Welcoming superstars such as NRL player, Viliame Kikau, to Newington to share his sporting wisdom is part of the College’s aim to help raise kind, curious, courageous young people.

Earlier this week, the Newington Careers Department hosted another of its popular student development events, ‘An Evening with Viliame Kikau: Elite Athletes Workshop’. Our Head of Careers and VET, Mr Stephen Roberts, facilitated an engaging Q&A session with Viliame, exploring his journey from schoolboy athlete to NRL star with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.

Throughout the evening, Viliame shared valuable insights into a range of important topics, and his life as a leading player, including:

• working with the media and sponsors
• overcoming injury and setbacks
• dealing with racism and discrimination
• navigating social media
• resilience and mental wellbeing
• building character and pursuing success.

The feedback from both Newington students (above with Viliame and Year 10 student, Timoci N, below) and staff has been overwhelmingly positive. Viliame’s honesty, humility, and wisdom made a genuine impact on everyone in attendance, with many students continuing to discuss his messages and experiences throughout the days that followed.

We sincerely thank Viliame Kikau for so generously giving his time to speak with our students, pose for photographs, sign jerseys and engage warmly with everyone who attended. His willingness to share his personal experiences and lessons learned was greatly appreciated by all present.

Viliame is a humble champion who represents his family, club, and the game of NRL at the highest level. The character, resilience and humility he displayed throughout the evening embodied the values we strive to instil in all our students at Newington, and provided a powerful example of leadership both on and off the field.

Newington and our Careers Department looks forward to continuing to provide our students, with opportunities to learn from inspiring leaders and role models who can help them navigate their own pathways to success.

Did you know?

• Newington students compete in a range of winter sports including rugby, football, AFL, athletics, cross country, snowsports, tennis and volleyball.
• Our students choose from more than 50 sporting and co-curricular activities.
• Newington is the only GPS school in NSW to field a 1sts and 2nds team in six GPS sports, including rifle shooting.