Rugby League: Roots of the Hair Bears

By PETER JESSUP

They both wear their hair smartly slicked and tied down off the field. On it, the loose-flying mops came to stand for the remarkable revival of a team that finished stone motherless last in 2001, Penrith. Joe Galuvao and Tony Puletua's similar shocks of freewave locks distinguished their bullocking runs up the park all year in the flint-hard NRL. Both played 25 of 27 games. Galuvao scored seven tries, Puletua four, for the unfancied team from the foot of the Blue Mountains.

The "Hair Bears" have played rugby league together since they were in their early teens, in representative sides including the 1997 Junior Kiwis that also counted Puletua's older brother, Frank, among its 17. But Tony and Joe followed different paths through the game before forming the partnership that has been a big part in Penrith's success.

It's been a rags-to-riches tale for Galuvao, who at times relied on the earnings of wife Maybelle as a singer. Puletua, on the other hand, was spotted as a 17-year-old and has been a pro-footballer ever since.

This week, they have spent a bit of time at the local Peachtree Hotel and in the clubrooms celebrating, after winning the J.J. Giltinan Shield as NRL roundplay champions and, last Sunday, the premiership.

Galuvao is a devout Christian who didn't break his weekly routine of attending morning church service before last Sunday's match. He normally doesn't drink but admitted to a few celebratory beers with the Panthers afterwards.

"It's not every day you win a grand final - I had to," he said of breaking the abstinence, tired and the ever-in-place grin sagging after celebrations that rolled into Tuesday when the players met the fans on the home playing field.

Around 3000 turned out, many in T-shirts with the club logo, the grand final score of 18-6 over the Roosters and the slogan, "Been There, Won That".

Only 900 season tickets were sold for the Panthers' season, but crowds averaged around 18,000 and hit 22,000 by the end. "It's just been awesome," Galuvao said of the reaction he is receiving. "It's still sinking in."

After the win he walked around the stadium with 4-year-old daughter Praise as 80,000-plus people cheered the club's achievement in winning its second premiership.

Galuvao was wearing a A$4000 ($4600) nine-carat gold ring as winner. His and Puletua's split of the A$400,000 ($460,000) prizemoney, with half going to the club and half to be shared among players as a bonus, is A$435 ($500) a game, A$10,875 ($12,500) each.

He received a A$20,000 ($23,000) bonus from the club for making the Kiwi test side, a standard payment the club makes to anyone who is selected internationally.

That's on top of a decent base salary after he proved himself last season, setting himself for one of the biggest individual turnarounds in form in the premiership. He admits the money is part of the attraction. "There's money to be earned - I like to look after the family."

Galuvao, 25, was born in South Auckland, the second-youngest child and only boy in a family that included five sisters. When he was 5 his mother, Lupe, died of a severe asthma attack.

Dad, Sam, had a hard time keeping things together and Joe was leaning towards the gangs. He was involved in backstreet brawls, one involving a gun being pointed at him.

After that close shave he was lucky - league took over his life after he got a chance at the Auckland Warriors under Frank Endacott. He joined a Pacific Island church and found support among other Warriors players, including Henry Fa'afili, with whom he had grown through the grades at the Manurewa club.

But in three seasons with the Warriors he played only 27 games, most from the bench. Now he starts every match for the Panthers. He thanks Puletua for driving him, teaching him and providing daily competition in everything.

"Tony is like a brother to me. And like brothers, we're always trying to be better than the other."

Puletua and his older brother Frank started in the game at the New Lynn Stags, then joined Panthers' feeder club St Marys when the family moved to Sydney 12 years ago.

Penrith, almost 1 1/2 hours from downtown Sydney by commuter train, attracts many Kiwis because of the low-cost housing and the abundance of jobs in the sprawling western suburbs. The brothers were not the only Kiwis in their junior grade sides.

Initially Frank attracted the attention of talent scouts, but Tony overtook him in size, 192cm and 112kg to Frank's 190cm and 103kg. His speed and power meant he made his NRL debut first, against the Perth Reds in round 10, 1997, while Frank had to wait until round seven the following season.

Frank was cut from the Panthers for salary cap reasons after only nine games and has had a bad season after transferring to Souths, missing 16 games through injury. But he has re-signed with the Panthers, which club CEO Shane Richardson described as "like buying back a piece of the farm".

