Inside Bulldogs rookie Jethro Rinakama’s remarkable rise from demolition labourer to NRL star

The 19-year old’s ascent to Sunday’s sudden death final against Penrith is made even more remarkable by the fact Rinakama only picked up rugby league four years ago.

Rinakama had been playing rugby union for West Harbour, following in the footsteps of his father Adriu, who represented Fiji in both the 15-man game and Sevens.

Then a mate suggested he tag along to a trial for local rugby league club, the Bankstown Bulls.

“I started playing soccer when I was five years old but I played union before I played league. I didn’t play until I was 15,” Rinakama told this masthead.

“My mate from union, he was also playing league, and he said I should give it a shot.

“Then in my first game of league, it was a trial for the Bankstown Bulls.”

Rinakama scored four tries.

“From that point I started leaning toward rugby league,” he said.

“I thought maybe I was onto something.”

Craig Wilson, Canterbury’s pathways recruitment manager, knew he was onto something too when Rinakama’s name first came across his desk.

After watching Rinakama play the game he had only just taken a liking too, Wilson moved to bring him into the club’s development pathways that same year.

“Craig was at a Bankstown Bulls training session, he had watched me play a game the week before that and asked me if I was signed to anyone at the time,” Rinakama said.

“That’s how I ended up in the Bulldogs development squad. It all happened in the same year, so yeah it was a pretty big thing for me.

“It happened so fast.”

Rinakama has been in a hurry ever since being recruited into the Bulldogs system.

In 2023, he was part of the winning Harold Matthews Cup (under 17s) side and last year he featured in both the SG Ball (under 19s) and Jersey Flegg (under 21s) grand finals.

Over the summer, he impressed coach Cameron Ciraldo so much he was evaluated to train with the NRL side and earned an extended deal until the end of 2027.

In Round 19, Rinakama made his NRL debut despite still being eligible for SG Ball.

Now with an injury crisis in the outside backs, as skipper Stephen Crichton and winger Marcelo Montoya race the clock to overcome ankle injuries, Rinakama has been named to take the field at Accor Stadium.

And in a rugby league twist of fate, Rinakama is set to mark up on another Canterbury local junior in Panthers winger Paul Alamoti.

“It’s all been surreal,” Rinakama said.

“Obviously, I always wanted to play first grade but to get a chance like this is pretty cool.”

If the rookie had any nerves or trepidation over the biggest game of his young career, a do-or-die semi-final in front of 60,000 fans, the quiet-spoken Rinakama was showing no signs of it at this week’s media commitments.

But Rinakama’s level head and maturity is widely praised since the moment he stepped through the door at Belmore.

Despite now being a full-time NRL player, Rinakama is still committed to finding his civil engineering degree.

“It’s my second year doing a civil engineering course at Macquarie University, right now I’m doing part-time to juggle it with footy,” Rinakama said.

“My parents have always been big on the academic stuff, so I felt like it was my job to do well in school to repay them for everything they have done for me.

“I’ve always liked maths, I was good at it in school and my dad did a bit of engineering so I have always had a passion for it.

“I did think about studying physiotherapy but I thought I’d make a better engineer

“It’s important to have that plan B, footy is not going to last forever.

“And my parents always had a rule, for me to play sports I had to be doing well in school. But my dad was also pretty good at sports, so he saw that could make a career out of playing sports.”

His work ethic away from the book and training field hasn’t gone unnoticed either.

Despite already juggling university with his NRL dream, Rinakama still found time to work as a demolition labourer.

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“I finished school in 2023 and last year I was doing part time training, so I just decided to work part time as a demolition labourer,” Rinakama said.

“I was doing that in the morning, getting up at 5.30am working until 3.00pm and training with the Jersey Flegg in the afternoon.

“I feel like me doing that job has made me more grateful for being a full-time footballer now.”

Originally published as Inside Bulldogs rookie Jethro Rinakama’s remarkable rise from demolition labourer to NRL star