Fijian winger Waisake Naholo is determined to make the most of his bonus opportunity when the Highlanders play the Queensland Reds in Dunedin on Friday.

Patrick Osborne and Richard Buckman were the Highlanders’ starting wingers last year but Buckman has a troublesome knee injury which is likely to sideline him for another month.

Naholo, 23, impressed with his strength and work rate in the 20-26 loss to the Crusaders last week, and he wants to take it up another step against the Reds.

His situation is similar to that of Malakai Fekitoa, who was unwanted at the Blues but was a sensation when he moved to the Highlanders last year.

Naholo played two games for the Blues in 2013 but it was not a happy experience.

“I was pretty nervous,” he said. “If I had got more game time I would have had more confidence. It was really frustrating.”

Naholo, who was a star of Taranaki’s ITM Cup triumph last year, has already represented New Zealand at sevens and under-20 level.

He moved to Dunedin via Sigatoka in Fiji, Whanganui, New Plymouth and the Blues, after arriving in New Zealand at the age of 16 to live with his uncle.

Naholo says a real advantage of playing for the Highlanders is that left wing Osborne is also Fijian.

“It has made it much easier building up to a game,” Naholo said.

“We go through stuff in Fijian during the week. We also hang out a lot and he’s been a big help.

“I was a bit apprehensive last week but I got myself more involved in the second half. I’ll give it everything I’ve got while Bucky’s injured. He and Patrick are really good wingers and I have to take every opportunity I get.”

He revelled in the atmosphere at Forsyth Barr Stadium last week.

“I loved it. It was really loud. It was hard to communicate on the field and I had to run over to Ben Smith a couple of times to check the moves.”

The Reds will present a different challenge on Friday.

“We’ve done a lot of work this week and I think we will be well prepared on Friday.”