Stoofy
Kennel Legend
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- Mar 17, 2012
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WILLIE Tonga is driving to Maroubra less now. The invitations are still there, of course. Only minutes before our interview, Reni Maitua used the first of three daily phone calls to suggest the pair get onto the beach for some sun.
“Says I should be working on my tan,’’ the Eels centre laughs.
“I’m not so sure, but who knows? I’ll probably still head over.”
At least now, he has a choice.
A few months ago, there were no maybes about Tonga driving daily to the home of Maitua; that best mate whose attempted suicide he had, first, thwarted last August. Then carried, silently, for days, weeks, months.
Willie Tonga and Reni Maitua are all smiles during a Canterbury Bulldogs training session in 2006. Source: DailyTelegraph
“And for a long time, I didn’t sleep,’’ Tonga tells League Central now.
“Couldn’t. All night I would stay awake worrying about where Reni’s mind was at, what he again might do.”
And so, he played Guardian.
He rose every single morning over summer and, despite a back injury that would tighten, then spasm, after only minutes in the car, make his daily pilgrimage from western Sydney. Talking. Encouraging the counsellor sessions. Sharing books.
“And slowly,” he says, “my mate came back.”
This is the Reni Maitua you will see on Friday night.
A tattooed Maroubra warrior who, only eight months after attempting to take his own life, will run onto ANZ Stadium for an NRL return that even Willie Mason insists “could finish up the story of the year”.
Reni Maitua has been gagged by coach Des Hasler ahead of the Bulldogs’ clash against the Roosters. Source: News Limited
Not surprisingly, Maitua is off limits this week. Gagged. Like coach Dessie Hasler believes the only “rugby league promotion” is switching from Manly to Canterbury for cash.
“But Reni’s story,’’ says leading sports psychiatrist, Dr Caryl Barnes, “it has to be told.”
A depression specialist for both the NRL and Black Dog Institute, Dr Barnes wants Maitua’s comeback broadcast via bullhorn.
She explains how she has one particular patient, a young man in his 20s, who for two years has been consumed by depression. He was seemingly beat until recently opening one of their meetings with: ‘Doc, I saw you talking on TV last night, about the NRL. Is it true? Do they really get depressed too?’
Braith Anasta, Jodie Gordon and Reni Maitua team up for Suicide Prevention. Source: News Corp Australia
“For that young man, it was his lightbulb moment,’’ she says. “Understanding his
heroes, people he admires, could suffer depression too.
“So to see Reni Maitua getting help, getting better, getting back to the NRL ... it will save lives.”
Importantly, this has always been the heartbeat of the NRL’s black sheep.
The driving force behind a fella who, despite the drug suspensions and DUI charges, despite the aggressive playing style and Bra Boy ink, has for years allowed others to lean on those sculpted shoulders.
“Oh, Reni has spent his entire life trying to make others happy,’’ says close friend Nigel Vagana. “He not only has a heap of different friendship groups, but makes time for all of them.
Reni Maitua during a training session for the Bulldogs. Source: Getty Images
“That was the problem. Reni was so keen to help others, he was neglecting his own life.”
Which is where everything unravelled.
Starting with his two-year suspension for drug use in 2009, Maitua then suffered a relationship breakdown, monetary issues, form lapses and finally, last winter, was thrown into a horrific season with Parramatta.
“And still Reni tried to solve everything,’’ says one who was there. “If players had a problem, it was always him who they went to. Asking Ren to speak on their behalf.
“And of course, he did. It cost him relationships, probably cost him his spot. But when people needed help, they knew Reni would be there.”
It is a halo he cannot shake.
Reni Maitua outside Waverley Court, where he was facing charges of assaulting a taxi driver. Source: News Limited
For while the length of his NRL comeback remains uncertain — on Friday night he replaces playmaker Josh Reynolds, who is absent on Origin duty — Maitua is once again looming large as that saviour for struggling players. As an antidote for so much of what ails rugby league.
In a code that last year lost two youngsters to suicide — and had a third club install dressing room cameras to watch a player they believed was at risk of self harm — Maitua is more than a former Kangaroo pushing for one last hurrah. More than a fundraiser for issues like youth suicide too.
Reni Maitua is hope.
“We can give all the talks and presentations we like,’’ says one from inside League HQ.
“But when footballers hear about depression from a player who has lived it ... it means more.”
Big Willie Mason agrees.
Reni Maitua representing Samoa in a Test match against Fiji. Source: Getty Images
“Reni Maitua, I love the bloke because he’s real,’’ he says. “Absolutely no bullshit
in him.
“Yes, he spent two years out of the game for drugs and tried to take his own life. No one’s pretending it’s a wonderful story.
“But who better to teach young footballers about the pressures they’re going to face.
“A lot of young kids, especially the Polynesians, come into the NRL lumped with the burden of lifting their families out of poverty. I know because I was one of them.
“So while I got lucky, what happens to the rest?”
And who will listen?
“First time Reni talked about being depressed, no one did,’’ Tonga concedes. “We were still youngsters at Canterbury when, this day, he just came out with it.
Reni Maitua and Willie Mason are put through their paces at Coogee Oval. Source: News Limited
“And one of the boys, he said, ‘Depressed? What have you got to be depressed about? You’re earning huge cash to play footy’.
“At the time I thought nothing of it, either.”
Which is why Maitua matters.
Why this fella who was for so long considered the black sheep of rugby league could, surprisingly, prove to be its saviour. Its light. Big Willie’s story of the year.
“Because Reni, he’s what so many of us are searching for,’’ Vagana insists. “Wether it be friendships, faith, lifestyle, we all want something real. And that’s him ... no one is more real than Reni Maitua.”
