NRL: Band's loss is league's gain

Warriors winger Manu Vatuvei returns from a knee injury to face the Roosters today. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Manu Vatuvei is the least likely person to be full of hot air so it might surprise many that he is an accomplished trombone player.

The 23-year-old hasn't played with his Free Church of Tonga band based in Otara for a couple of years because of his rugby league commitments but he might have become a regular if he hadn't been able to recover from his Nightmare on Parramatta Stadium on May 28, 2007.

"That game has become like a monument," says Warriors coach Ivan Cleary of the night Vatuvei's hands let him down so badly he gifted the Eels three tries in the Warriors' 30-6 defeat.

"For him to go through that and come out the other end was a really good step in his development. He's extremely strong mentally and that helped him get there.

"It could have ruined a lesser player and you wouldn't have blamed him if it had. Manu is physically big but just because he's big doesn't mean he doesn't have the same vulnerabilities as everyone else."

Vatuvei smiles about that night now and looks back on it philosophically. It's fair to say a lot has changed.

"In a way I'm happy it happened, and especially early in my career," he says. "I think if I was older and it happened things would have been different and it would have played on my mind. But I was young and I saw it as a learning curve and people go through these sorts of things.

"You have to move on and keep your head up.

"There were a lot of people that helped me get through that. People give me energy," he says. "That's one of the things I want to do, I want to play for the boys. I want to do anything for them."

He does a fair amount already.

Last year, he grabbed an incredible 16 tries in 17 NRL games, including one in the 18-15 upset of Melbourne in the playoffs, as well as the last-minute break that set up Michael Witt's matchwinner. He added six in six tests for the Kiwis during their World Cup triumph.

It was little surprise, then, that he was named the 2008 International Winger of the Year even though he had a truncated year interrupted by a broken leg.

He was also invited to appear in this year's NRL television promotion. Sadly, few people saw the promotion because it was pulled after rape allegations were levelled against Manly fullback Brett Stewart.

"I never thought I'd be one of the faces of the NRL," Vatuvei says quietly. "I thought someone like Pricey [Steve Price] would be up there, not me."

Vatuvei, though, is arguably now in the same category as Price. He is a marquee player, as much as he might not admit it, and his return from a knee injury today to face the Roosters is a timely boost for a Warriors side that have lost three on the bounce.

He walks with a confidence - not arrogance - in his step and is more at ease with who and what he is. He doesn't shy away from the spotlight but it doesn't mean he's comfortable in it.

Some of that has to do with Ruben Wiki. The former Kiwis captain took Vatuvei under his wing when he arrived at Mt Smart Stadium in 2005.

"He was a big, shy, Island boy," Wiki recalls of their first meeting. "But I have seen him grow up from a boy into a man.

"I remember watching him make his debut against the Rabbitohs in 2004 when I was still in Canberra. He was a big boy. I looked into his history and found out that not only did he grow up in Otara but he also lived on the same street that I did as a kid. We also went to the same school [at Sir Edmund Hillary College] so we have that bond.

"What I have seen is him grow in confidence on and off the field," says Wiki. "I still don't think he knows how influential he is in the team and how they look to him to get them out of a tough spot, like against Melbourne last year when everything was against us."

The Warriors base a lot of their game around Vatuvei. He's as effective without the ball as he is with it because opposition defences are so worried about him that it opens up space for someone like Jerome Ropati.

He's also good in the air but it is as a runner where he is most devastating. Last year he made a staggering 113 tackle breaks in only 17 games, which placed him sixth in the NRL overall behind the likes of Israel Folau and Billy Slater, and his 19 line breaks were the second-most behind Slater.

"He's right up there," Cleary says when asked if Vatuvei is the best winger in the competition.

"He's involved in a lot of what we do. I imagine that when the opposition look at us, he gets a fair mention. He scores tries, he makes yards, he's such a big physical presence and he's good for us on last tackles."

If there is a criticism, it is that Vatuvei still gets caught out of position at times on defence, often sliding inside when he should remain on the outside.

He's also still prone to mistakes. He probably always will be because of his awkward catching technique.

But the good far outweighs the bad. He is a matchwinner and the Warriors have missed him desperately over the past three weeks.

"I have doubted myself a few times and then I got that [Winger of the Year] award. And I started thinking that maybe I am a good player," Vatuvei says.

It might mean he's missing from the church band for a while longer.

TEAMS:

WARRIORS: Patrick Ah Van, Denan Kemp, Aidan Kirk, Jerome Ropati, Manu Vatuvei, Joel Moon, Stacey Jones, Sam Rapira, Ian Henderson, Steve Price (c), Simon Mannering, Jacob Lillyman, Micheal Luck, Nathan Fien, Russell Packer, Jesse Royal, Ben Matulino, Aaron Heremaia (one to be omitted).

ROOSTERS: Sam Perrett, Sisa Waqa, Sia Soliola, Setaimata Sa, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Braith Anasta (c), Mitchell Pearce, Mark O'Meley, James Aubusson, Frank-Paul Nuuausala, Nate Myles, Craig Fitzgibbon, Shane Shackleton, Lopini Paea, Willie Mason, Jake Friend, Ben Jones.

Mt Smart Stadium, 2pm.