Brisbane’s Round 1 opener against the Roosters in Las Vegas will hold extra meaning for Kotoni Staggs, with the game to also provide a chance for a special family reunion.
Staggs first met his Tonga-born, San Francisco-based father (also Kotoni) in 2019 after representing the island nation in their historic win against Australia, but he is yet to meet his siblings who live in the United States.
Staggs' dad is planning to bring them along with him when he flies over to watch his son play live for the first time in the second match of March 3 season-opening double-header.
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“I've been speaking to my old man, he's in San Francisco and he'll fly across and bring my family over to watch me as well,” Staggs said.
“He's never watched me live; he usually gets the replays in the next day after the game's over here.
“It will be my first time meeting my brother and sister over there as well … and it's going to be great to meet them and also all my dad's family over there.”
While all the Broncos players are looking forward to the opportunity to travel and be part of the NRL’s historic event at Allegiant Stadium, Staggs said the squad were focused on starting the new season with a win after putting the disappointment of the grand final result behind them.
“I am looking forward to it, it's going to be a great trip (but) also, we're going over to do a job as well,” Staggs said.
“It’s not the way we wanted to end a year and it was pretty tough to take that loss, but I think coaches and players have learnt a lot from that game and if we're in that position again, hopefully we know what to do in those moments.
“It's a learning curve and we'll hopefully get better from that.
“It hurt a lot and obviously, that was my dream to play for Broncos and to win a grand final with them. I don't think it's over yet.
“But it hurt a lot and it's good that we've watched it, we’ve watched the game over now and we've put it to bed, and I don't want to look back and I just keep on going forward.
“(In Round 1, there’s) a few young fellas in our team who have probably never left Australia, so it's going to be pretty amazing to go over there and play the first game (of the season).
“It's going to be a great trip and hopefully when we get there it all goes well … (but) I'm going over there to do a job and that's to get the win for the Broncos.”
In the past few seasons, Staggs has established himself as one of the competition’s more impressive centres, culminating in selection in Mal Meninga’s Kangaroos squad for the Pacific Championships last year.
Staggs learnt plenty from the game's 13th Immortal during his time in camp and is happy to pass on some of that knowledge to his Broncos teammates.
With young gun Selwyn Cobbo shifting from the wing to fill the vacancy created by the departure of Herbie Farnworth to the Dolphins, Staggs has been able to offer some wise words on the job of a centre.
“With Selwyn, I think he's one of those players that you could put him anywhere and he'll do a good job for you,” Staggs said.
“He's been training well out there in the centres and he's doing everything that we've asked him to do.
“He's still young and he's played wing and this is not going to just happen for you, moving from wing to centre.
"It's a different position and he's asked some questions, he's coming up and asking me, ‘what do you do in these kind of positions’ and when you get stuck on the field.
“He's been … wanting to know about that position and he wants to get better each day at training, so I think he can do a good job for us there.”
Another player who Staggs has been keen to see improve is Deine Mariner, who is in contention to come onto the wing for the Round 1 clash should grand finalist Jesse Arthars fail to recover in time from an ankle injury.
"Deino, he's been good, he's still a young fellow himself, he got a couple of games last year and got the taste of NRL and I think he's just got a lot of improvement.
“He's still young and he's still learning, but he's loving where he is and I love having him outside me.
“He's very quick, so you just give him the ball in space and he's gone.
Dream debut for Deine
“He's learning every day. He loves where he is and he's taken that opportunity now that Kevvie’s (coach Kevin Walters) has given him; he's taken it with both hands and he wants to get better.
"He wants that to be his position … (but) Jesse's going well in rehab, he’s cruisin’.
“If Jesse comes back and he's fit and ready, then I don't know what the team's going to look like, but, Deine's there at the moment.
“It's out of Jess or Deine, so time will tell; Kev's the one that picks the team, so he'll decide who's going to be there next to me.”