Australian Rugby has always been a hotbed of cult heroes and one-line wonders, but nothing with the special connection of Faitala and Manu'a Moleka.
The Moleka sisters are vibrant personalities on and off the field, and as some of the youngest in a family of eight siblings, mainly brothers, it’s easy to see why.
Watch the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup live and on-demand via Stan Sport.
The two sisters, together talking about their journey and the excitement of playing together, could hold court in any comedy club or stage, such is their natural humour and ability to drop quote after quote.
Older sister Faitala has been in the Australian system longer, debuting as an 18-year-old in 2023. She has become a mainstay of the Wallaroos ever since, her personality on display at all stages, whether she's doing the worm in South Africa or breaking out the ukulele.
It’s only been recently that Manu'a has broken into the Wallaroos, earning a last-minute call-up for the World Cup after Charlotte Caslick’s injury.
The two were separate at the time when the 18-year-old got the news she was heading to the World Cup from coach Jo Yapp.
“It was a very happy moment. I remember getting in the car because I was at my niece's assembly and she got an award, so bless her, but the day was about me,” Manu'a said and laughed, quick to stress she was joking.
“As soon as I got the call from Jo, I called ‘Tala straight away and I just called’ Tala because I knew she'd be happy, I think [Yeah, of course. What the hell? - Faitala remarks] But no, because 'Tala has been with me and I've been with 'Tala and she's been with me through the whole journey, like every single camp.
“It’s been a bit rough, a lot of crash outs, but we're here. We got here.”
“I think it's still like a shock,” Faitala added.
“As probably you've seen on the media that she was a late add-in to the team and so I'm still trying to soak in this experience myself but to be able to soak it in with someone that I hold close to my heart and someone I consider my best friend [turns to Manu'a] I'm gassing you up again. I'm gassing you up.
“It's just so cool having someone that you can really be your true self and your whole self to and so for this experience, for me to experience this but to experience it with my sister, I think it's such a surreal and such a grateful moment for me.”
The sisters are as close as ever and shared what it meant to be together living out their dreams.
“I thank the Lord for Faitala, for having my sister, allowing him to pair us together,” Manu'a reflected. “It’s been really good. She allows me to express my emotions to her, will enable me to rant and allows me to go off at her but she always helps me stay grounded…It's just a blessing to have her alongside me.
“I had two years under my belt before Manu'a came along and to be honest, I'm kind of grateful that I was given those years to myself as it helped me mature," Faitala insists.
“I had great role models and support through our players and staff throughout those years. So, being able to have Manu'a come in and just hear those such nice words from her about me being her support system, I think I could only be that support system and be mature enough to take on that older sister role in a professional environment with those two years under my belt.
“It’s a different kind of responsibility now that I'm here and I am the older one and I do have more experience, just guiding her to be her own self and not to be my shadow is something that I truly strive to push her to be and honestly, I think she's kind of taking more of the light now in training.”
It’s a long way from the parks in Penrith where the pair battled it out with their brothers on the field under the guidance of their ‘supercoach’ dad.
“We used to go at it like we used to go because we grew up with a house predominantly full of boys,” Faitala recalls.
“We had to hold our own on the physical side… I think we were both trying to copy our dad. So our dad was probably our first role model in terms of sport and skill. He's probably our first coach and probably will be our last and so we call him a super coach because when we're on the field, we can still hear him on the stadium packed. You can just hear his voice go.
“There was a lot of front-yard tackling. There was a lot of action at night because I was really scared, so at night time, we used to do like we used to bash each other for free, anyone lights off, go for gold,” Manu'a added.
The sisters credit that wonderful environment created by their family for providing the opportunity to get them to England and savour a World Cup together.
“They both played such important roles in terms of our journey being here,” Faitala added.
“My mum being more on the sacrificing her time and sometimes she'd start work at 6, finish at two, pick us up from school, take us to training which would finish at 9.30 and we'd come back home and she's still waiting for her husband to finish work.
“Just those little sacrifices and with our dad just being that person to take time to teach us the fundamentals of rugby.”
Dealing with the local lingo
“When people come to you, they're like ‘You right’ and I'm like, yeah…Sometimes they sound like they want to fight me but it’s just their way of saying hello. - Faitala.
“They sound like they want to square you up - Manu'a.
Their dad being their role model
“Whenever we'd verse each other, I try to step like my dad. I try to be as fast as my dad never worked. He's probably still faster than me.” - Faitala.
“He still is faster - Manu'a
Manu'a on facing their older brothers in the park growing up
“When someone ends up crying, it's home time.”
On facing each other at training
“She still yells at me on the pitch - Manu'a
“She's got freaking boulders for shoulders, I can tell you that. I'm pretty sure she concussed me one time. We won't talk about that - Faitala.
Faitala on if they would travel together after the World Cup
“I wish my bank account would tell me that I could but my bank account is telling me to take the free trip back home."
