ManlyBacker
Winging it
He's one of the hard men of the NRL - a player who puts his body through torture every week in the most physically demanding of sports.
Read the full article
Read the full article
Matai's inspiration
- Thread starter ManlyBacker
- Start date
-
We had an issue with background services between march 10th and 15th or there about. This meant the payment services were not linking to automatic upgrades. If you paid for premium membership and are still seeing ads please let me know and the email you used against PayPal and I cam manually verify and upgrade your account.
LOL, 'I think my parents are closet Warriors supporters'.
Glad this bloke is in our team.
Glad this bloke is in our team.
ManlyBacker
Winging it
The Sea Eagles centre opens up ahead of Sunday's grand final, writes Brad Walter.
Manly hardman Steve Matai has revealed his footballing inspiration - a mentally disabled brother who can't speak and needs around-the-clock care.
Matai, who has one of the longest judiciary records in the NRL, told yesterday of his admiration for his 36-year-old sibling, Maika, on the eve of Sunday's grand final against the Warriors.
The premiership decider is the Kiwi international's third grand final in five years but Matai, who grew up in Auckland with injured Warriors centre Jerome Ropati, said it was the first his mother, Faaiu, would attend as she has previously had to stay at home to look after Maika.
''He can't speak, he can't doing anything on his own,'' Matai said yesterday. ''He needs someone there 24 hours a day.''
Asked if his brother knew Matai, whose image was projected on the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday night, was an NRL star, the 27-year-old said: ''It's kind of hard. He can't put anything together. I love him to death. If I had the same strength that he shows every day just to live, I'd be doing well.''
Other family members are looking after Maika this week, while Matai's mother and father Aloese are in Sydney.
They came over for the first birthday of his son, Isaiah, last weekend and are staying on for the grand final but the family had to endure a nervous wait over the weekend to learn whether Matai would be charged over an incident in last Friday night's win over Brisbane.
With three previous offences in the past two years and 12 since joining Manly in 2004, Matai would have been suspended if found guilty of even the most minor charge. ''If I got charged they were going to fly home,'' Matai said of his parents. ''Now they're staying for the game and my sister and nephew back home will look after Maika.
''It's a great occasion to have them at the game and seeing me play live. They're really happy I'm playing. They catch every game on tele - to get to every game is really rough for them - so it's good that they're here at the moment.''
Matai said he was confident of escaping suspension but admitted he had been relieved to learn on Sunday afternoon that he was free to play. ''I didn't really have time to think about it, I had my son's first birthday and family was here and everything was going on, trying to set up, blowing up balloons and things, that was on Saturday,'' he said. ''Then I got a phone call yesterday saying I was off. It was a bit of a relief.''
Now he intends to help Manly to a grand final win at the expense of the Warriors, whose lack of interest in him lead to Matai joining Ipswich in the Queensland Cup in the hope of securing an NRL contract.
''I couldn't be happier with the way things have turned out,'' Matai said. ''My family are closet Warriors supporters, so I'm not too sure who they will be supporting this weekend, it's win-win for them, I guess.''
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/matai-spurred-on-by-his-brothers-brave-example-20110926-1ktp0.html#ixzz1Z5feZIYE
Manly hardman Steve Matai has revealed his footballing inspiration - a mentally disabled brother who can't speak and needs around-the-clock care.
Matai, who has one of the longest judiciary records in the NRL, told yesterday of his admiration for his 36-year-old sibling, Maika, on the eve of Sunday's grand final against the Warriors.
The premiership decider is the Kiwi international's third grand final in five years but Matai, who grew up in Auckland with injured Warriors centre Jerome Ropati, said it was the first his mother, Faaiu, would attend as she has previously had to stay at home to look after Maika.
''He can't speak, he can't doing anything on his own,'' Matai said yesterday. ''He needs someone there 24 hours a day.''
Asked if his brother knew Matai, whose image was projected on the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday night, was an NRL star, the 27-year-old said: ''It's kind of hard. He can't put anything together. I love him to death. If I had the same strength that he shows every day just to live, I'd be doing well.''
Other family members are looking after Maika this week, while Matai's mother and father Aloese are in Sydney.
They came over for the first birthday of his son, Isaiah, last weekend and are staying on for the grand final but the family had to endure a nervous wait over the weekend to learn whether Matai would be charged over an incident in last Friday night's win over Brisbane.
With three previous offences in the past two years and 12 since joining Manly in 2004, Matai would have been suspended if found guilty of even the most minor charge. ''If I got charged they were going to fly home,'' Matai said of his parents. ''Now they're staying for the game and my sister and nephew back home will look after Maika.
''It's a great occasion to have them at the game and seeing me play live. They're really happy I'm playing. They catch every game on tele - to get to every game is really rough for them - so it's good that they're here at the moment.''
Matai said he was confident of escaping suspension but admitted he had been relieved to learn on Sunday afternoon that he was free to play. ''I didn't really have time to think about it, I had my son's first birthday and family was here and everything was going on, trying to set up, blowing up balloons and things, that was on Saturday,'' he said. ''Then I got a phone call yesterday saying I was off. It was a bit of a relief.''
Now he intends to help Manly to a grand final win at the expense of the Warriors, whose lack of interest in him lead to Matai joining Ipswich in the Queensland Cup in the hope of securing an NRL contract.
''I couldn't be happier with the way things have turned out,'' Matai said. ''My family are closet Warriors supporters, so I'm not too sure who they will be supporting this weekend, it's win-win for them, I guess.''
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/matai-spurred-on-by-his-brothers-brave-example-20110926-1ktp0.html#ixzz1Z5feZIYE
HappilyManly
Journey Man
The image below is the Manly H8ers worst nightmare 
I love Matai and his challenges in having a disabled brother just adds to my admiration of the man.
Gives Manly his all, may he score a try for Mum on Sunday
I love Matai and his challenges in having a disabled brother just adds to my admiration of the man.
Gives Manly his all, may he score a try for Mum on Sunday
| Team | P | W | L | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
6 | 5 | 1 | 59 | 12 |
|
6 | 5 | 1 | 20 | 12 |
|
6 | 4 | 2 | 53 | 10 |
|
6 | 4 | 2 | 30 | 10 |
|
7 | 4 | 2 | 25 | 9 |
|
7 | 4 | 3 | 40 | 8 |
|
7 | 4 | 3 | 24 | 8 |
|
7 | 4 | 3 | -8 | 8 |
|
7 | 4 | 3 | -18 | 8 |
|
7 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 7 |
|
7 | 3 | 4 | 31 | 6 |
|
7 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 6 |
|
6 | 2 | 4 | -31 | 6 |
|
7 | 3 | 4 | -41 | 6 |
|
7 | 2 | 5 | -29 | 4 |
|
6 | 1 | 5 | -102 | 4 |
|
6 | 0 | 6 | -90 | 2 |
