Speaker 1: Ordinarily Speaking, I found be careful who you pretend to be,
Speaker 1: because you might just forget who you really are soon time.
Speaker 2: Hello and welcome to season two of Ordinarily Speaking, a
Speaker 2: podcast that celebrates resilience in sport. It's great to be
Speaker 2: back and I'm so excited for you to hear this episode.
Speaker 2: Today's guest is footballer Nick Natanui. Nick is one of
Speaker 2: Australia's most recognizable sports stars. The West Coast Eagle has
Speaker 2: overcome plenty of adversity across his life to get to
Speaker 2: where he is. In the past six years alone, the
Speaker 2: boy from Fiji lost his beloved mum, played in a
Speaker 2: losing Grand final, did two acls, and then watched from
Speaker 2: the sidelines as his teammates won a premiership. All of
Speaker 2: it drives him every day. I'm really excited for you
Speaker 2: to hear this episode because this is Nick exactly as
Speaker 2: I've come to know and love him. A storyteller at times,
Speaker 2: a bit of a contradiction, but most of all, a
Speaker 2: genuine and generous human being who is a product of
Speaker 2: his mother's hard work and big heart. He has always
Speaker 2: held on to his sense of humor and love of culture,
Speaker 2: and that really comes through in this chat. I hope
Speaker 2: you enjoy listening to this app as much as I
Speaker 2: enjoyed recording it. Don't forget if you like the podcast,
Speaker 2: hit subscribe, follow at ordinarily Underscore speaking on Instagram, and
Speaker 2: tell your mates, well, Nick, thanks very much for spending
Speaker 2: some time with me. You're laughing already, so this should
Speaker 2: be a little bit of fun in honor of not
Speaker 2: being able to travel at the moment. I know you
Speaker 2: love traveling and you've seen some amazing little corners of
Speaker 2: the world. It also is a great opportunity to get
Speaker 2: outside your comfort zone. I wanted to ask you about
Speaker 2: a couple of times that you've been traveling and fair
Speaker 2: to say you've been outside your comfort zone. Starting with
Speaker 2: a story you told me recently about the time you
Speaker 2: went with West Coast to Cambodia and forced to share
Speaker 2: a room with the head coach, John Worsfold in interesting circumstances.
Speaker 1: Yeah that was Oh thanks for having me to start with,
Speaker 1: but yeah, that was some interesting time. So our team
Speaker 1: goes across there. The first to third year players go
Speaker 1: across to Cambodia and it helps out some of the
Speaker 1: orphanages and build houses and learn a bit about their
Speaker 1: pass and their history in Cambodia, And yeah, I stated
Speaker 1: at orphanage with a number of my teammates and a
Speaker 1: few coaches, and yeah, I was lucky enough to bunk
Speaker 1: with John Warsfold. And yeah, I had an orphanage in
Speaker 1: the middle of Cambodia, and it was not the greatest
Speaker 1: place to sleep. I remember a rat running across me,
Speaker 1: but I think I told you that, but it was. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I couldn't react to it because you know, the head
Speaker 1: coach that anyone looks soft in front of.
Speaker 2: Him, so you were literally sharing bunk beds with him.
Speaker 1: I was sharing a bunk bed. Yeah, I was at
Speaker 1: the top, he was down the bottom, and just rat
Speaker 1: ran across and I wanted to squeal because I hate rodents.
Speaker 1: I'm scared of mice, like I hate things like I
Speaker 1: don't know why I hate those things, Like I can
Speaker 1: deal with deal with snakes, deal with spiders, but mice
Speaker 1: and rats, I just hate. So to see one of
Speaker 1: those big things, which is look like a cat, it
Speaker 1: was that big run across. I had to deal with it, yeah,
Speaker 1: and I had to suck it up, but I was scared.
Speaker 1: I didn't sleep one night, But yeah, everyone was winging
Speaker 1: about the beds and you know, the sheets and whatnot.
Speaker 1: But I didn't care about that. I was more worried
Speaker 1: about what was going to run into my mouth when
Speaker 1: I was asleep.
Speaker 2: And you're a bit worried about looking a little weak
Speaker 2: in front of the head coach as a youngster.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was, what was I nineteen or so? So yeah,
Speaker 1: I didn't want to look, you know, intimidated by a
Speaker 1: little small mouse. So no, I'm gonna lie it was
Speaker 1: a big cat, look like a dog. But yeah, I
Speaker 1: didn't want to look sof so I just suck it up.
Speaker 1: But that was one of the interesting trips and one
Speaker 1: of the interesting places I've slept around the world.
Speaker 2: Still not even close to being the most interesting story
Speaker 2: you've told me about your travels. Tell me about the
Speaker 2: time that you went to the Syrian border.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, that'd be a bit careful with this one. No,
Speaker 1: I like to travel somewhere different, I think for me,
Speaker 1: I guess growing up here in Perth, we've got the
Speaker 1: best coastline, the best beaches, white sandy beaches and ocean.
Speaker 1: So when people think of holiday destinations, they think of,
Speaker 1: you know, going to an amazing island or an amazing
Speaker 1: beach around the world. And for me, I'm the complete opposite.
Speaker 1: Like my family, my village is back home in Fiji
Speaker 1: and we've got white, sandy beaches and great islands and
Speaker 1: same here in Perth. So for me, I try to
Speaker 1: get the complete opposite and somewhere different. And sometimes, yeah,
Speaker 1: I go to the extreme level when I go to
Speaker 1: places where you probably shouldn't travel or less traveled. And
Speaker 1: I was in Israel. I went to Israel, and while
Speaker 1: I was there, it was fun, but I wanted to
Speaker 1: see the Gaza Strip, so I went there. I wanted
Speaker 1: to see Palestine, so I went across and saw Bethlehem
Speaker 1: and went you know, through Palestine, and then yeah, I
Speaker 1: went to the Syrian border, and yeah, it was different.
Speaker 1: Like when you're seeing missiles fly over your head at nighttime,
Speaker 1: or you know, people walking around with you know, machine
Speaker 1: guns like Ak forty seven's in the street, things like that,
Speaker 1: or you see millets and groups running wild with their
Speaker 1: you know, on the back of their Toyta highlaxes. It's
Speaker 1: a big eye opener. It's a different world. And you know,
Speaker 1: for me growing up here in Perth, you know, the
Speaker 1: suburb of Midland. Like a lot of people out there,
Speaker 1: I think they're gangsters. Yeah, you know, gangsters like you
Speaker 1: go over there, those guys there are gangsters, like they're
Speaker 1: real thugs, like they you know, they see some stuff
Speaker 1: and they deal with some real last stuff and it
Speaker 1: just I love things that put things into perspective, and
Speaker 1: for me, that was one of the biggest eye open
Speaker 1: It's probably not the safest. I wouldn't recommend anyone going there.
Speaker 1: The club didn't really like me going there, but my
Speaker 1: own man, I'm a free spirit, so I'm free to
Speaker 1: travel where I can when I can.
Speaker 2: So just not at the moment.
Speaker 1: Just not at the moment. Yeah I say that now,
Speaker 1: but yeah, at the time, I thought it was a
Speaker 1: good idea and I'm actually happy that I witnessed it.
Speaker 1: I got back in one piece. All the times, it
Speaker 1: didn't feel like I was going.
Speaker 2: To tell me about that because you were legitimately scared
Speaker 2: at a few moments.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was really scared. I don't like talking about
Speaker 1: it because the club told me not to go, and
Speaker 1: a good friend about as Julie Bishop, she helped me
Speaker 1: get across there with.
Speaker 2: Shod pick up that little name drop there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, she helped me get across, obviously, having a lot
Speaker 1: of dealings with you know, foreign affairs and the stuff over.
Speaker 2: And a West Coast fan obviously, Yeah, she was.
Speaker 1: The number one ticket holder for a while at West Coast,
Speaker 1: And yeah, she helped me get in contact with a
Speaker 1: few people and put me in the right places. But
Speaker 1: in Israel I was safe. But once I crossed the border,
Speaker 1: and you know, especially when you're in Palestinian areas, or
Speaker 1: you know, you're in a place where the bloke driving
Speaker 1: around doesn't speak English, and like I said, there's militant
Speaker 1: groups in certain parts. Yeah, I found myself in some
Speaker 1: sticky situations, like I remember one time I had to
Speaker 1: lay down flat in the car and put a jacket
Speaker 1: over my head because I was in the wrong place
Speaker 1: at the wrong time, and I looked like an American
Speaker 1: but I was you know, I was screaming I'm from Fiji,
Speaker 1: so they didn't know where I was from. But yeah,
Speaker 1: times like that where you worry and you think something
Speaker 1: really bad is going to happen, or I'm not going
Speaker 1: to see my you know, my friends were family again.
Speaker 2: But and you legitimately thought that in that moment.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I'm happy to say I cried. I cried,
Speaker 1: I lay down and cried. But I'm telling you right now,
Speaker 1: if anyone else is in that situation, it was like
Speaker 1: a movie, you'd be screaming and crying too. So but
Speaker 1: I'm happy, like I'm happy I did it. I'm glad
Speaker 1: I did it, and yeah, I won't do it again.
Speaker 1: I won't do it again. I'm actually happy that I
Speaker 1: got told or I have no option to travel this year.
