{"id":331631,"date":"2023-09-16T21:21:48","date_gmt":"2023-09-16T21:21:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=331631"},"modified":"2023-09-17T01:03:08","modified_gmt":"2023-09-17T01:03:08","slug":"why-nrl-greats-prison-sentence-was-a-life-saver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=331631","title":{"rendered":"Why NRL great's prison sentence was 'a life saver'"},"content":{"rendered":"

Manu Vatuvei<\/a> has opened up on his stunning fall from grace from Kiwi cult hero to convicted drug dealer.<\/p>\n

Former Warriors<\/a> favourite Vatuvei was recently granted early release from prison in New Zealand after being sentenced to three years and seven months in 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Vatuvei has made brief comments before but has gone into great detail of his plight in a tell-all interview with former Warriors teammate Sione Faumuina that will air in New Zealand on Sunday night.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Roosters star binned as opponent left in agony<\/strong><\/a>\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Didn't feel good': Skipper reveals coach's major blunder<\/strong><\/a>\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Warriors edge towards grand final by thumping Knights<\/strong><\/a>\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vatuvei talked of the depths of despair, his marriage break-up, the loneliness and shame of jail and thoughts of taking his own life when at his lowest.<\/p>\n

"I just started pushing everyone away," Vatuvei explained of his life spiralling as he headed towards retirement and how he took to self medicating with alcohol and other substances.<\/p>\n

\"Warriors<\/p>\n

"I started changing around 2016. I didn't care about no one I just wanted to end it right there. I didn't think about my kids, my family, my parents, my brothers. I was over and done.<\/p>\n

"I wasn't laughing as much. I just didn't care. I was just doing stupid things like just going out and drinking for how many nights in a row. I had no soul.<\/p>\n

"One fear that I had was ending my career not on my own terms and that's what happened."<\/p>\n

Stream the NRL premiership 2023 live and free on<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Vatuvei was cut by English club Salford after just eight games when he ruptured his Achilles.<\/p>\n

"I had no idea (what to do) when my career finished\u2026 I had nothing. I had a separation with my wife. I was spending ridiculous, just doing stupid things and drinking. I reached a point where I had to start all over again.<\/p>\n

\"Joey<\/p>\n

"Going into prison was a life saver for me because if I was still out here, I would have been in a worse position than I am now.<\/p>\n

"It's hard now because I have to start again from zero but I've been there before. I've got the support there to help me out. People don't know all the work I did inside, seeing a psychologist, studying. People just see all the bad stuff.<\/p>\n

"They ask 'why is he out so early?' – Because I've done everything I've had to do to show I've changed as a person. I can't control what people say or do towards me."<\/p>\n

When Vatuvei was originally charged with drug trafficking, his name was suppressed by the courts for several months.<\/p>\n

But when the suppression order lapsed, he became front page news throughout his homeland and considered taking his own life.<\/p>\n

"I wanted to commit suicide," he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"I just snapped and just took off. I went to my parents' house and just drank my sorrows away."<\/p>\n

Vatuvei stopped training after being charged and his once warrior-like body fell apart.<\/p>\n

"I was 143 kilos before I went to jail, from binge eating," he said.<\/p>\n

The Warriors earned some criticism by giving Vatuvei a volunteer job mentoring young players<\/a> following his release.<\/p>\n

"It's been good helping people out and giving them some of my life experiences," he said.<\/p>\n

"I like giving back to the community. I've been on both sides now.<\/p>\n

"People only see what they see on TV\u2026 on the news and they tend to judge people.<\/p>\n

"You get to sit down with that person and judge them through that. Their perspective of you changes. I apologise to all the brothers for pushing them away – if I could change it I would."<\/p>\n

For Sione Faumuina's full interview with Vatuvei, CLICK HERE<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you or anyone you know needs immediate support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or via<\/strong><\/em> lifeline.org.au<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. In an emergency, call 000<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Manu Vatuvei has opened up on his stunning fall from grace from Kiwi cult hero to convicted drug dealer. Former Warriors favourite Vatuvei was recently […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":331633,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331631"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=331631"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":331636,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331631\/revisions\/331636"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/331633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=331631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=331631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=331631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}