Lalakai Foketi is the first to admit 2024 didn’t go his way. In his eyes, he’s the only person to blame.
Foketi ended 2023 as the Wallabies’ incumbent at inside centre, starting the final World Cup pool game against Portugal after appearing off the bench against Georgia and Fiji.
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However, a neck injury from a freak training accident days before the opening Super Rugby game put his season off course, eventually returning in round six against the Melbourne Rebels.
From here, Foketi failed to regain his Wallabies spot as the Waratahs struggled, left out of Joe Schmidt’s first squad.
Given how his year started, you wouldn’t blame the nine-time midfielder for looking for excuses or blaming external factors.
However, that’s not the character of Foketi, delivering a raw and brutal assessment of his season.
“It was definitely a low point for my footy. Obviously the injury didn't help, but that's no excuse, I should’ve been ready and I wasn’t (for 2024),” he told rugby.com.au
“I'm disappointed and I feel like I've got a lot to prove…Just reflecting on the year, did I work hard enough before I stepped onto that field? Probably not. I probably was underdone and that's not because of anything else but myself.
“Mentally, it was a weird year after that World Cup going on such a high and then coming into 2024, I can say personally I wasn't really 100% in the game and everything that came with it.
"That's no excuse, this is my job, and I should be able to put everything aside, but reflecting on it, I’m going to take learnings from what happened last year and what I guess I did to prepare and stuff like that."
Foketi’s season was summed up in the final minutes of a Shute Shield qualifying final for Manly against Easts.
With the game out of reach, the centre was red-carded for a dumping tackle in the final seconds.
It came at the worst possible time, with Hunter Paisami limping off for the Wallabies hours afterwards against the Springboks.
Any chance of an Australian call-up was dashed but in Foketi’s eyes, he didn’t deserve it anyway.
“I looked back on it and it was probably everything boiling down to the point,” he said on the tackle.
“Obviously my footy wasn't going well and there was no intent in trying to hurt anyone but it just capped off the year that I had.
“It happened then and I obviously wasn't eligible for any selection, but I think I can say it on behalf of myself, I probably shouldn't have earned any selections by the way I was playing. That red card obviously just summed up my year pretty much.”
Foketi credits the people around him for helping to deal with the setbacks with such a positive mindset to come back stronger in 2025.
“I'll surround myself with really good people, my wife and my kids and I’ve got something to go home to that can keep my mind away from footy," he admits.
“I can't have a year like that and not reflect on it and say ‘I can't let that happen again.’ I love the game, I love competing, and I love to be at the top of my game. So for me, the main thing is it just comes down to hard work and how much you want to put into the game, because it will give you back what you put into it.
“I'm pretty open about the support of 2024, but my big thing is now I just put myself in the best position that I can be for 2025. Just remember to control what I can control, and see what happens.”
Foketi has thrown himself back into training under new coach Dan McKellar, with the Test players returning to Daceyville on Monday.
“ It's been really tough, and the boys are definitely working really hard. That's a big focus this year, is that we'll gain confidence from working hard,” he added.
“Everyone works hard in pre-season, but it's a belief that we are working hard and everyone's on the same page, so it's been really good…Dan's definitely pushed for us to just compete. Every time the ball's in play, you can't expect to win games if you don't work hard and do the little one-percenters.”
