NRL hosts first Islander Camp

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Islander camp helps quiet achievers find their voice

THEY possess physiques that can dent brutal defensive lines and rattle opponents with crunching tackles, but the NRL has also acknowledged the need to empower its growing number of Pacific Islander players with a voice.

This week 35 senior players and a handful of team officials, all of Pacific Islander heritage, will participate in a three-day NRL leadership camp. They'll learn how to help young players of similar backgrounds cope with aspects of the code that conflict with their culture - such as questioning club leaders.

It's expected the attendees, dual international Lote Tuqiri included, will appreciate the need to occasionally act as the liaison between the young, shy players and their club's coach or chief executive.

A similar camp was held for players from the bush last year and the organiser, Nigel Vagana, a former Kiwi international of Samoan extraction, hoped this one would be equally as successful.

He appreciates the significance of it. Statistics show 30 per cent of first-graders are of a Pacific Islander background as are 34 per cent of the NRL's under 20 competition players.

''Those numbers represent a large percentage of a particular workforce,'' he said. ''Ultimately you want a happy workforce and this camp can help achieve that.''

Vagana and Fijian-born Tuqiri agreed the biggest issue for Pacific Islanders was they'd suffer in silence rather than question the authority of the coach or chief executive. That was, they said, because they are raised to respect their elders.

''As senior players we can help those guys have a voice [by being a liaison] because they're taught not to question their elders,'' Tuqiri said. ''However, it's important [in the NRL] that they can ask things of their coach or the club's chief executive because we've seen guys fall by the wayside all because they couldn't speak up.

''Some players join other clubs when their contract expires or drop out completely when an issue could've been sorted out by talking it through. And that's not just restricted to Pacific Islanders, it can also apply to boys of Aboriginal backgrounds.''

This year's NRL media guide will, for the first time, include the proper pronunciation of Islander names.

Rather than hail that, and the camp, as the supposed Polynesian-isation of the code, Vagana said both moves fulfilled a basic need.

''Pronouncing names correctly is to make any player feel welcomed and belonging, it'll apply names of any number of backgrounds that might be hard to pronounce,'' he said.

Tuqiri supported the camp which will take place at Sydney University.

''It's massive and a very positive move by the NRL … I also see it as something that is very important for me as a leader in my team and also in my community,'' Tuqiri said.

''Members of the Pacific Islander community look to senior guys to lead the way for them, and when you're in the limelight that brings a fair amount of responsibility with it. This camp will help.''

Tuqiri and Benji Marshall will be joined by the likes of Penrith's Michael Jennings, Canterbury's Dene Halatau and Frank Pritchard, South Sydney's Roy Asotasi and Brisbane's Petero Civoniceva to listen as lecturers from the Australian National University discuss the concept of cultural empowerment and the skills needed to fulfil a leadership role.

''Guys of Pacific Islander heritage tend to talk to people of a similar background [and age] before they do anyone else,'' Tuqiri said.

''It's a comfort thing, and they'll definitely do that before they talk to anyone in authority.''

One NRL superstar who illustrated the supposed ''quiet Islander content to sit in the corner'' is Parramatta's Fuifui Moimoi. A warrior on the field, he's renowned for giving the impression he doesn't have a good grasp on English because he's painfully shy. Yet, when he feels comfortable, Moimoi speaks eloquently and provides insights into deep issues such as the guilt he felt when he first arrived in Sydney and ate feasts while he knew his family and friends on his small island in Tonga struggled to make ends meet.

''Players need to have a voice because everyone has things going on in their lives,'' Tuqiri said. ''There were a few times as a young bloke when I did stuff rather than pipe up and talk about it [with authoritative figures]. It comes back to our background. The parents rule with an iron fist and you don't question things.''

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/

[DIEHARD]

I'm delighted reading this and it's a long time coming.

Especially the phonetically written names in the NRL media guide. It has pissed me off for years that we have been misprouncing players names.

2012 will be the year of interesting pronunciation.

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Pacific leadership camp hailed a success

The NRL's ground-breaking Pacific Studies Cultural Leadership Camp has been hailed an overwhelming success by the three Vodafone Warriors representatives involved.

The three-day event was held at the Sydney University Village from Friday to Sunday.

Vodafone Warriors stars Manu Vatuvei and Jerome Ropati both attended along with the club's welfare and education manager Jerry Seuseu. They were joined by a host of players and staff of Pacific heritage from the NRL's 16 clubs.

The concept of a camp to discuss issues of common interest was conceived by former Kiwi Nigel Vagana, these days an NRL education and welfare officer.

"It was a huge success," said Seuseu.

"We were really impressed with how it went. I know Manu and Jerome got a lot out of it, so did I and everyone else involved.

"It was a great idea to bring so many people of Pacific heritage together."
Sessions over the weekend focused on Pacific culture and identity, society and leadership, literature and visual arts, food and health and spirituality.

Vatuvei and Ropati are now well-established leaders at the Vodafone Warriors and also in their communities. With Lance Hohaia finishing his 10-season career at Mount Smart Stadium last year, they're the longest serving Vodafone Warriors in this year's squad, Ropati about to enter his 10th season after making his debut late in 2003 and Vatuvei his ninth after starting out at first-grade level in 2004.

Ropati was named the club's 2011 Canterbury of New Zealand Club Person of the Year - making him the One Community ambassador this year - while Vatuvei is a previous club person of the year and One Community ambassador.

http://www.thewarriors.com.au