Fijian halfback makes surprise switch

The French Elite 1 Championship has been attracting some real star players in recent times.

James Maloney, Krisnan Inu and Nathan Peats all made the switch to the competition in 2021 though Inu and Peats made returns to the Championship and Super League respectively.

Now, Corey Norman, Benjamin Jullien and Dean Whare have also made the move to the French competition and are being joined by a World Cup star.

Fiji halfback Netane Masima has joined the competition with Villeneuve XIII for this season having played for the Western Suburb Magpies in Australia.

The halfback, who can also play at fullback, is set to play for Fiji against Scotland this weekend.

He will partner Brandon Wakeham in the game as Fiji look to wrap up a place in the quarter-finals as they look to make it to a fourth consecutive semi-final.

They defeated New Zealand in the quarter-finals in 2017 in one of the major shocks in the tournament’s history.

Masima and Wakeham will be hoping to pull off a similar shock with both looking for a new club in 2023.

Though now Masima has got his team for 2023, but it remains to be seen what Wakeham will do next season.

Don’t rule out a switch to France for him as well with Catalans Dragons potentially in the market for a new halfback with Josh Drinkwater told he can find a new club prior to entering talks with Warrington Wolves reportedly.

Or perhaps he could be an option the Wolves consider should their play for Drinkwater not come off. Wakefield Trinity could also be in the running.