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/n...-with-depression/story-fni3g67x-1226927388973
“Says I should be working on my tan,’’ the Eels centre laughs.
“I’m not so sure, but who knows? I’ll probably still head over.”
At least now, he has a choice.
A few months ago, there were no maybes about Tonga driving daily to the home of Maitua; that best mate whose attempted suicide he had, first, thwarted last August. Then carried, silently, for days, weeks, months.
Willie Tonga and Reni Maitua are all smiles during a Canterbury Bulldogs training session in 2006. Source: DailyTelegraph
“And for a long time, I didn’t sleep,’’ Tonga tells League Central now.
“Couldn’t. All night I would stay awake worrying about where Reni’s mind was at, what he again might do.”
And so, he played Guardian.
He rose every single morning over summer and, despite a back injury that would tighten, then spasm, after only minutes in the car, make his daily pilgrimage from western Sydney. Talking. Encouraging the counsellor sessions. Sharing books.
“And slowly,” he says, “my mate came back.”
This is the Reni Maitua you will see on Friday night.
A tattooed Maroubra warrior who, only eight months after attempting to take his own life, will run onto ANZ Stadium for an NRL return that even Willie Mason insists “could finish up the story of the year”.
Reni Maitua has been gagged by coach Des Hasler ahead of the Bulldogs’ clash against the Roosters. Source: News Limited
Not surprisingly, Maitua is off limits this week. Gagged. Like coach Dessie Hasler believes the only “rugby league promotion” is switching from Manly to Canterbury for cash.
“But Reni’s story,’’ says leading sports psychiatrist, Dr Caryl Barnes, “it has to be told.”
A depression specialist for both the NRL and Black Dog Institute, Dr Barnes wants Maitua’s comeback broadcast via bullhorn.
She explains how she has one particular patient, a young man in his 20s, who for two years has been consumed by depression. He was seemingly beat until recently opening one of their meetings with: ‘Doc, I saw you talking on TV last night, about the NRL. Is it true? Do they really get depressed too?’
Braith Anasta, Jodie Gordon and Reni Maitua team up for Suicide Prevention. Source: News Corp Australia
“For that young man, it was his lightbulb moment,’’ she says. “Understanding his
heroes, people he admires, could suffer depression too.
“So to see Reni Maitua getting help, getting better, getting back to the NRL ... it will save lives.”
Importantly, this has always been the heartbeat of the NRL’s black sheep.
The driving force behind a fella who, despite the drug suspensions and DUI charges, despite the aggressive playing style and Bra Boy ink, has for years allowed others to lean on those sculpted shoulders.
“Oh, Reni has spent his entire life trying to make others happy,’’ says close friend Nigel Vagana. “He not only has a heap of different friendship groups, but makes time for all of them.
Reni Maitua during a training session for the Bulldogs. Source: Getty Images
“That was the problem. Reni was so keen to help others, he was neglecting his own life.”
Which is where everything unravelled.
Starting with his two-year suspension for drug use in 2009, Maitua then suffered a relationship breakdown, monetary issues, form lapses and finally, last winter, was thrown into a horrific season with Parramatta.
“And still Reni tried to solve everything,’’ says one who was there. “If players had a problem, it was always him who they went to. Asking Ren to speak on their behalf.
“And of course, he did. It cost him relationships, probably cost him his spot. But when people needed help, they knew Reni would be there.”
It is a halo he cannot shake.
Reni Maitua outside Waverley Court, where he was facing charges of assaulting a taxi driver. Source: News Limited
For while the length of his NRL comeback remains uncertain — on Friday night he replaces playmaker Josh Reynolds, who is absent on Origin duty — Maitua is once again looming large as that saviour for struggling players. As an antidote for so much of what ails rugby league.
In a code that last year lost two youngsters to suicide — and had a third club install dressing room cameras to watch a player they believed was at risk of self harm — Maitua is more than a former Kangaroo pushing for one last hurrah. More than a fundraiser for issues like youth suicide too.
Reni Maitua is hope.
“We can give all the talks and presentations we like,’’ says one from inside League HQ.
“But when footballers hear about depression from a player who has lived it ... it means more.”
Big Willie Mason agrees.
Reni Maitua representing Samoa in a Test match against Fiji. Source: Getty Images
“Reni Maitua, I love the bloke because he’s real,’’ he says. “Absolutely no bullshit
in him.
“Yes, he spent two years out of the game for drugs and tried to take his own life. No one’s pretending it’s a wonderful story.
“But who better to teach young footballers about the pressures they’re going to face.
“A lot of young kids, especially the Polynesians, come into the NRL lumped with the burden of lifting their families out of poverty. I know because I was one of them.
“So while I got lucky, what happens to the rest?”
And who will listen?
“First time Reni talked about being depressed, no one did,’’ Tonga concedes. “We were still youngsters at Canterbury when, this day, he just came out with it.
Reni Maitua and Willie Mason are put through their paces at Coogee Oval. Source: News Limited
“And one of the boys, he said, ‘Depressed? What have you got to be depressed about? You’re earning huge cash to play footy’.
“At the time I thought nothing of it, either.”
Which is why Maitua matters.
Why this fella who was for so long considered the black sheep of rugby league could, surprisingly, prove to be its saviour. Its light. Big Willie’s story of the year.
“Because Reni, he’s what so many of us are searching for,’’ Vagana insists. “Wether it be friendships, faith, lifestyle, we all want something real. And that’s him ... no one is more real than Reni Maitua.”
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/n...-with-depression/story-fni3g67x-1226927388973