Speaker 1: I can actually stay home and.
Speaker 2: See Berth just laying down in the back of a car.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the guy. The guy didn't speak any English, so
Speaker 1: he spoke Arabic, and for some reason I understood Arabic
Speaker 1: because I could see it in the fear in his eyes,
Speaker 1: so I could speak fluent Arabic when he's telling me
Speaker 1: to lay down and cover myself up and don't get up.
Speaker 1: I remember because the funniest part was we'll probably ten
Speaker 1: minutes from the border trying to get back, and I
Speaker 1: was so scared that he was like, okay, all clear,
Speaker 1: all clear, we can we can you can sit up now,
Speaker 1: we can go back, and I legit laid flat. I
Speaker 1: was just like I was laying It was so embarrassing.
Speaker 1: But I was laying flat and still talking to him
Speaker 1: as he drove and sat up upright because there was
Speaker 1: no way I was sitting up and risking it. So
Speaker 1: I was like, you know what, mate, No, I'm all good.
Speaker 1: I'll lay down flat, yeah, and I'll talk to you.
Speaker 1: But there's no chance. I almost died back there. I'm
Speaker 1: not getting up. But yeah, it was an experience. It
Speaker 1: was an experience.
Speaker 2: The last travel one I wanted to bring up USA.
Speaker 2: New Year's some pretty illustrious company. Who are you hanging
Speaker 2: out with? And is it true that you lost your
Speaker 2: passport and it showed up in a certain reality TV
Speaker 2: stars house a little while later?
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, that's a lot. I was over there, tin
Speaker 1: was Actually no, I wasn't. I I was training, but
Speaker 1: we did have New Years. Yeah, I did lose my passport,
Speaker 1: so I forgot my driver's license, so I had to
Speaker 1: use my passports Idea around the place. And I don't know, No,
Speaker 1: that's a lie. This is this is where my humility
Speaker 1: has to come into it, because I got humbled real quick.
Speaker 1: Because in Perth, the way it works, I go out,
Speaker 1: I don't have to carry Idea around. I could just
Speaker 1: get him in my head. In my head, I thought,
Speaker 1: I'm who I am nicknamed. I can go around and
Speaker 1: do what I want. So I try to. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: try to rock up and where's your idea, sir? And
Speaker 1: there's no you know, you say you play football? Like what? Who? Like? Where? Like? Yeah?
Speaker 1: So I had to actually get a cab and go
Speaker 1: and get my passport. So that's probably why I lost it,
Speaker 1: because I'm not used to carrying something like that around.
Speaker 1: But yeah, news E was a good experience.
Speaker 2: Who are you hanging out with?
Speaker 1: I don't like, Yeah, some some big people. Yeah, No,
Speaker 1: it's some basketballers and some musicians and whatnot.
Speaker 2: Ben Simmons and a few others.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So with Ben, and he was dating one of
Speaker 1: the Kardashians at the time, So one of the jeners,
Speaker 1: so Ye had hooked us up, and you know, we
Speaker 1: caught up a few times beforehand, and we got invited
Speaker 1: to Drake had a New Year's e party at his
Speaker 1: club in LA in Beverly Hills, and yeah, I was
Speaker 1: there with them. And it was funny because I had
Speaker 1: my little strength and conditioning coach, Jordan. He came across
Speaker 1: with me and trained for two weeks and he doesn't
Speaker 1: know a thing about Hollywood isn't watched. I don't think
Speaker 1: he watches TV. So he was in there with Lebron,
Speaker 1: like he did the Countdown with Lebron and Chris Brown
Speaker 1: and you know nas, all these guys are in there.
Speaker 1: And I remember he went up to this big this
Speaker 1: big dude with a leather jacket on and he goes, so, hey, mate,
Speaker 1: what do you do for crust? And this American guy,
Speaker 1: you know, had twenty gold chains and all the rings
Speaker 1: and stuff. He was like, who there is this dude?
Speaker 1: What's what's his goal? What's his deal? And I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm so sorry, Like it doesn't mean it. He's not
Speaker 1: being rude. And he's like, what do you mean mate?
Speaker 1: What do you What do you do for a crust?
Speaker 1: And he goes, what does across me me? And he
Speaker 1: goes what do you did for a job? And he's
Speaker 1: like you're in my VP section And I was like, man,
Speaker 1: Jordy walk away and he goes why. I said, man,
Speaker 1: that guy's P Diddy, Like you're asking P Diddy in
Speaker 1: his little private area what he does for a job. Like, man,
Speaker 1: you're embarrassing me. But I think low key they loved it.
Speaker 1: Because no one knew well he didn't know who they were.
Speaker 1: But yeah, man, like it was. It was different, It
Speaker 1: was different, but yeah, memorable, memorable New Years e that
Speaker 1: I won't forget.
Speaker 2: Where did your passport show up?
Speaker 1: I don't known. It was at someone's outside the house
Speaker 1: party afterwards. So Scott Scotty, Yeah, Scott six Scott. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know how he got it, but yeah, it's
Speaker 1: funny because we sat. I spent New Year's Day at
Speaker 1: the Australian Immigration in La downtown La trying to get
Speaker 1: a whole new, brand new passport. But that was a
Speaker 1: process and then yeah, finally got it back. So fun times,
Speaker 1: fun times. But yeah, those are all past memories now
Speaker 1: stuck here in Perth. Yeah, what do I do near you?
Speaker 1: I spent New Years on the Swan River with a
Speaker 1: couple of my schoolmates, so just as good.
Speaker 2: Who'd be the most impressive person in your little black
Speaker 2: book of contacts?
Speaker 1: Ah don't know, don't know, no idea, No, I don't know.
Speaker 1: It's probably hard to pick. Probably hard to pick. Nah.
Speaker 1: One of my teammates, I don't know, Luke Shoey, I
Speaker 1: don't know. Yeah, they seem to look after me. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but they fun times.
Speaker 2: I love it. One of the stories that stands out
Speaker 2: to me, and I'll get into the serious stuff soon,
Speaker 2: but one of the stories that I always bring up
Speaker 2: around you. We've obviously known each other for many, many
Speaker 2: years now, ever since you retouted as potential number one
Speaker 2: draft pickers as a teenager. But I remember being in
Speaker 2: Melbourne working on the footy and you, I think, sent
Speaker 2: me a DM on Twitter and said promo shoots are
Speaker 2: coming up. I've forgotten my jumper, my West Coast jumper.
Speaker 2: Where's an AFL store that I can Yeah.
Speaker 1: That was Bush's fault. Usha put me on the pump.
Speaker 1: They didn't pack my guernsey for me, and yeah, I
Speaker 1: didn't know. I didn't know anyone in Melbourne. And I
Speaker 1: hit my manager up, Paul Connors, if you're listening, and
Speaker 1: he was no help. And I thought, who's a West
Speaker 1: Australian who followed his West Coast. You didn't obviously follow
Speaker 1: West Coast, you were free supporters. He didn't help me,
Speaker 1: but I just need the jumper, and I clearly figured
Speaker 1: I just because I guess going up on Perth, you
Speaker 1: realize you think West Coast is or three are the
Speaker 1: two biggest things in Australia, Like you don't just think wa.
Speaker 1: So to go there and realize that there's no AFL
Speaker 1: store selling West Coast was was a bit of a
Speaker 1: shock to me. I don't know. I was like, sure,
Speaker 1: they can just walk into a you know, a sports
Speaker 1: store and buy one.
Speaker 2: But I just love find I love the fact that
Speaker 2: you were willing to walk into an AFL store and go,
Speaker 2: can I please I have a number nine.
Speaker 1: Jump. I don't worry, I've done it many times before. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I didn't think of it like that. I was still young.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I didn't know how the AFL system worked.
Speaker 1: I just needed the jumper. I used to work in
Speaker 1: the sports store, so I just thought it was a
Speaker 1: thing to do. I was desperate, didn't desperate.
Speaker 2: Didn't know that a few years now the track you'd
Speaker 2: be spending New Years with Lebron James and the Kardashians.
Speaker 2: Times have changed good now. This podcast is about resilience
Speaker 2: and celebrating resilience, and your whole life really is a
Speaker 2: picture of resilience and overcoming plenty of adversity. But the
Speaker 2: last five or six years in particular have been so
Speaker 2: I want to go back to what made your parents
Speaker 2: move from Fiji in the first place.
Speaker 1: Oh, I think most like most Fijian families or most
Speaker 1: on the families, it's a better opportunity. Like life on
Speaker 1: the islands pretty good and everyone's pretty happy and comfortable
Speaker 1: with what they do. But I guess those who seek
Speaker 1: more or want more for their children try and get overseas.
Speaker 1: So the two destinations for the three destinations for Fijians
Speaker 1: either America or New Zealand or Australia. So New Zealand's
Speaker 1: got a heavy population in Fijians and so does Australia.
Speaker 1: And yeah, for them, it was more better opportunity for
Speaker 1: us and you know, finding finding ways that you know,
Speaker 1: we can do better at school and you know, live
Speaker 1: a better life. I still feel the lifestyle on Fiji
Speaker 1: is a lot nicer, like it's pretty carefree and everyone's
Speaker 1: got so little, but they're so happy, which I still
Speaker 1: enjoy getting bits and pieces of that every now and then.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I'm grateful we're here though, because I've been
Speaker 1: able to set myself up and set a lot of
Speaker 1: my family up as well with the things I've been
Speaker 1: able to achieve by going to a good school and
Speaker 1: getting a good education.
