Mere Tareguci will travel to the Harvey Norman Invitational carrying more than just her own ambitions.

She also carries the hopes and dreams of her family, community and village.

The youngest of four sisters, Tareguci reflects on the hardships she has faced growing up, saying those challenges have become the driving force behind her rugby league journey and her determination to secure an NRLW contract.

With both parents unemployed, Mere Tareguci’s mother, Litiana Takayawa, says raising the funds to get their daughter to Australia was a challenge.

Despite their financial struggles, the family has never allowed hardship to stand in the way of their children’s dreams, especially those of their youngest daughter.

“My husband and I do not work but we do have other forms of income that we use to support our family. For example, I do handi-craft. However, I’m thankful that in the midst of our struggle, we were both able to work together to help support our family and our daughter’s dreams.”

For Tareguci, watching her parents-particularly her mother, work tirelessly to make ends meet and ensure she could attend training has become her greatest source of motivation.

She says being selected as one of the five players to represent Fiji on the Rise Rookie Tour is a blessing and is thankful to God for the opportunity.

“Before our fitness test, I prayed and asked God to guide and He did. There were a lot of us but I thank God that I was one of the five girls that were chosen to go to Australia. I’m very happy about it. To both my parents, thank you for always supporting me. I know that many times we would not have money for my fare to training sessions but my mother was always there to look for a way to get it and allow me to go training.”

Tareguci goes to Australia with not only of her hopes and dreams, but of her family’s, her community’s and her village’s.

“Meresiana has paved the way for their community and we wish her all the best and we hope that she will do her best so that she will be able to achieve what she has set for herself, whether it be to be part of a club or to get an NRLW contract. She has not only our best wishes, but the well wishes of her familythat she will take her family and her community name to the world stage.”

For Mere Tareguci, this is more than just a trip to Australia; it is a chance to make her family proud and reward the sacrifices they have made to help her get here.