He was at the Panthers' club, the biggest in Sydney, to help to celebrate this week. The brothers reckon his return to the fold will further boost performance that was based on a pre-season pact between Tony and Joe.

They both wanted to push for Kiwi selection, Puletua revealed. He'd had nine tests since debuting against Australia in 1998. The same year, Galuvao had been on the shortlist for the tour to England.

He made the Samoa squad for the 2000 World Cup with Frank Puletua, but had to wait until July this year before gaining a black jersey, when he and Tony Puletua were in the team given a 6-48 thrashing - something they want to rectify at North Harbour Stadium next weekend when the Kiwis take on the Kangaroos again.

Tony's talents were obvious and he was re-signed by the Panthers before John Lang came along as new coach last year. He marvels at the changes Lang has brought.

In 2001 under Royce Simmons, there was little communication between the team members, other than to argue when things went wrong. He admits he sat back a bit because the team had far more senior members and his role was less sure.

Simmons, two-try hero of Penrith's last premiership win in 1991, was sacked. The day before his departure he signed a prospect from New Zealand, Galuvao, who was playing for the Manurewa Marlins.

At the time Galuvao had an existing contract with the Warriors but was told he was not wanted by the new owners. His manager, Bryce Wakely, had sent tapes to the Panthers and they agreed to give him a chance on match payments.

"He's really taken his chances, and good luck to him," Wakely said. "It shows what you can do when you work hard."

At the Warriors, Galuvao had been "Little Joe" because they had "Big Joe" Vagana. He was a fullback/centre. At Penrith he is a secondrower, one of the "Twin Towers".

The ground he and Puletua make in the middle of the field is one of the big reasons the team's little, fast runners pick up as many tries as they do. Fullback Rhys Wesser holds the NRL record for the season with 24. Lang sparked them both, they agree.

Last year, Galuvao played only 12 games of 24. But the coach told him what was wanted. "I decided to make a real go of it. I trained harder, I tried harder in games."

That season they lost a lot of close games. The team was sick of losing. After two losses to start this year they were down at halftime in round three against the Roosters.

Prop Joel Clinton, who also has a Kiwi connection through a grandmother, gave a dressing-shed speech that has since been described as "Churchillian", and they went back out and won the game by one point.

Puletua said Lang had encouraged the team to talk about problems and weaknesses. Everyone was more individually focused on what they needed to do to help the team. He knew he was not just a team number any longer, he had a bigger role and knew what that role was.

His fiance Joanne Angeles gave him a book as Penrith entered the finals series, It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be, by Paul Arden. It was only the second book he had read, the huge secondrower admits, but it was inspirational.

After the success, both want to stick around. They each have another two years out west, but Puletua suggests he wants to play out his career with the Panthers. He could set records for a Kiwi in the NRL, as he already has behind him 119 premiership games and has six more seasons to reach Stephen Kearney's mark.

Galuvao is happy to stay where Tony stays. "The club has put a lot of faith in me and I'd like to repay it."

The future starts with the Kiwis vs Kangaroos test next Saturday. Puletua, who has a knee injury, and Galuvao, who has bad hip bruising, are sure to be named when Kiwis' coach Daniel Anderson whittles down a 21-man squad to 17 tomorrow.

And after a break the pair will be part of the Panthers' squad to play the World Club Challenge against the super league tournament winners in England in January .

In between, Galuvao and Maybelle, who was part of the group May-V-Elle, are considering recording a CD. He writes songs and plays guitar. She is performing at the annual Parachute Christian festival this summer.

Joe is teaching Tony to improve his guitar - the Hair Bears have become an institution with their musical duelling at the back of the Penrith bus as the team rolls into Sydney for games.

They and the Panthers look like becoming an institution in NRL finals in coming seasons, too. It's a young side, stable given most are signed to next year or beyond.

The club this week declared turnover was up A$1 million ($1.15 million), thanks largely to sales of merchandise exceeding A$1.5 million (1.7 million). Penrith has the biggest catchment area of any NRL club, 6500 registered players at 23 clubs. Now, they wear the jersey with pride.

The Kiwi connection is sure to persist. Centre Paul Whatuira, 22, is another to have made his mark after being released from the Warriors and is signed for next year.

The club has former development player Peter Lewis, the first player signed by Mark Graham, in its reserve grade. Also former Hibiscus Coast wing Shaun Ata, signed mid-season.

Richardson said they were still looking. "We're happy with what we've got so far - why wouldn't we?"