Speaker 2: What did your parents give up to come here and
Speaker 2: how tough was that for them to get started?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's pretty tough, I think the family aspect of things.
Speaker 1: And it took me years to understand that. Like I
Speaker 1: just thought it'd be a simple move and you know,
Speaker 1: get going, but coming across with just the clothes in
Speaker 1: your back, like, no support, no no money, Like I guess,
Speaker 1: you know, you're not in titled to you know, social
Speaker 1: benefits and things like that. So for me, I didn't
Speaker 1: really understand it until a couple of years ago. My
Speaker 1: sister who was living in Fiji, she just moved back
Speaker 1: here with her children and realizing that they're not entitled
Speaker 1: to medicare or centering things like that to help subsidize
Speaker 1: certain things. Just how hard it probably would have been
Speaker 1: on my family back then. I sort of knew, like
Speaker 1: I knew, but I didn't really know, you know, to
Speaker 1: what extent that they were facing hardships at you know,
Speaker 1: especially feeding you know, growing little humans all the time.
Speaker 1: It would have been pretty hard work. So I think
Speaker 1: I've got a pretty good grasp on what it would
Speaker 1: have been like for them back then.
Speaker 2: How many siblings do you have I've got an.
Speaker 1: Older brother, I've got an older sister, and I've got
Speaker 1: a twin brother.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's four little kids to four.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And my older brother and sister stayed back in
Speaker 1: Fiji for a little bit, and myself and my twin
Speaker 1: brother were here, but we'd be back and forth with
Speaker 1: the time, So even things like a fair has gone
Speaker 1: back to Fiji. Like I sometimes think, how did my
Speaker 1: mum afford to pay for us to fly all the
Speaker 1: way back there and come back all the time. But
Speaker 1: it just shows if you work hard enough, like mum
Speaker 1: was working pretty hard, shifts going out, you can you know,
Speaker 1: you can do those sort of things. And I think
Speaker 1: the importance of actually understood the benefit of taking us
Speaker 1: back and you know, learning about culture, learning about family,
Speaker 1: And for her it was getting back to family as well.
Speaker 1: Like I think one thing that we miss here is
Speaker 1: the community aspect and the family aspect of things. And
Speaker 1: like I said, my sister's probably been a big eye
Speaker 1: opener for me because back home, you can just leave
Speaker 1: your kids with whoever, or you can just run around
Speaker 1: the street because everyone's in a tight knit village, whereas here,
Speaker 1: you know, it's very rare that you catch up with
Speaker 1: your neighbors. Every single neighbor in your street. You might
Speaker 1: know one or two, but it's rare that you know
Speaker 1: every single one and you're you're doing everything. You're just
Speaker 1: walking into their house and making yourself something to eat.
Speaker 1: If I did that, he could probably get arrested. So yeah,
Speaker 1: So that kind of lack of community or family, it's
Speaker 1: probably the biggest loss, yeah, and probably the biggest downside
Speaker 1: to coming here. But the side, I think the benefits
Speaker 1: have been able to achieve a heap more at school
Speaker 1: and we did workplace and go further, you know, makes
Speaker 1: up for it all.
Speaker 2: So you were born in New South Wales and your
Speaker 2: dad passed away of cancer when you were two too, Yeah,
Speaker 2: when I was two.
Speaker 1: So then my mum's brother actually moved over afterwards and
Speaker 1: he moved to Perth. He met some guys while he
Speaker 1: was in Fiji and got a job in Karatha out
Speaker 1: of all places, and was like, I've got this house
Speaker 1: in this fabulous area. You're going to help look after
Speaker 1: my kids while, you know, and stay with us while
Speaker 1: I'm on the mind, and things like that, And that
Speaker 1: place happened to be Midvale or Midland, and yeah, that's
Speaker 1: why that became my home, a new home. And yeah,
Speaker 1: we recited there for you know, most of my childhood life.
Speaker 1: But we did move to and front places a lot
Speaker 1: going up. Like yeah, like I said, it's hard, especially
Speaker 1: if you don't have a documentation or you don't have
Speaker 1: things behind you to help you, you know, even to
Speaker 1: rent a house. Like people know how it is to
Speaker 1: rent a house now, but to rent a house it
Speaker 1: came from overseas is having their money things like that.
Speaker 1: It was. It was tough. We lived in so many
Speaker 1: different hours a going up. I think I can of
Speaker 1: the other day I was, I reckon up until a
Speaker 1: year twelve, I probably lived in about fifty sixty houses.
Speaker 1: Wow really so yeah, I didn't really. We didn't own
Speaker 1: our first house until I started playing footy. So I
Speaker 1: remember sitting down with Trevor Nisbert and John Moresort at
Speaker 1: the time, and that was one of my goals was
Speaker 1: to buy a house. And they figured out a plan
Speaker 1: and said, Nick, you want to buy a five hundred
Speaker 1: thousand dollar house, this is what you need to do, this,
Speaker 1: this and this says how much you can spend each
Speaker 1: week with my management as well, and then you can
Speaker 1: do it and that was a proudest thing of my life.
Speaker 1: I think, like to buy my first family house like
Speaker 1: it was. It wasn't the greatest house, but for me,
Speaker 1: it was like the taj Mahal was the biggest thing ever.
Speaker 1: I thought it was amazing. So and it was ours,
Speaker 1: like you didn't have to worry about like rent, expect inspections.
Speaker 1: You have to worry about someone coming to check that
Speaker 1: your beds clean, things like that, or your bond. You're
Speaker 1: not getting your bond back because you scratch the walls.
Speaker 1: So that was something I lived with my whole childhood.
Speaker 1: So to have your own house, yeah, it was. But
Speaker 1: I'm still thankful for being able to go through some
Speaker 1: of the hard times as well. I don't think it
Speaker 1: would have I would put me in a good situation
Speaker 1: when I got the footy if I hadn't had those things.
Speaker 1: So it made me work harder. It did teach me resilience.
Speaker 1: It taught me compassion for others. It still teaches me
Speaker 1: that as well. So I'm very understanding when guys aren't
Speaker 1: going through the you know, the best of times, or
Speaker 1: they're not going down the right past. There's always a reason.
Speaker 1: But my biggest thing Punctuality is big with me as well,
Speaker 1: because I used to you know, my mum never had
Speaker 1: a license growing up single mother, so I'd always catch
Speaker 1: I used to have the me and my brother used
Speaker 1: to stick it tate in the hallway, all the bus
Speaker 1: routes for every bus in our area, and then the
Speaker 1: train times everything so we could get from like I'd
Speaker 1: have State training and Clermont and then come back and
Speaker 1: have training and bassading for Swan districts, and then get
Speaker 1: the Midvale for my local training. I'll get the school
Speaker 1: and then get to the State Library to go and
Speaker 1: do my study. Because we didn't have a printer at home,
Speaker 1: so I'd know how to get back and forth and
Speaker 1: get it all on time to get home and have
Speaker 1: dinner and then get to school on time the next morning.
Speaker 1: So when I see young guys, my biggest thing was
Speaker 1: a young guy up late to training. They still eat
Speaker 1: to me, even though I shouldn't let it eat me.
Speaker 1: But it's just one of those things that still do
Speaker 1: because I'm like you if you're you know, if you
Speaker 1: didn't wake up and you can still drive your car
Speaker 1: in time, like man, I was catching three trains my
Speaker 1: first two years at playing West Coast, Like, sure, it's
Speaker 1: not that hard to get right, but sometimes I have
Speaker 1: to pull myself back and go, you know what, everyone's different.
Speaker 1: Room excels or it doesn't do well in certain areas,
Speaker 1: so just let it be.
Speaker 2: What was the look on your mom's face when you
Speaker 2: told her about the house?
Speaker 1: Oh proud. Yeah, it's sick of you know, we're sick
Speaker 1: of living with other people, like I listed to live
Speaker 1: with cousins and that. Like even when I was when
Speaker 1: I got drafted, I remember I trained. I remember training
Speaker 1: at West Coast that first week when I got to
Speaker 1: the club, and yeah, I was still sharing. I was
Speaker 1: sharing a house with one of my mum's friends, this
Speaker 1: elderly lady like she was she would have been seventy
Speaker 1: or so, and her family, And yeah I was sharing
Speaker 1: a bedroom, Like I shared a bedroom with my mom
Speaker 1: and my brother when I was year twelve doing my
Speaker 1: TEA exams and then getting drafted as an eighteen year old.
Speaker 1: So I am yeah, I look back now, I got
Speaker 1: I've got a nice house and stuff like that. But
Speaker 1: sometimes I feel a bit guilty because I'm like, man,
Speaker 1: like this one little room like this could fit three
Speaker 1: of us in it.
Speaker 2: Like it's just got your shoes in it.
Speaker 1: I just got my shoes And now I'm like, man,
Speaker 1: imagine this when I was growing up, Like, man, I
Speaker 1: could have laid here, I could have slept there. Got
Speaker 1: it eaten over.
Speaker 2: Here, sleeping. You don't sleep on beds, doude.
