After working hard on his physical and mental health, the Warriors legend is ready to face the public again. Photo / Maree Wilkinson
After working hard on his physical and mental health, the Warriors legend is ready to face the public again. Photo / Maree Wilkinson
For years, Sione Faumuina has been running from the limelight. But content with the new life he has built for himself, wife Renay and their three – soon to be four – children in Rotorua, the Faumuina who is chatting to Woman’s Day now is a far cry from the one some Kiwis might remember.
“I like to think I’m a different man now,” he says with a wide smile as he and Renay wrestle their kids, daughters Ella, 7, and Aiva, 6, and son Kees, 2, in front of our photographer with minimal fuss. “There’s still chaos – but now it’s a completely different kind!”
It’s been years since the former New Zealand Warrior and international rugby league legend has willingly put himself in front of the public after a string of highly publicised alcohol-fuelled incidents that plagued the talented athlete’s career.
So when the opportunity presented itself to be a part of TV show Match Fit, a programme following former professional league players as they fight to regain their fitness and lose weight, Faumuina, 42, was initially hesitant.
“It was a hard decision to figure out if I wanted to be back in the public eye,” he admits. “Twenty years ago, I was probably in the media for the wrong reasons. Fast-forward to now, I’m a lot more mature, I’ve got children and I’m in a far better place. But I really wanted to connect with the other boys again, so I decided it was time.”
It’s a completely different ball game – pun intended – these days for professional athletes. Offered tonnes of support and mental health care from the beginning of their careers to the transition out of professional sport, athletes now have resources they can use to help them through their struggles.
It’s been years since the former New Zealand Warrior and international league legend has willingly put himself in front of the public after a string of highly publicised alcohol-fuelled incidents that plagued the talented athlete’s career. Photo / Getty Images
But when Faumuina burst on to the scene, first as a Canberra Raider, before dazzling at the Warriors from 2002 to 2006, there wasn’t as much help. Faumuina readily admits the pressure of being a professional league player – a Warrior, specifically – was too much. So he turned to alcohol.
“It’s harder when you’re in a one-country team like the Warriors – the whole of New Zealand’s team. We came off some really good seasons, then we fell off and we experienced the lows. I was only 21 … I tried to deal with it the best way I could.
“When I was starting out, words like mental health were never mentioned.
“And even on the other end, transitioning out … a lot has been done in that space, which is so important. Your career is such a short amount of time compared to the rest of your life, you know?
“But if you’ve never experienced the sort of wealth and profile that comes with being a pro athlete … and maybe you weren’t grounded with the values you needed, you’ll need some support. I always say to the up-and-coming players now, whatever is going on in your life, be it positive or negative, will be amplified by sport. And the minute you get your six-figure contract, and you get it in the limelight, it will amplify all of those things. It’s why it’s so important to have a good support base around you. Trust me!”
After bonding over banh mi and dating for a while, the pair wed in 2018. But a return to New Zealand seemed off the cards initially. Photo / Maree Wilkinson
For Faumuina, his number-one fan – and probably harshest critic! – is wife Renay. The pair have been together for 10 years after meeting in a pub in Brisbane.
“Renay came up to me and goes, ‘Oh, my gosh, you’re that former league player!’” Faumuina remembers, laughing. “And I’m like, ‘I’m still a league player!’”
After bonding over banh mi and dating for a while, the pair wed in 2018. But a return to New Zealand seemed off the cards initially.
“When I first met Sione, he told me that he never wanted to come back,” remembers Renay. “That’s how bad his anxiety around his former life here was. But when we had our first baby, with both of our parents living here, he worked through that anxiety and it was gone.”
“I like to think I’m a different man now,” he says with a wide smile. Photo / Maree Wilkinson
And to Faumuina’s surprise, when he was recognised, it was in a far more positive light than he expected. New Zealand had mostly moved on.
Tells Renay, 37, “He was used to people yelling out, ‘Where have you been? Naughty boy!’ Instead, it was more of a, ‘Hey, that’s Sione from the Warriors!’”
That’s not to say Faumuina isn’t nervous about being back on telly – but for him, it’s time to write a new chapter.
While Match Fit focuses on losing weight and getting back to game-day fitness, Sione and Renay had already achieved a head start on their health journeys – in fact, Faumuina had dropped 27 kilos.
Woman's Day.
“I said to them when they called, ‘You’re about 25kg too late!’” he laughs. “But the producers asked me to be a bit of a mentor to assist the boys who are just about to start.”
Faumuina’s journey was spurred on by a chance encounter with a fan in a pub – and it wasn’t a positive experience.
“He saw me and sort of did a double take. He goes, ‘Man, what happened to you?’ I thought he was talking to my mate. He was a massive Warriors fan from back in the day, so he leads me around the table to see his wife and she goes, ‘Man, you need to jump on a treadmill!’ Those comments really hit home. So in January last year, both me and Renay started this journey, and we’re so much happier.”
They shed the weight the old-fashioned way – ditching the bad stuff and eating less. But it was the meal planning that helped the most.
“Our biggest thing was, ‘We’re hungry! We’ll eat the first or quickest thing we can find,’” shares Renay. “The food plan was super-strict for three months and it was just what we needed. Once we got past the three months, it became a lot easier.”
While Match Fit focuses on losing weight and getting back to game-day fitness, Sione and Renay had already achieved a head start on their health journeys. Photo / Maree Wilkinson
Losing the weight has been the culmination of a huge effort Faumuina has put into his health – both physically and mentally.
“I put in a lot of work,” he says. “And I’m still doing it today. It’s been a lot of breaking down the stigma of what men should be saying and doing, you know? But for me, the penny has dropped and I knew I needed to change.”
Faumuina’s also enjoying the chance to reconnect with former Warriors Clinton Toopi, Ali Lauitiiti, Ruben Wiki and heaps of others, many of whom he hasn’t seen much of since his playing days.
“Oh, I’m so grateful for that,” he says. “The brothers and I really realised how much we missed each other. We went through something so crazy and we have all of these shared memories. I know now that Match Fit is about love and connection, and that this experience has really reminded me that you don’t have to go through life alone – we’re all there.”
Renay says she’s incredibly proud of Sione for putting himself back in the spotlight.
“He still has anxiety when he thinks about it all,” she tells. “We all know a bad news story travels faster than a good one, so no matter what he does, everything from his past will get brought up. But we just have to work through that and at the end of the day, I know most people will be really proud and supportive of him. I know I am!”
