Culture, family, spirituality: The meaning behind Parramatta's jersey

Culture, family, and spirituality.

They were the three common words that every Parramatta Eels player expressed back to tattoo artist Tavita Mose when consulted over the club’s new Pasifika training jersey over the off-season.

An idea that originated from one of Parramatta’s Harold Matthews players last year quickly got the backing from retired Eels player David Gower, who passed it on to CEO Jim Sarantinos and Mark O'Neill to bring the thought to life. 

A few months later and the Eels have become the first club to release a jersey that represents every Pasifika nation at the club along with Indigenous features to acknowledge local Darug land the players live, train or play on. 

It's a huge step for the Eels, and rugby league, that Multicultural Round recognises the influence many Pasifika players have in the game from grassroots level to the international stage. 

"What works at the Eels might not work at another club but there’s certainly some fundamentals that we’re finding around culture, family and spirituality that’s the same," Dr David Lakisa told a room of over 200 at the launch on Monday.

"You have to create a culturally safe space for players and ensuring that there is a collaboration between a football team and acknowledging different cultures within an environment where players train and play.

"That forms connection and what we've found is a team and club is going to be a lot more united and successful if every player and a coach is culturally aware and embraces their player for who they are."

For Fijian star Maika Sivo, who grew up in Momi, a small village 40-minutes outside of Nadi, his experiences turning up to Gundagai as a junior has forced him to get out of his comfort zone from a young age.

After re-signing until the end of 2025 last month, Sivo said he still gets homesick and relies on his 'Eels family' to get him through the season - a comfort made easier with some of his teammates at the club. 

"Events like these makes me feel a bit more like I’m closer to home," Sivo said. 

"All the boys and the club have made me feel like I belong and in Australia they've helped me get to trainings or get to places on time and not on Fiji time."

Eels co-captain and Samoan skipper Junior Paulo said the club's initiative was a huge step for young players, particularly growing up in Sydney's west.

'We’re known to be a diverse club and have been for a while now," Paulo said.

"I think it’s an awesome initiative that we can embrace everyone’s cultures at the club.

"It shows how much the game is evolving and how much of an input the NRL is having and future of rugby league.

"It’s special for me, this year certainly we’ve turned a corner as a club, being able to have a training jersey. It’s a club first and special to know we can celebrate everyone’s cultures in this round."

Paulo added there was a "fourth word" when it comes to bonding between cultures.

"It starts off with what everyone loves... food," he laughed.

"The boys have been able to culturally diverse themselves in different cultures throughout the break talking about food.

"We had a number of boys come back from the World Cup and learn about their culture. Raw fish is the go-to and probably the healthier option but taro is probably the main thing for us."

Sivo went for something slightly different. 

"Mine would be fish with coconut cream and taro... seafood tastes different compared to in Fiji – it’s saltier here."

New Zealand-born Samoan tattoo artist Mose, who has been in the art industry for more than two decades, 

"Coming up with the design it was to represent the Polynesian, pacific islands, both the men's and women's teams and what the Eels means to them.

"A lot of them had the same meaning that they wanted to represent. They wanted to give back to their community, inspire their family and just be a good role model.

"When I'm designing, I just think of what they said, and it all started to flow."