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New Brumbies profess the faith
BY JOHN-PAUL MOLONEY
15/11/2008 10:41:00 AM
Imagine you are inside the ACT Brumbies' changeroom, in those tense minutes before a game.
A few players are leaning back into their locker spaces plugged into their mp3 players. One player sits and stares into space, nervously playing with his mouthguard. A pair talk quietly with a coach about a new attacking move planned.
Then there's some others, quite a few actually, scattered around the main room and the adjoining rooms, heads bowed.
Individually they are having a few last words ''with the man upstairs'' before their captain's voice takes over.
Faith in a football team is no new thing. But its presence within the Canberra Super 14 team is greater than ever.
Its rise has corresponded with an influx into the club of Pacific Island footballers, who almost to a man believe in Christianity, which has been indiginised within Tongan, New Zealand Maori, Fijian and Samoan communities.
Flyhalf Christian Lealiifano wears his faith visibly on the field, drawing a crucifix in marker pen on strapping tape around his wrist.
The strength of faith within the group caught new Brumbies coach Andy Friend by surprise when he took over from Laurie Fisher. Friend recently asked his squad to rank their most important personal relationships from one to five.
Almost every Pacific Islander said their No 1 relationship was with God. Family overwhelmingly came in at No 2.
The racial transformation of both rugby codes has happened before our eyes over the past 10 to 15 years.
From Australian representative teams with a solitary Islander back-rower (Willie ''O'', Illie ''the Human Skewer'' Tabua, Toutai Kefu), tonight almost a quarter of the Wallabies squad to face England is of Islander background. Among them is winger Digby Ioane, who three years ago became the first Wallaby of Samoan heritage.
In the NRL this year more than a quarter of players across all clubs were Pacific Islanders.
The change happened earlier and to a greater extent in New Zealand, where the term ''browning of the All Blacks'' has been used to describe the now prominent Islander influence in the most famous of all rugby teams.
In the Brumbies' first year, 1996, three players, Elisi Vunipola, Ipolito Fenukitau and Timmy Tavalea were Pacific Islanders.
Next season more than one third of a similar-sized Brumbies squad will be Pacific Islander, 17 in total. These numbers are remarkable given census data shows people of Islander background make up less than 1 per cent of the Australian population.
While the physical transformation of the ACT squad is apparent at a casual glance, the cultural changes in the club are subtle and more complicated. There is more to be managed.
When Brumbies Academy recruit Jerry Yanuyanutawa sat with Friend for a formal meeting to discuss his career, he wouldn't look the coach in the eye.
His glance shifted about, but always downwards.
The 23-year-old's look conveyed nerves, disinterest, perhaps even disrespect.
It was only when Friend quizzed him that Yanuyanutawa explained away a potentially damaging misunderstanding.
''I told him that when I'm talking to someone I always look down,'' Yanuyanutawa recalled this week.
''It doesn't mean I'm not listening, it's just the way I've been brought up.
''When my parents or anyone older than me has ever corrected me, I've always looked down. It's a show of respect to us.''
Faith and family are the main pillars of Islander culture.
While many Islander players in the Brumbies squad were born or have lived most of their lives in Australia or New Zealand, these cultural values from their ancestral homes are still strong.
Understanding them and how they affect players' behaviour is a work in progress for Friend and the entire Brumbies organisation. But it could be critical to the success of the team.
For example, a simple thing such as publicly criticising a player for a poor on-field performance can have a much greater impact on an Islander player than on an Anglo-Australian one.
Pacific studies convener at the Australian National University Katerina Teaiwa said an Islander's individual glory or shame could radiate as if a pebble had been dropped in a pond.
''The thing that is really different about Islander players is that that is not an individual out on the field, that is a community out there on the field,'' Teaiwa said.
''That is a person who represents 50 other people, so you're not looking at an individual, you're looking at someone who in his mind and his community's mind represents all of them all the time.
''If something awful happens to him in public the shame can spread out to the whole community.''
Yanuyanutawa, whose family is from the same Fijian island as teammate Salesi Ma'afu, says respect among communities on the islands is hard-won but cherished.
''A Fijian can be somewhere else achieving the greatest heights, but if he's never been to his village or never taken on his responsibility, he doesn't have the respect of his people.
''That's something I hold dear to my heart, respect. I'd rather have respect from my people more than anything.''
Two of the Brumbies' most senior players, Mark Gerrard and George Smith, come from Tongan families.
Over their years at the club both have developed from softly-spoken, shy rookies to be strong on and off-field leaders.
Both players take it on themselves to encourage younger players, particularly Islander players, to speak up more within the group.
Gerrard said, ''It's a cultural thing. We're brought up to not really voice opinions or problems. It's the family hierarchy. You're taught to respect your elders, not answer back.''
By virtue of their common upbringing, many of the Brumbies' Islander players are close friends. A challenge for the club is to ensure their full integration within the overall squad, ''getting them to step out of their social comfort zone'', as Gerrard says.
On Wednesday night the club held a poker night for all players, an event 21-year-old Lealiifano said would help team bonding.
''The Islander boys in the Brumbies are a really close-knit group,'' Lealiifano said.
''We've always got each others' backs.
''But at the same time we're part of one big team, one big strong group of guys from all backgrounds.''
While there are issues to be grappled with for non-Islander teammates and coaches, the strong feeling is the positives this big group brings far outweigh any complications.
At training on a hot November afternoon, some of these are very apparent. As a tough session ends and the players trudge off the field puffing and sweating, injured first-year recruit Alfi Mafi greets his tired teammates with hugs of encouragement. They're warmly received.
Gerrard says physical affection is one strong aspect of Islander behaviour. Others, he says, include a relaxed attitude and a sense of enjoyment.
''Most Islanders come with a smile. It's in their nature. They come to work hard, train hard, but they have fun doing it.''
Cultural issues aside, performance is the driver in any professional club.
And it is clear by the over-representation of Pacific Islanders in New Zealand, and more recently Australian rugby teams, Pacific Islander players have plenty to offer, most obviously size and strength.
Brumbies athletic performance coach Damian Marsh said Islander players entering the professional ranks were typically closer to ''match ready'' than many non-Islanders.
''They generally come in with good bone structure, already have a bit of size and it's easier for them to put on more size,'' Marsh said. ''You might get a skinny white kid and spend years trying to build him up, but the Polynesian boys have those physical attributes already.''
The Brumbies' 17-strong Islander contingent points to a spread of talent through future Wallabies line-ups, not just in the outside backs or back row. Among the full contract and Academy group are Islander players in every position, from the speed of Francis Fainifo to the size and power of Sitaleki Timani.
Friend says the diversity of his squad gives him enormous options for the 2009 season and beyond.
''There's a lot more joys, insights and learning we can take from this mix than there are challenges or fears,'' Friend said.
''You've got this beautiful blend of strengths to put together a team that's going to be special.''
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news...h/1361353.aspx
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