Speaker 1: Oh I don't. I don't. It's funny you say that
Speaker 1: because it was really hot on four was it Friday night?
Speaker 1: Just gone? And I slept in the kitchen. I sat
Speaker 1: on the floor because the tiles are real cold. And yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm a weirder like that, but I do have air
Speaker 1: and I do have a fan. I do own those things.
Speaker 1: But I don't know something about the tiles are just
Speaker 1: a little bit cooler.
Speaker 2: So when did that start.
Speaker 1: I think it's a Fiji thing. I always people always
Speaker 1: ask me, but I think I never really noticed it.
Speaker 1: But when I go to my family's house, it's the
Speaker 1: same thing. Like if you walk into a Fiji or
Speaker 1: any if you if you know a salmon or a
Speaker 1: tonguein or even some of the New Zealand guys, like
Speaker 1: you see a couch in their house, they will never
Speaker 1: sit on it unless you're an Aussie and you're coming around.
Speaker 1: But if it's just them, you'll see the couches just
Speaker 1: for decoration. You just go and sit. You know how
Speaker 1: those old like Italian or slav families have like the
Speaker 1: couch with all the plastic over it. They had that
Speaker 1: little land room that it's there. It's nice, but no
Speaker 1: one touches, No one uses just a little showcasing. That's
Speaker 1: like my bed in my house and all Fie Jean's
Speaker 1: houses the beds like that, and so is the couches.
Speaker 1: You don't use it. You just go and sleep next
Speaker 1: to it on the floor. You sit on the front
Speaker 1: of the couch on the floor. You never sit on it,
Speaker 1: so unless you have visitors. So yeah, Christmas time is
Speaker 1: hard because you know my friends will come over and
Speaker 1: that I'm like man like you guys acts act Australian
Speaker 1: for a bit, like using knife and fork because we
Speaker 1: eat with our hands like you know, like don't sit
Speaker 1: on the ground like sit on the table in the
Speaker 1: chairs like. But then after awhile, it's like you know
Speaker 1: what stuff people don't like it. You can't be please everyone,
Speaker 1: you know, but there are certain times we have to
Speaker 1: check yourself and go. We're in Australia, live the old way.
Speaker 2: What was the I guess the hardest, the worst place
Speaker 2: that you lived in.
Speaker 1: The hardest, the worst? Where was I I lived in
Speaker 1: a detention center when I was young, When I was
Speaker 1: real young, when I was at four or five, I
Speaker 1: lived in an attention center in New South Wales. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we didn't really have our documentation and things like that,
Speaker 1: especially when my old man passed away. You know, he
Speaker 1: obviously brought us over and things like that, so we
Speaker 1: didn't have you know, full citizenship and things like that.
Speaker 1: So yeah, we spend a bit of time in there.
Speaker 1: So those kind of things still stick out of me,
Speaker 1: Like I like going to refugee camps and working with
Speaker 1: children from those sort of backgrounds, because yeah, I've been there,
Speaker 1: I've lived through, I've done what they've done. And you know,
Speaker 1: those guys that come through the AFL system of fled war,
Speaker 1: you know, guys like a Leer, a Leer and things
Speaker 1: like that. So that's why those guys. I have a
Speaker 1: lot of time with those guys and some of the
Speaker 1: kids that come through my academy at the moment they
Speaker 1: come through those those pathways and I'm like, you know,
Speaker 1: you can still achieve even though you've been there or
Speaker 1: you've you've done things like it's you know, it's just
Speaker 1: something that you'll learn from and you know, obviously hopefully
Speaker 1: it inspires you to do better and you know, to
Speaker 1: inspire others as well. So that's probably been the toughest
Speaker 1: place I live. But in saying that, I was pretty young.
Speaker 1: So when you're a kid, you're pretty oblivious to how
Speaker 1: hard it is. You know, you've got food, you've got
Speaker 1: a bed, like it's not that bad. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, how long were you there for?
Speaker 1: We spent probably close to six months to a year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so yeah, not ages, but long enough to remember. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you must have such an enormous amount of respect
Speaker 2: for your mum. The fact that she lived through that
Speaker 2: with YouTube boys as a single mum. That must like, yeah, the.
Speaker 1: Players of me, Yeah, it does. I think, like when
Speaker 1: things get tough, I'm like, man, for if my mum
Speaker 1: could do it, Like I don't know what wings and
Speaker 1: like I wings about having a walk down the road
Speaker 1: and someone young about nicknat as I get a coffee,
Speaker 1: but I always go, like I always put myself back
Speaker 1: and go. You know, mum went through some tough you know,
Speaker 1: mentally that would have been tough, like you know, some
Speaker 1: of the pride things and some of the embarrassment of
Speaker 1: having a asked for a hand. Mum never really asked
Speaker 1: for help too often, but would take it when she
Speaker 1: really needed it. But she'd do anything for us like
Speaker 1: us boys, like I think, yeah, I like you said,
Speaker 1: if she could. She was always willing to help others too.
Speaker 1: So my mum worked at a women's refuge with domestic violence,
Speaker 1: but also worked at a homeless shelter for most of
Speaker 1: her life, and she was always helping others. So Christmas
Speaker 1: time at my house was with three or four other families,
Speaker 1: or she was at work with those families. So I've
Speaker 1: always been used to sharing, like I've always what's mine is, yeah,
Speaker 1: what's mine is yours kind of thing. But I didn't
Speaker 1: say I can't. I'll be lying if I said I didn't.
Speaker 1: You know, I didn't like it like I liked it.
Speaker 1: I hated it like I hated having to share my things.
Speaker 2: But you're already a twins, so yeah, no, So.
Speaker 1: This is the worst part. So people dont understand that
Speaker 1: I've got a like I said, my older sister, my
Speaker 1: twin brother, and myself had the same birthday. We were
Speaker 1: all born the same day. It's the worst thing ever.
Speaker 1: It's the worst thing ever because you know, everyone goes, oh,
Speaker 1: it's my birthday. It's not my birthday.
Speaker 2: You even hate the day as well.
Speaker 1: I hate May the fourth, May the fourth, my birthdays
Speaker 1: May the fourth, and I get these I used to
Speaker 1: get these shitty little Star Wars cards every year, May
Speaker 1: the Fourth be with you, and oh yeah, the gag
Speaker 1: just gets older and older, and still to this day
Speaker 1: it happens like you'll get a little notification on Instagram
Speaker 1: or Twitter or something and someone's sending your Darth Vader
Speaker 1: or Luke Skyl. I don't even watch Star Wars. I
Speaker 1: hate Star Wars, so to see that stuff, I'm like,
Speaker 1: I hate birthdays. I'm a birthday greench I'm a Christmas Grench.
Speaker 1: I hate all that stuff because I think, I think
Speaker 1: maybe because I have to share everything, Like you know,
Speaker 1: when your birthday you get this massive cake, but you
Speaker 1: think about it, like I used to sit there on
Speaker 1: birthdays and there used to be singing a song with
Speaker 1: your candle's happy birthday, and everyone just pauses because I
Speaker 1: don't know whose name to say Birthday're like like so
Speaker 1: so so I reckon, it's not funny, don't laugh. So
Speaker 1: my my birthday is a murmur like, it's just a
Speaker 1: little mumble. That's why I reckon, I'm mumble because my
Speaker 1: birthday song every year has been a mumble like because
Speaker 1: everyone sings it and everyone gets to that point where
Speaker 1: they're just happy birthday, dear, because I don't know whose
Speaker 1: name to say Firth out of the three of us.
Speaker 1: So stuff birthdays. Please move on to the next question.
Speaker 1: I was making me angry thinking about it getting old.
Speaker 2: How does having a mom like that shape who you are?
Speaker 2: And because you do give back a lot. I know
Speaker 2: you don't necessarily like talking about it, but you do
Speaker 2: give back a lot and you do a lot of
Speaker 2: really generous things.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's just probably instilled me now, like
Speaker 1: I kind of feel obliged to do it, but the
Speaker 1: same thing, I'm willing and I want to do it
Speaker 1: just because I know how hard it was. I know
Speaker 1: how hard it was for my family to get through
Speaker 1: certain times and to do certain things, and just that
Speaker 1: little bit of help, Like I remember I couldn't afford
Speaker 1: footy books when I first started playing. And I'll never
Speaker 1: forget one of the guys I played with. His name
Speaker 1: was Cameron Manuel. He's the old man gave me my
Speaker 1: first pair of footyboots because I played my first season
Speaker 1: and a half in just in sneakers, and he gave
Speaker 1: me my first fair of fair of footy boots. And
Speaker 1: you know, I cherished those things like it was a
Speaker 1: you know, like they were a million dollar pair. So
Speaker 1: things like that, like they're little things, and I always
Speaker 1: think that, you know, he probably never realized the impact
Speaker 1: that actually had on me. But for me, I used
Speaker 1: to think, Man, I've got a pair of footybooches. Now,
Speaker 1: now I'm gonna be CHRISTI out like I'm I'm a
Speaker 1: gun now like I was okay before, but now I'm
Speaker 1: really good because I've got a pair of footybriochs. So
Speaker 1: things like that, like I think, I think, unknowingly, if
Speaker 1: you do more of those things, there's gonna be one
Speaker 1: person out there that it really impacts and it helps them,
Speaker 1: you know, pursue their career even more so it just
Speaker 1: just helps them out and it helps their family as well,
Speaker 1: Like it takes that burden off my mum having to
Speaker 1: buy what a footybooks now two hundred bucks? I don't
Speaker 1: have parents afford it, but especially if you've got a
Speaker 1: number of kids, or you're working a number of jobs,
Speaker 1: like to justify buying a pair of footybooths and playing
Speaker 1: footy fees like I had, I had people in my
Speaker 1: area used to pay for myself, Like I had a
Speaker 1: pretty poor community where I grew up, and we had
Speaker 1: this Italian guy, Frank Viccio, used to help pay. I
Speaker 1: don't know if I'm aloud to say this, but he'd
Speaker 1: pay our school fees, pay our footy fees, and you
Speaker 1: just find ways to pay them back over the time,
Speaker 1: because otherwise, I don't reckon I would go to school.
