“WE learnt the hard way.’’
Parramatta’s Suaia Matagi knows better than anyone about the dark path St George Illawarra’s Russell Packer has walked.
Both grew up around gang violence in New Zealand, served prison sentences, and have now rebuilt their lives with the help of rugby league.
On Sunday the hulking props will confront each other in Wollongong. But on Thursday Matagi will visit troubled youth at Cobham Juvenile Justice Centre in Sydney’s west.
“Hopefully some of the boys we visited last year aren’t there anymore,’’ Matagi said. “If they are, maybe we can reach and help them.
“A few of us will visit, Frankie Pritchard, Bevan (French). We can use our life experiences, they can see some of the life skills we have encountered. Be a role model to them. A few of them have had the wrong role models in life and that’s where they have ended up.
“Hopefully we can push them in the right direction.”
Matagi, 28, was sentenced to three years in prison in New Zealand in 2006 for a drunken assault. He was just 17 at the time, and served one year after completing rehabilitation courses.
Packer, 27, was sentenced to two years in prison in 2014 for assaulting a 22-year-old man, fracturing his eye socket. He pleaded guilty and was released after one year.
Despite being mates, the pair will hammer into each other like never before at WIN Stadium in Wollongong.
Suaia Matagi hopes his experiences can help others. Photo: Gregg Porteous“We learnt the hard way,” Matagi said. “Now hopefully people learn off us, that you don’t have to go down that highway to live your dreams. Anything is possible if you’re willing to put your head down and surround yourself with positive people. If you do the hard work, you can achieve anything.
“I fully supported him (Packer in prison). I would definitely be there for him. I felt bad for him, going through what he went through. We have caught up a few times. It was good to see him and his family doing well.
“I am now happy he is back in the game and doing what he does best. I knew Russell coming through at the Warriors. He was starting prop there and I was fulltime there as well. He was a good leader, a good person.”
Matagi has seen a massive change in Packer’s on-field performances.
“He played really well on round one,” Matagi said. “It was a whole different Russell Packer to what I have seen before. It was one of his best games of footy so far. He inspired his whole team. Russell will bring a tough, solid game (on Sunday).
“They will rely on him again this weekend to take their team forward.”
Replies
I am worried the two of these blokes hitting each other on Sunday could cause the earth to spin off its axis.
packer assaulted peta hiku last weekend, hasn't changed at all. just missing a stomp