Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti
As preparations for the resumption of rugby continue, Jersey Reds have confirmed three more players within the club’s 1st team squad.
Back row man Tim Grey, scrum-half Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti and fly-half Bader Pretorius are the Reds’ latest additions and are training with their team-mates prior to the scheduled start of the Greene King IPA Championship season in March.
Grey (24, pictured above) was born and bred in Yorkshire before moving to North Wales at the age of 16. He helped his club RGC 1404 win the WRU National Cup in 2017 and earned an opportunity to join the Cardiff Blues on a short-term deal in 2019. He was also selected for the Welsh Under 20 squad in 2016 before injury ended his hopes of national selection.
21-year-old Nordli-Kelemeti has moved to Jersey on loan from Gallagher Premiership side Newcastle Falcons, where he was part of the Academy squad dating back to his time at Durham School.
The scrum-half, born in Fiji before moving to England aged 11, made appearances for the Falcons in the Premiership Cup, Championship Cup and Greene King IPA Championship, as well as gaining experience in the National Leagues with Tynedale and Darlington Mowden Park, and earning selection for England Under 18s.
Johannesburg-born Pretorius (pictured above) moves from South Africa to Europe for the first time to join up with the Reds. The 23-year-old was most recently with Port Elizabeth-based Southern Kings, one of the South African sides in the Guinness PRO14, and previously with the Golden Lions in Jo’burg.
Pretorius arrives in Jersey to bolster the Reds’ options at fly-half while 2020 signing Sam Leeming is out of action following cancer treatment. The 23-year-old, formerly with Bedford Blues, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in September.
Leeming completed six rounds of chemotherapy on Christmas Day and is continuing his rehabilitation in the UK. It is hoped he will be able to return to Jersey in the spring and prepare for a return to rugby in the 2021/22 season.
The Reds have also confirmed the departure of flanker Jake Upfield. The 25-year-old returned to his native Australia during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic and has now opted to remain Down Under.
Upfield is now studying for a Master’s in Business Administration, having been awarded the John Eales Rugby Excellence Scholarship at Bond University in Queensland, where he has also established himself as a leading member of the university’s rugby squad.
The Greene King IPA Championship season will start on the weekend of 6th March, with 11 clubs competing in a truncated 10-game schedule. The Reds will travel to away games by charter flights following an announcement that local Jersey business Blue Islands will be the club’s Official Airline Partner for the season, and await final government approval for the proposed season and associated travel logistics.
Jersey Reds player/coach profiles - see HERE
Jersey Reds 2020/21 fixtures - see HERE
