DIRECTOR of rugby Dean Ryan believes Worcester Warriors can make powerful centre Ravai Fatiaki a fearsome force to be reckoned with in the Aviva Premiership.
The Fiji international agreed a new deal at Warriors last week after a impressive season which has seen him make 11 league starts.
After a disappointing couple of seasons following a string of injuries, the 26-year-old appears to have found his feet at Sixways and he now seems to have nailed down the number 12 jersey.
But Ryan is convinced the best is still to come from Fatiaki and he believes the talented midfielder will flourish under the guidance of high performance director Nick Johnston.
“I think we have all seen him come on this season and we are pleased that he wanted to stay,” Ryan said.
“He is a great person with a great attitude to getting better, which is exactly what we want.
“It is now about having him part of a high performance regime. He has obviously got great strength, great feet and he is very physical, but I think we can get more out of him and that is where Nick comes in.
“Rather than just making him fitter, we can actually make him more powerful and more dynamic and then you can start to worry about what Rav is capable of doing because he is pretty raw in terms of the input he has had before.”
Ryan has spoken about creating a back-line full of talented English players, which Fatiaki, who has made ten appearances for Fiji, does not fit, but the Warriors boss insisted it was important to get the right balance.
“It is prodimently English, but you don’t want to rule out somebody like Rav,” Ryan added. “It is just about getting the mix right.
“I think without having a clear view of what you want your team to look like, you end up jumping around and being where we are now. We are really poor on EQP stats, so we don’t get the central funding and all those things have become a real challenge for us.
“But we have a much more clearer view that we want the side to be predominantly English as it is significantly funded and it creates greater stability.
“But that doesn’t stop Rav being part of our journey and I am delighted that he wants to stay with us and be part of this group as he offers something different.”