NRL: Manu Vatuvei plans tribute to Jonah Lomu

Herald online

24 Nov, 2015 08:15 PM3 mins to read

Warriors winger Manu Vatuvei is congratulated by Jonah Lomu after playing his 200th game against Wests Tigers. Photo/Getty.

Warriors winger Manu Vatuvei plans to pay tribute to Jonah Lomu throughout the 2016 NRL premiership season.

Growing up in South Auckland in the early 1990's, the former All Blacks winger was Vatuvei's childhood hero and he often copied his famous and flamboyant hairstyles.

News of Lomu's death last week hit Vatuvei hard, and he has revealed plans to pay tribute to him when taking the field for the Warriors next season.

"I will definitely be paying tribute to him after my tries in 2016, and I have also asked Jonah's cousin if I can shave the number 11 into my eyebrows like Jonah used to," Vatuvei told the Warriors website.

"If his family are OK with it then I will be doing that for the whole year as a tribute to Jonah. That's something little I can give back to him and his family.

"It will be a mark of appreciation for him, to show what he meant to me and to the whole of New Zealand."

Earlier this year, Lomu was on hand at Mt Smart Stadium to make a special post-match presentation to Vatuvei, after he scored two tries to help the Warriors overcome Wests Tigers 32-22 in his 200th NRL game.

Vatuvei said he will forever cherish the occasion and spoke glowingly about Lomu's humble and down to earth nature.

"I am so blessed that Jonah made it to one of my games and presented me with my 200-game jersey," Vatuvei said.

"It just made my day - I almost broke down in tears to be honest - it was a dream come true to see him.

"When you are a kid you really look up to your idols and as you get older you tend to go away from that, but I really still look up to him in terms of how humble he remained right through.

"He was someone everyone feared on the field, but off the field he was just a lovely person. That is the kind of person I always wanted to be."

Last week Vatuvei joined a number of current and former Warriors in paying tribute to Lomu on social media.