Speaker 1: I don't reckon I would have been playing footy if
Speaker 1: it wasn't for people like that, because you just can't
Speaker 1: afford certain things, Like there was no chance I was
Speaker 1: paying cricket because I couldn't afford gloves, pads, bats and
Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff. There's some stealing them. There's
Speaker 1: no way that I was. There was no way that
Speaker 1: I was playing for that stuff. So cricket was the
Speaker 1: least thing I was interested in because I knew that
Speaker 1: stuff's prizy. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Was there any point, at any point in time
Speaker 2: in your childhood that you did sort of veer down
Speaker 2: that path or worry that that could be a way
Speaker 2: of doing things, or did your mom just always keep
Speaker 2: you on the straight and narrow.
Speaker 3: I was pretty nah yeah, oh no, Like I think
Speaker 3: sometimes when you really want something and you need something,
Speaker 3: you sort of justify in your head that taking something
Speaker 3: is taking stealing something is worthwhile.
Speaker 1: So if I needed a pair of footy socks because
Speaker 1: I know I really need it, like my old workplace
Speaker 1: is going to hit this Slayer Guard Sports, they brought
Speaker 1: these like high performance socks. So every sock now has
Speaker 1: these like elasticity in it. And Swan Districts had these
Speaker 1: black socks and everyone had them. They were like fifteen bucks,
Speaker 1: and I was like, man, I don't have fifteen bucks.
Speaker 1: So I used I just take a couple of pairs.
Speaker 1: He's take a couple of pairs and help some of
Speaker 1: my mates out who didn't who couldn't afford fifteen dollars
Speaker 1: socks because I didn't want these old wet cotton socks.
Speaker 1: And when it rained, like you know, like I played
Speaker 1: with guys like Alex Rants and that, and you know,
Speaker 1: rance he had money, wouldn't under saying they had money,
Speaker 1: and he used to have all the gear. He had
Speaker 1: a pair of skins, things like that, and I was like, man,
Speaker 1: I want some of that, and if that's gonna make
Speaker 1: me a better player, I'll find a way to get
Speaker 1: some of that. So either work harder or I just borrow.
Speaker 1: So a few of us boys just borrowed and didn't return.
Speaker 1: But it was, yeah, I don't know, I really did
Speaker 1: it because I knew if I came home and I
Speaker 1: didn't and I was doing things like that, there's gonna
Speaker 1: be consequences. So I was. I was fearful, feul.
Speaker 2: Yeah, if pinching socks is the worst that you did,
Speaker 2: even if they were fancy socks, I feel like that's
Speaker 2: pretty good.
Speaker 1: I don't care you steal a lot of you steal
Speaker 1: the cars, the same thing, and still stealing. That doesn't
Speaker 1: make her right.
Speaker 2: You've you've since in the book about social inclusion, and
Speaker 2: you've spoken a little bit about growing up in Midland.
Speaker 2: Did you ever feel that as a kid, did you
Speaker 2: feel that you were different?
Speaker 1: That's a stupid question. I'm tall, black and skinny and
Speaker 1: got bloody, crazy curly. Yeah, of course I felt different.
Speaker 1: There was no one else that looked like me around me.
Speaker 1: I was playing this game called football, and there was
Speaker 1: no one I could go, yep, that's me right there.
Speaker 1: There was Derek kick it, that's about it. And he
Speaker 1: wasn't even from my country. It was like, yeah, so
Speaker 1: I didn't feel like anyone was like me. So I
Speaker 1: felt out of place for sure. Every day of the week,
Speaker 1: everywhere I went, Like, you know what, the funny thing is,
Speaker 1: I always I've got a joke with my friends. I'm like, man,
Speaker 1: I'm a token black guy because everywhere you go, Like
Speaker 1: I went swimming down South and duns were yelling up
Speaker 1: last week and I was in the swimming hole and
Speaker 1: I said to one of my mates, I was like, man,
Speaker 1: I'm the only black person here. So like when I
Speaker 1: took him to Fiji, I was like, man, you realize
Speaker 1: you're the only white guy here. And he's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I feel weird. I'm like, yeah, welcome to my life.
Speaker 1: Me every single day that's me. I feel like odd
Speaker 1: one out And yeah, I think I'm going off track here,
Speaker 1: but I think all the time I felt out of place.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I think it's such a multicultural society now
Speaker 1: that you know you walk into a classroom and there's
Speaker 1: such a mixture of children that kids don't really know
Speaker 1: the difference. But for me growing up, like, yeah, I
Speaker 1: was dark, but I wasn't indigenous. I had a lot
Speaker 1: of Indigenous kids, but I wasn't one of them. But
Speaker 1: it did help because, yeah, those guys kind of took
Speaker 1: me under their wing a bit.
Speaker 2: How did it feel it was a kid to be different?
Speaker 1: I didn't really like, yeah, I knew I was different.
Speaker 1: Like my family didn't speak English at home, so you know,
Speaker 1: I found it would speak Fiji at home, so it
Speaker 1: was that was a different thing, Like that was different.
Speaker 1: But I just think you learned, like you just learned
Speaker 1: along the way that you were different and you can
Speaker 1: embrace that. And for me, yeah, culture has always been
Speaker 1: a big thing, I think, going back and forth and
Speaker 1: understanding that it's important and you know, we still went
Speaker 1: through the customs and the traditions at home. You'll practice
Speaker 1: it with the Fijian community here in Perth on a
Speaker 1: weekly basis. So if I didn't feel, you know, at
Speaker 1: place or in my right place at school, I knew
Speaker 1: when I went to these things in the weekend with
Speaker 1: my family that I would. It wasn't until I got
Speaker 1: to the footy field and I'm playing sport that you know,
Speaker 1: you start you know, being subjected to racism and things
Speaker 1: like that that you go, wow, do I really want
Speaker 1: to do this? Do I fit in? It's just for me?
Speaker 1: Maybe they're right, And yeah, those are the only times
Speaker 1: I probably felt unhappy or unsafe with it all.
Speaker 2: Do you remember the first time that happened?
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, all the time. I remember every single situation. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it probably happened. Oh, I'd say every couple of weeks, like,
Speaker 1: and it wasn't when it was Sometimes it was players
Speaker 1: that I think, but to be parents as well. People
Speaker 1: on the sidelines call you certain things, and yeah, I
Speaker 1: found ways to react. Sometimes I reacted badly. I used
Speaker 1: to get really angry, but then sometimes I just walk away,
Speaker 1: And but I always felt a need to say something
Speaker 1: back to them. Like as much as people want you
Speaker 1: to walk away, I thought, you know, even back then,
Speaker 1: pretty scary when it's you know, fifty year old who's
Speaker 1: saying these things and you're only twelve years of age.
Speaker 1: But you find at a young age, you find the
Speaker 1: ways to bite back and you find ways to protect yourself,
Speaker 1: and I think that's helped me in good stead to
Speaker 1: my adult life as well. So I think speaking up
Speaker 1: on it was helpful. They might not like being confronted,
Speaker 1: but yeah, it definitely played on me because I used
Speaker 1: to think, you know, there was no one else that
Speaker 1: out there looked like me. People would say, you know,
Speaker 1: are you playing the right sport? Are you lost? What
Speaker 1: are you doing? You should be inside the rec center
Speaker 1: playing basketball. That's more old people's type of sport. Things
Speaker 1: like that, and you go, what am I people? What's
Speaker 1: going on? So as a kid it really hurt Now
Speaker 1: I look back and laugh at it. But as a kid,
Speaker 1: you know, you feel like your world's ending. So you know,
Speaker 1: when you fail a test at school or things like that,
Speaker 1: I'm like, man, this is nothing like there mean some
Speaker 1: real life problems out here. But yeah, it didn't didn't
Speaker 1: feel nice. But I don't know. I think the society
Speaker 1: has changed a bit over the years. Even looking at
Speaker 1: you know, happy reacted to Australia Day yesterday. I think
Speaker 1: people have a more whether they agree with what's happening
Speaker 1: or not, they have more of an awareness, which is good,
Speaker 1: which I reckon as a child at school. When I
Speaker 1: was at school, that awareness was sort of there, but
Speaker 1: it wasn't really spoken about. It was just in the
Speaker 1: back burner a bit.
Speaker 2: What does the kids say to a fifty year old
Speaker 2: bloat on the sidelines?
