Discipline and leadership will be two areas that defending Vodafone Deans Trophy holders Queen Victoria School Under-18 team will focus on as they face Marist Brothers High School in tomorrow’s quarterfinal at Suva’ HFC Bank Stadium.

This was the gist of QVS U18 captain Anare Tabakaucoro’s message during an interview with SUNsports yesterday.

“We had a normal preparation and we know that Marist is a good team,” he said.

“We respect them even though they came third in their zone competition.”

Tabakaucoro said he found it tough to fit in with the current QVS team because he was new to the squad.

“I did not play with this team last year, but I usually advise my team-mates of what the previous team did in terms of planning, preparation and execution.

“That made us win the Deans Trophy,” he said.

“We’ll play for each other again, for our family, friends and the old boys this year.”

Tabakaucoro said the team’s biggest strength is the players paying homage to their parents’ sacrifice.

“All those times our parents prepare our meals for us because some of our team-mates came all the way from Vanua Levu so they haven’t seen their families in a long time,” he said.

“A lot of my team members were raised by single parent so it has been our motivation to perform well in every game that we play in.”

Tabakaucoro remains grounded regardless of the experience he has gained while playing for the Fijian Warriors and the Fiji Under-20 teams.

“I always tell myself to be humble and put God first because everything that happen in my life is not about me, it’s all about God. Our coaching staff has advised us that we should not defend the Deans title this year but rather win it.”

Meanwhile, the MBHS U18 manager indicated that they opted to keep a low profile and would not be doing any interviews.

Feedback: ioane.asioli@fijisun.com.fj