NRL Finals: What Happened To Viliame Kikau Eye? Injury Update

Kikau suffered an eye injury earlier this season, but he bounced back immediately and won the 2022 NRL Grand Final with Penrith Panthers.

He badly bruised his right eye during a friendly clash against their final opponent before the start of the season. He had faced several injuries throughout the season but always recovered in time to prepare for his next matches. However, his eye injury before the start of the season was brutal.

After getting poked during some friendly fire against the Eels, Kikau talked about his challenges leading up to the remaining league games. He was set to face Melbourne after the injury but had to visit an optician multiple times to recover to 100% health. His right eye was still blood-red, but he gave his total commitment to the team to help them win other league games.

In 2018, Kikau became a fearsome player and a pillar of the Panthers NRL team. With his determination and combined team effort, the Panthers won their fourth Premiership title and second in a row. Kikau participated in 25 games for Penrith this season.

He extended his contract with the organization through the end of 2022 and was recognized for his performance in 2020 and 2021 by being included in the Dally M Team of the Year on both occasions. In the 2023 season, he will be part of Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, and his new team will expect to perform the same way he has served in the past seasons.

Viliame Kikau is in a relationship with his longtime girlfriend, Brittany Carey, but the couple is yet to get married. They are a lovely couple even though they have never been married. They have been together for a very long time, and they have also welcomed a son together. Despite being quite outspoken about his relationship with Carey, the sportsman has never referred to her as his wife in any posts.

She is very popular among Kikau fans as his fanbase adored and loved her. He makes occasional cameos on her boyfriend’s Instagram, and those posts’ comments are filled with lovely messages from their well-wishers. She has kept her profile private forbidding unauthorized people to access her posts.

Brittany is popular as the partner of a famous rugby player. She is currently caring for her newborn baby and is fully committed to her son’s well-being. However, people claim that she used to work as a teacher in the past. Other than that, she is not professionally active in any sector.

Viliame has a net worth of around 1 million dollars in 2022. That makes him one of the highest-paid athletes in the NRL.

With the valued signature of Panthers star Viliame Kikau for the 2023 season, the Bulldogs have pulled off another great signing. One of the NRL’s top edge forwards has signed a four-year contract with the Bulldogs. Other teams like Cowboys and St. George Illawarra were also in the race to sign the NRL star, but he chose Bulldogs to spend another four years of his career where he will earn $800,000 per season.

Viliame Kikau will leave the Panthers’ team after six seasons and thinks there is no better way to say goodbye than leading the team to back-to-back championships. The 27-year-old was visibly moved by the Panthers’ overwhelming 28-12 victory in the grand final when he signed a four-year contract to play with the Bulldogs beginning in 2023. Kikau made his debut in 2017 and participated in 123 games for Penrith before his time at the foot of the mountain came to an end.

His contract with the new team became controversial at the end of the 2021 season. A picture of Kikau, Bulldogs head coach Trent Barrett, and general manager Phil Gould of Canterbury donning the team’s signature ‘blue and white’ was released in November of the previous year. This created a moment of chaos among the management and fans of the Panthers as the player was still in the contract with them, and to see their player in the colors of the other team was unacceptable.

It also created a buzz in the Bulldogs team as one of the most confidential news of the group had just leaked out. To find out who might have grabbed a screenshot from a club security camera, the Bulldogs began an investigation, but it was unsuccessful. Panthers authorities were not pleased with Kikau’s posture before the club’s parade either.

He was still a member of the team’s squad, and such behavior was regarded as a significant offense. Officials at Penrith, though, were hopeful that they would be able to retain the 27-year-old, who is close with Bulldogs head coach and former Panthers assistant Barrett.

Viliame is, without a doubt, one of the most important players for his club and national team. His interest in the sport began while he was in his young days. He participated in local tournaments in Fiji and was considered a remarkable player with a unique ability in the field. Later, he was accepted to Queen Victoria School and Marist Brothers High School in Suva, where he participated in rugby union for their teams and represented the Fiji Secondary Schools against the Australian Schoolboys.

2013, North Queensland scout Kikau had never played in professional rugby league. For the 2014 Holden Cup season, Kikau was the lone player to sign with the club and join their side. The deal was a steal as he was also being scouted at the time by several French rugby union clubs. Kikau played 21 games and scored 11 tries in his first rugby league season for North Queensland’s Holden Cup squad. After only one season, he switched his playing style from center to becoming a prop.

Kikau made his debut for Fiji against Papua New Guinea in the Melanesian Cup match on May 2, 2015, coming off the bench in the 22-10 victory. Kikau finished his Holden Cup career with the North Queensland club with 32 tries from 42 games, earning a spot at prop in the 2015 NYC Team of the Year on September 14, 2015. Earlier that year, he also signed a two-year contract with the NRL team, Penrith Panthers.

Kikau participated in the NSW Cup team for Penrith in 2016. He made his NRL debut in the following year, in 2017. Kikau played off the interchange bench and scored a try in the Penrith Panthers’ 36-2 victory over the Wests Tigers in Round 2 to make his NRL debut. He extended his contract with the Penrith Panthers through the end of the 2019 NRL season on April 15. Kikau played nine games and scored one try for the Panthers in his first season in the NRL. He was included in the 24-man Fijian team for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup on October 7.

Kikau had a fantastic tournament for Fiji, participating in all five of their games and scoring three tries. As a result, he was selected for the World Cup Team of the Tournament. Kikau’s World Cup performance would secure him a spot among Penrith’s top 17. During the 2018 NRL season, he played in 25 games as the team placed fifth and advanced to the elimination final against Cronulla-Sutherland. Kikau took the field for Penrith in his 50th NRL game during round 23 of the 2019 NRL season. Kikau played in 18 games for Penrith in the 2019 NRL season, which saw the team finish 10th overall and miss the playoffs for the first time since 2015.

Kikau participated in 19 games for Penrith during the Minor Premiership-winning 2020 NRL season. Kikau participated for Penrith in the 2020 NRL Grand Final, which they lost to Melbourne. However, their title-winning dream was going to be fulfilled next year. Kikau participated in all 27 of Penrith’s games during the 2021 NRL season, including the team’s victory over South Sydney in the NRL Grand Final. A year later, they again were crowned champions where Kikau participated in 25 games for Penrith during the season, including the team’s triumph over Parramatta in the 2022 NRL Grand Final.