Speaker 1: Can you swear on you? I don't know. No, I
Speaker 1: just told them where to go, like I just yeah
Speaker 1: I would, Yeah, I'd get angry and probably wasn't the
Speaker 1: best way. Like now we do a lot of seminars
Speaker 1: and things on how to receive and give feedback, and
Speaker 1: probably not the right way to do things because it
Speaker 1: wasn't very constructive. But I gave him. I gave him
Speaker 1: some back. I never I never gave racism back to
Speaker 1: racism though I learned that. I think my mum talking
Speaker 1: about was, you know, to take it on board. Obviously
Speaker 1: they've got something that they've got some sort of ignorance
Speaker 1: or they've got something wrong with them. So yeah, I
Speaker 1: never really bit back with racism. I just stood up
Speaker 1: for myself. Really, I think I have another colored kid
Speaker 1: around you probably helped as well, so they were always
Speaker 1: in my corner.
Speaker 2: Yeah, as a player. Do you still cop it on
Speaker 2: social media?
Speaker 1: Yeah all the time. Yeah, yeah all the time. Like
Speaker 1: you think sometimes you think you get to a point
Speaker 1: like I was saying, well, I didn't take my ID
Speaker 1: to the nightclub. You think you're a rock star. Yeah,
Speaker 1: sometimes you get to that point where you think you
Speaker 1: are what's the word you think you're you know, not
Speaker 1: going to be a target, or you're bigger than that.
Speaker 1: You're not. But man, i'd say, especially during the season,
Speaker 1: you know, especially if you push someone over, you do
Speaker 1: something to another person's team that they support, there's always
Speaker 1: someone with an anonymous account, sometimes not even anonymous on
Speaker 1: some people aren't scared at all. And I'll write some
Speaker 1: pretty racist stuff. When I was younger, when I was
Speaker 1: nineteen twenty, I used to screenshot a lot of that
Speaker 1: stuff and keep on to it. And I see a
Speaker 1: lot of guys now repost it and share it and
Speaker 1: things like that. That used to be me, but now
Speaker 1: I just like, I hate giving them a voice. I'm like, man,
Speaker 1: if you're relevant, no one knows who you are, why
Speaker 1: should I give you a voice on my platform? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'll call you out. I fight back. I used to
Speaker 1: write back to them and have a goal with them,
Speaker 1: but especially if I knew they've lived in Perth though,
Speaker 1: I'd find a way to meet them, Like I'd find
Speaker 1: a way to catch up.
Speaker 2: With them and have you done that?
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, especially when you see someone in nightclub
Speaker 1: or something and you know who they are, you know
Speaker 1: what they've done. I'll let them know. You wouldn't say
Speaker 1: to their face. My biggest thing is some of these guys,
Speaker 1: I don't care if you're a twenty year old man
Speaker 1: or a sixty year old man, like you saw a
Speaker 1: big black guy in public, You're not going to come
Speaker 1: up to him and say some of the stuff that
Speaker 1: you said. And yeah, it's gotten a few of my
Speaker 1: mates and a few of my family members, and my
Speaker 1: brother and my cousin's in trouble because they tend to
Speaker 1: stick up for me and fight back, which I don't.
Speaker 1: I like, but I don't like. I love the loyalty,
Speaker 1: but sometimes I hate getting other people in trouble for
Speaker 1: my things. I guess, so you know, Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1: Everyone deals it their own way, but yeah, I just
Speaker 1: I don't know. Everyone's got a big big mouth. Everyone's
Speaker 1: got a lot more balls when they're on social media,
Speaker 1: and they would in real.
Speaker 2: Life say all the time, how often well.
Speaker 1: As in social media stuff, Oh every game, every game,
Speaker 1: I'd well, we played twenty odd games a year, I'd
Speaker 1: get twenty times a year easily, easily. I should probably
Speaker 1: start documenting screenshot and keeping it, but I've learned to
Speaker 1: move on. I'm like, you know what, Like I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna waste I got too much stuff going on to
Speaker 1: worry about someone writing me a bag comment. And I
Speaker 1: don't mind if you bag my football or you bag
Speaker 1: you know the way I do things. But when you
Speaker 1: start being in race or you bring family into it
Speaker 1: like that kind of stuff, especially what hurts me more
Speaker 1: than they do it to my teammates, especially my younger teammates,
Speaker 1: Like I got young teammates like Liam Ryan and they
Speaker 1: who copy it all the time. And he went through
Speaker 1: a phase where he was copping it every single week.
Speaker 1: And if they haven't been given the tools or the
Speaker 1: resilience to get you know, to look past it, it'll
Speaker 1: be a bigger person and just you know, not let
Speaker 1: it affect them too much. I'd be okay, But when
Speaker 1: I see how much it hurts them and hurts their family,
Speaker 1: you know, like that, that really pisses me off. Like yeah,
Speaker 1: especially when they bring their children into it and things
Speaker 1: like that. That's just like I don't know, Sometimes you
Speaker 1: just want to catch some of these. I was one
Speaker 1: on one and deal with them because you just because
Speaker 1: I just like you just you would never do it
Speaker 1: like you wouldn't do it anyone. So but everyone's why different.
Speaker 1: Someone's got a reason why they do it. They just
Speaker 1: need to be educated.
Speaker 2: Yeah, when you became a big footy star, what does
Speaker 2: your mom think about it? All?
Speaker 1: Nothing? Like I said, we'll still we'll still share the
Speaker 1: same room. So I was still sleeping there. I was
Speaker 1: still washing dishes. I still mop on the floors, which
Speaker 1: I still like doing.
Speaker 2: Because you got to sleep on them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because I want to. That's you know, that's that's
Speaker 1: probably why I actually like I want to. I got
Speaker 1: a new dice and vacuum and things like that. I
Speaker 1: got to mop like I enjoy those things because I
Speaker 1: sleep on the floor. That's probably why it makes sense. Now. No,
Speaker 1: she didn't really care, like she was still like, you know,
Speaker 1: I think going back to Fiji is a big thing,
Speaker 1: Like no one really cares what you do. Like you
Speaker 1: go back to the village, you still have to go
Speaker 1: and do what everyone else does. Like it doesn't matter
Speaker 1: whether you earn a hundred million dollars a year or
Speaker 1: you're on TV or you you know, the biggest scientists
Speaker 1: in the world, whatever you do, you're still an everyday person,
Speaker 1: which I like, sometimes I get pissed off. I'm like,
Speaker 1: there's no way I'll be doing this back in Perst,
Speaker 1: so they wouldn't make me do this. And then I'm like,
Speaker 1: that's just my ego speaking there and pull myself back
Speaker 1: and you know, it's good. And that happened at home
Speaker 1: every day. Like my twin brother didn't give a shit
Speaker 1: what I did. He'd wake up at four o'clock in
Speaker 1: the morning because he's a plumber and go to work
Speaker 1: and he'd bang his tool as loud as you can,
Speaker 1: and he'd be like, you know what, I come home
Speaker 1: from training, like, I complain on my back, so I
Speaker 1: had a hard session. He's like, oh, cry, I cry
Speaker 1: like he was. He's been clean and shit out of
Speaker 1: people's toilet since four thirty in the morning all day.
Speaker 1: And that stuff would just you know, put things in
Speaker 1: a perspective and I go, you know what, Yeah, he
Speaker 1: had a harder day to me. I'dn't been playing. I
Speaker 1: was kicking the foot around like I had to lift
Speaker 1: an extra weights, the extra weight in the gym in
Speaker 1: the air co on, like it's not that hard. Yeah
Speaker 1: it's hard work, but yeah, it's all relative. It's all relative.
Speaker 1: So those guys are good just to you know, keep
Speaker 1: me grounded.
Speaker 2: I guess yeah, because you are a brilliant contradiction because
Speaker 2: you you hate the public card that you also get
Speaker 2: quite cranky and people don't recognize that one. With your
Speaker 2: niece and nephews the other day.
Speaker 1: Pick up, they just don't appreciate me. My niece and
Speaker 1: nephew don't appreciate me. Like I've been doing book I've
Speaker 1: been getting school books all day today but for them,
Speaker 1: and they don't appreciate me. But no, at school that's
Speaker 1: the biggest thing. So like my little nephew, I'm picking
Speaker 1: him up from school and they've got to hold the
Speaker 1: hand policy. As he crossed a bit when there's no crosswalk,
Speaker 1: and he refused to hold my hand. I'm not hold
Speaker 1: my hand, hold my hand. He's only in primary school,
Speaker 1: he's young, and you one, you two, I'm hold my hand,
Speaker 1: hold my hand, and he's like no, and I'm like,
Speaker 1: just hold my hand. We can't cross the road otherwise,
Speaker 1: and he wouldn't do it, and I had to think
Speaker 1: I got real upset. I got really angry. I was like,
Speaker 1: I actually swore it in the poor little kid. I
Speaker 1: was like, do you know how many of your little
Speaker 1: friends in your classroom would die to hold his hand?
Speaker 1: And then when I said I started laughing to myself.
Speaker 1: I was like, man, who do you think you are? Oh?
Speaker 1: And he was looking at me. He like looked up
Speaker 1: at me. He was like, he's like, what do you mean?
