard, he was a good friend, a brother and a good mate and all that. And that's sort of a wake-up call for me. (whistle blows) - [Announcer] Well that's an
emphatic victory by the Blues. (cheering)
(horns) The star of the show is
this man, Joeli Vidiri. Four tries out of the
eight that were scored to take him to the top of
the all-time try scorers list in Super 12. - [Joeli] Well it brings back memories standing at this ground in Eden Park. We missed out on a huge
potential of what Joeli could have achieved if he was fully fit and he didn't have the kidney issue. He would've been... yeah, we missed a lot, we did miss a lot with him. If you watch players
from our era sometimes you get pretty bored pretty quickly, but you watch Joeli and
he'd get out there tomorrow and cut it up. - You could watch him
on YouTube and love it. Just 'cause he had, just had everything. Tomorrow? He'd be a superstar. - Now it's the fifth year of my transplant and at the moment looking
back there's no regrets. Life, the things happen and
you have to just move forward and there's more things to do and enjoy the life that you still have.