Speaker 1: Why would I want to hold you? Why would my
Speaker 1: friends want to hold your hand? Yuck? Like? And I
Speaker 1: was like, oh shit, Like he doesn't get what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: like going on And I was like, don't worry, don't worry,
Speaker 1: just hold my hand. I grabbed him, dragg him across
Speaker 1: the road. But they still get confused, Like I remember
Speaker 1: he came in the other day when I was at
Speaker 1: my sister's house and he was like, Mom, Mom, and
Speaker 1: I'm sitting on the couch watching cartoons with the other two. Yes,
Speaker 1: I love my cartoons. And he goes, oh, mom, the
Speaker 1: kids are asking me. Is a nick Nat here? And
Speaker 1: then he's like She's like what, He goes nick Nat
Speaker 1: And I was like, what are you talking about? You idiot?
Speaker 1: Like I am nick Nat, and he was, no, you're
Speaker 1: they call me more MoMA means uncle Epheesians. They're like
Speaker 1: your MoMA. So they're like, they didn't know my name
Speaker 1: was nick Nat, like or people call me nick Nat.
Speaker 1: So they were thinking, why are these kids at the
Speaker 1: front asking for nick Nat? And why do they want
Speaker 1: to see you for? Like they still don't realize that
Speaker 1: they know I kick a ball around, but they probably
Speaker 1: don't know that it's pretty big over here. But I
Speaker 1: like it though, because it keeps me um well. Like
Speaker 1: I said, I need those little things because you get
Speaker 1: a lot of people saying yes in your life all
Speaker 1: the time, so it's good to have people saying no,
Speaker 1: or who are you? Like a bunch of hours running
Speaker 1: in the house is young. I love it, but I
Speaker 1: hate it.
Speaker 2: I hate It's fair to say that you think that
Speaker 2: last year, the bubble and the COVID situation, the bubble
Speaker 2: that was happening with with the AFL, you thought that
Speaker 2: was a bit of an insight for everyone else into
Speaker 2: what it's like my life.
Speaker 1: Yeah, everyone thinks is it's all glamorous and it's all
Speaker 1: nice and no it's not. That's my life. The bubble
Speaker 1: life is my life. I sit at home doing nothing
Speaker 1: like I'll you know, I'll rush to go and quickly
Speaker 1: go get a coffee and get out of there as
Speaker 1: quick as I can. Like it's rare that I'll sit
Speaker 1: around and hang around so for people to go through
Speaker 1: COVID and to see you know, you can only be
Speaker 1: there and quick contact, have things and you know leave,
Speaker 1: you can't dine in and things like that. Welcome to
Speaker 1: my life, sucked in. I was loving it. I was
Speaker 1: loving the whole hub life like it was like people,
Speaker 1: this is and that this will build mental toughness for you,
Speaker 1: This will build mental resilience for because people hated it.
Speaker 1: People hated not the human contact and things like that.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, oh, I wish she just walked the
Speaker 1: day in my shoes. Well, had a week in my
Speaker 1: life for a bit, and you see how much of
Speaker 1: my bedroom wars or how much of my backyard I
Speaker 1: see because I don't go and do things. But I
Speaker 1: love my bubble as much as I say I you
Speaker 1: know it's different and it's it's hard. I enjoy not
Speaker 1: being contact with people. I love my own space.
Speaker 2: Because you actually did a good deed for me when
Speaker 2: I was in hotel quarantine. You came past as a
Speaker 2: good ay and way from the outside.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I waved down what came past and waved. I
Speaker 1: was actually visiting one of my teammates, Jared Cameron. I
Speaker 1: had to go make sure he was on the right jack,
Speaker 1: so went past. He lives on the corner, so I
Speaker 1: was going to his So that's the only reason. Otherwise
Speaker 1: I wouldn't have come back.
Speaker 2: But then you complained to me in the entire time
Speaker 2: because every man and his dog stopped you on the store.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you saw there was that. Even the homeless guy
Speaker 1: came running over to come and hug me. And this
Speaker 1: was during COVID time, so not meant to be hugging people.
Speaker 1: So he came and described me and hugged me. But
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say no, I hugged him back.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I appreciate. I appreciate you leaving.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 2: Is it also true that you and this is a
Speaker 2: bit more of a serious one because when people were
Speaker 2: laid off or stood down over COVID times, is it
Speaker 2: true that you actually went around and made deliveries of
Speaker 2: cookies to you're shaking your head when you know it's
Speaker 2: true to people who were asked me, who will let go?
Speaker 1: No? Yeah? Yeah? Yeah?
Speaker 2: What was then?
Speaker 1: I know people doing it tough, Like I said, people
Speaker 1: doing tough. So a lot of those people had, you know,
Speaker 1: the workplace done a lot for me stuff and work
Speaker 1: people and some are still still working, but some were
Speaker 1: laid off. But I don't know as good as a gesture.
Speaker 1: Myself and my brother in law just drove around. It
Speaker 1: took us all day. Though Harry did all the hard
Speaker 1: work my brother in law. I was just driving around.
Speaker 1: So I wasn't really meant to because yeah, because we
Speaker 1: were in quarantine COVID sort of time, so we could
Speaker 1: drive around, were not meant to go on people's houses.
Speaker 1: So Harry just like we loaded up the car and
Speaker 1: Harry jumped out at everyone's houses. So we did fifty
Speaker 1: six houses or so all over person. So we went
Speaker 1: from Junle up Man my mapping schools. Like I said,
Speaker 1: I used to have the bus, arm table and my thing,
Speaker 1: so I know every single suburb about the back of
Speaker 1: my hand. I could get to any suburban perth like that.
Speaker 1: I don't need no GPS. So I got from as
Speaker 1: far as Burns Beach kind of journal up the area
Speaker 1: which is far north Perth all the way to an
Speaker 1: hour away down towards like Coburn kind of you know,
Speaker 1: Gendercott area out there, and the coast. We did, the hills,
Speaker 1: we did, inter city, did apartments. Yeah, we did it all.
Speaker 1: It was fun though it was actually it was actually
Speaker 1: good for my benefit too, because I was stuck locked indoors,
Speaker 1: so to be able to get out and drive around
Speaker 1: and see Perth and have a legitimate excuse for the
Speaker 1: police pulled me over. Yeah, it was a good thing,
Speaker 1: but I don't know, I think they appreciated it. Well.
Speaker 1: I hope.
Speaker 2: You're listening to. Ordinarily, speaking with Nick Natanui, twenty fifteen
Speaker 2: was a pretty life altering year for you. Tell me
Speaker 2: about August and when you found out about your mum.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was that was probably the toughest time in
Speaker 1: my life. I was getting ready to play Hawthorne here
Speaker 1: at home, and yeah, we had a meeting and then
Speaker 1: we'd finished up Captain's run day before a game, and yeah,
Speaker 1: I found out that The news was pretty devastating because
Speaker 1: my mum had just recently moved back to Fiji to
Speaker 1: go live over there. So yeah, it was a shock.
Speaker 1: It was something you know, I was prepping, prepping to
Speaker 1: play footy finals went too far away. Yeah, everything felt
Speaker 1: like it was all in place, all in plan. Then
Speaker 1: that happened and it was just a massive shock to me.
Speaker 1: And yeah, I had to go back home to Fiji
Speaker 1: and do what we need to do. And oh it's different,
Speaker 1: like I think it was. It was, yeah, and something
Speaker 1: I never expected. But it was a big eye opener.
Speaker 1: Like and like I said, everything puts things into perspective too,
Speaker 1: Like as big as or as much as footy seemed
Speaker 1: like it was the only thing I cared about in
Speaker 1: the world or the biggest thing I cared about in
Speaker 1: the world, I think family, you know, it takes over that,
Speaker 1: you know, especially when you're going through some such hardships.
Speaker 1: So yeah, it was a tough time. Yeah, that week
Speaker 1: and a bit, you know, just trying to book flights
Speaker 1: and get over there as soon as possible, telling my
Speaker 1: brother when he got home things like that. Yeah, it
Speaker 1: was it was tough.
Speaker 2: What do you remember from that phone call?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I got a phone call from Fiji telling me
Speaker 1: what had what had happened. Yeah, I think it took
Speaker 1: I was in sub Black at the time. I was
Speaker 1: out getting a coffee just before I went home. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I remember I broke down. I was just in my car.
Speaker 1: I was just waiting for my coffee and ended up
Speaker 1: end up getting it, I think. And I lived. I
Speaker 1: lived all the way in the swan View, so in
Speaker 1: the Hills a Purse. It's about an hour or so,
Speaker 1: forty five or so out of from Subiaco. So in
Speaker 1: my head I was thinking, how am I going to
Speaker 1: drive all the way home with this on my chest?
Speaker 1: So I actually stopped in to see Trevorsbert. I walked
Speaker 1: in there crying, and I've walked into his office and
Speaker 1: told him and Anna who he's pa. And yeah, I
Speaker 1: can't really remember. It's pretty much a blur, but I
Speaker 1: think maybe he drove me home. I didn't drive home.
Speaker 1: He did, or one of the other staff did. And
Speaker 1: went home and sat there, and man, I think something
Speaker 1: just takes over. You go from you know, you're really
Speaker 1: upset and grieving, but then you also, you know, being
Speaker 1: the oldest out of my twins like I've always been,
Speaker 1: I guess the one in charge of the one that
Speaker 1: takes control, you know, with my whole family too, especially
Speaker 1: with playing food, you learn a lot of skills that
Speaker 1: some of your family members probably aren't equipped with or
Speaker 1: aren't taught, you know, just from their lifestyle. And I've
Speaker 1: always been switched on with things like that. And for me,
Speaker 1: it just went in the logistical mode, how are we
Speaker 1: getting there, what's going on? What do we need to do?
Speaker 1: And you go on a full just turbo mode where
Speaker 1: you're just going and getting stuff done. And our culture
Speaker 1: is different, like morning a loss does happen, but you
Speaker 1: still have to get things done like our culture, Like
Speaker 1: I don't know how to explain it, Like we go
Speaker 1: to the morgue. I have to dress mum, makeup mum,
Speaker 1: you do all these things. You've got to carry your
Speaker 1: parent into a coffin. You got to pick out the
Speaker 1: coffin yourself. Like there's no what you got. There's no
Speaker 1: funeral home. There's no like leanno' day or bad whatever
Speaker 1: they call them over here, Perslo funeral homes those type
Speaker 1: of things. So I know all the funeral homes over here,
Speaker 1: but back in Fiji, there's none of that. So you
Speaker 1: have to go and you've got to size up. You
Speaker 1: know what size coffin you need? What you know things
Speaker 1: like that that you're measuring up things. So you're you're grieving,
Speaker 1: but at the same time you're getting stuff done. So
Speaker 1: I just remember my brother. We cried through the whole
Speaker 1: thing like it was. It was tearful, it was hard
Speaker 1: to do. But we can't look at each other and
Speaker 1: we're like, you know, we got to get this done.
Speaker 1: No one else is going to do it for us. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we've got family doing other aspects of the funeral here,
Speaker 1: but we want to make sure we do it right.
Speaker 1: So I left someone else. I left my I think
Speaker 1: my sister and that in charge of letting everyone else
Speaker 1: know what had happened and what's going on when the
Speaker 1: funeral details are but trying to book the funeral when
Speaker 1: it's going to happen. You know, hearses, you know in
Speaker 1: our village where people bring meat and stuff, so someone
Speaker 1: goes and get the cow or pigs. I remember going
Speaker 1: to a butcher, not even a butcher, it was like
Speaker 1: a chicken farm to go and get like three hundred chickens,
Speaker 1: like because you know, the whole village comes out like
Speaker 1: not like you just have fifty b would come to
Speaker 1: the funeral. We have villages like met like there would
Speaker 1: have been a thousand people. So at the funeral, so
Speaker 1: you've got to cater for all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1: But yeah, picking clothes, like like I said, just doing
Speaker 1: the things that a funeral home normally does for you.
Speaker 1: We've had to do it, but it wasn't a shock
Speaker 1: to me because I've done it plenty of times with
Speaker 1: family members over the years or friends and things like that.
Speaker 1: So it's just a part of our culture, you know,
Speaker 1: picking out tombstones things like that, and burial spots and
Speaker 1: having to dig the whole things like that. So it did.
Speaker 1: It was it was a normal thing. But at the
Speaker 1: same time, it was probably harder when you know it's
Speaker 1: someone so close to you, you know, when it's your mother,
Speaker 1: those things are just a little bit harder than what
Speaker 1: they normally are. So man, people talk about resilience, that
Speaker 1: I was the most resilient I ever had to be,
Speaker 1: because I you know, I was grieving, I was mourning,
Speaker 1: but I just had to get it done at the
Speaker 1: same time. So yeah, And then in the way, in
Speaker 1: the back of that, it was after the funeral was done,
Speaker 1: I think it all hit me and I was pretty
Speaker 1: upset and I didn't want to come home. And then
Speaker 1: it wasn't until my uncle's just told me, like, don't
Speaker 1: waste your time here. You need to get back to Perth,
Speaker 1: like he got footy to play. I had lost track
Speaker 1: of the fixture. I didn't know where we were at.
Speaker 1: And it was just before a week or so before
Speaker 1: finals and we're going alright. And I came back and
Speaker 1: played a couple of finals because I did convince me
Speaker 1: to come home. I didn't want to come home. And
Speaker 1: then we made the Grand Final that year. But that
Speaker 1: was a blur. That was all a blur, Like I
Speaker 1: think it's pretty selfish with me. I said it many times.
Speaker 1: It was the Grand Finals, a time where as a
Speaker 1: child that's your boyhood, dreamed to make it to a
Speaker 1: grand father, that Grand Final parades meant to be the
Speaker 1: biggest thing, you know, before playing the actual game. And
Speaker 1: for me, I didn't want to be there. I remember
Speaker 1: I stepped in my I did the Grand Final parade.
Speaker 1: It was a bit of a blur. But then my
Speaker 1: brother came to my hotel room. I didn't have any family, like,
Speaker 1: I had no family over, so it was just my
Speaker 1: brother came across. There's just the two of us and
Speaker 1: we sat in my hotel room and talk. We cried.
Speaker 1: We didn't sleep, like I probably had two hours, maybe
Speaker 1: an hour and a half, two hours sleep before the
Speaker 1: Grand Final. And I feel I sometimes get angry when
Speaker 1: you talk about mental demons and things like that. I
Speaker 1: still feel a bit selfish for that, because I'm like, man,
Speaker 1: I didn't have the ideal preparation. But then again, who's
Speaker 1: to know that someone else wasn't anxious in their room
Speaker 1: about the game and didn't sleep well at all? So yeah,
Speaker 1: I didn't have the greatest preparation. And it probably wasn't
Speaker 1: until we lost that Grand Final to Hawthorne, and probably
Speaker 1: wasn't too asked that that I realized. You know, I
Speaker 1: just felt this wave of emotion come upon me and
Speaker 1: I sat in the change in his crying. I think,
Speaker 1: you know, losing I lost a cousin earlier in that year,
Speaker 1: you know, we had to bury him here in Perth,
Speaker 1: and then having to bury my mum and then lost
Speaker 1: the loss of a grand fine Weber. Sitting there, I
Speaker 1: think that just you know, all come upon me at
Speaker 1: one time, and yeah, that was probably the saddest time
Speaker 1: I'd ever been in my life. And I had to
Speaker 1: find a new way to live, you know, find a
Speaker 1: new reason to do things, like a new why. I
Speaker 1: think the biggest thing in my life was why I
Speaker 1: did things was to impress my mum or to help
Speaker 1: her live a better life stay because he sacrificed so
Speaker 1: much for us, as when will children. So my biggest goal,
Speaker 1: on my biggest drive was to you know, to give
Speaker 1: her and the rest of my family better life. So
Speaker 1: that court sort of went out the window and you
Speaker 1: had to find new reasons and new avenues to you know,
Speaker 1: to keep myself motivated to do certain things, because sometimes
Speaker 1: I wake up whether it was worth playing footy anymore,
Speaker 1: whether it was whether it was worth doing what I do, like,
Speaker 1: you know, what's what's what's the point of doing it
Speaker 1: if if I haven't my mum there? But I had
Speaker 1: to remember I still got siblings out there, and you
Speaker 1: know they've got kids as well. So I guess now
Speaker 1: nowadays it's just you know, reverted to doing it for them.
Speaker 2: I saw your post on social media today Today would
Speaker 2: have been her birthday, Is that right?
Speaker 1: Yeah, Mum's birthday today. Yeah, Mum's birthday. Yeah. It's always
Speaker 1: a tough time. I think any masks or any milestones
Speaker 1: in the calendar, birthdays Mother's Day, Christmas things like that, Yeah,
Speaker 1: are a reminder, And the first few years was pretty tough.
Speaker 1: It still is tough, but I've probably learned ways to
Speaker 1: cope with it. Like I think the first two years,
Speaker 1: I found I was so upset, Like I wouldn't go
Speaker 1: to training sometimes on those days. But yeah, it doesn't
Speaker 1: get any easier. You just find coping mechanisms to get
Speaker 1: through the days.
Speaker 2: Yeah, what are your coping mechanisms.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I kicked myself a lot, so I
Speaker 1: just sit in the room and I just talk to myself.
Speaker 1: I have a good relationship with my mirror. I do
Speaker 1: the old mirror test and I talk to myself. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I'll sit there. I don't like to
Speaker 1: bring my stress on my problems on the others, Like
Speaker 1: I'm one to help people. That's probably my biggest downfall.
Speaker 1: I don't like. I don't open up too much because
Speaker 1: I don't like to. I don't want to just because
Speaker 1: I might be having a shit day. I don't want
Speaker 1: to make someone else's day shit. So I'll just deal
Speaker 1: with it, like I've learned to deal with stuff in
Speaker 1: the past. Like I don't know. Everyone says you should
Speaker 1: go and talk and do things and that. But I'm
Speaker 1: not a big one for that. I'm more just you know,
Speaker 1: yeah you're sad, but you still got two feet and
Speaker 1: the heartbeat you live and like, oh, well, get over it,
Speaker 1: move forward. Yeah. I know it's a bad mentality. I
Speaker 1: go out there preaching, you know, open up, don't bottle
Speaker 1: things up. But yeah, I'm a bit different. More differently.
Speaker 2: You've got a shrine in your house for your mum,
Speaker 2: don't attribute for your mum.
Speaker 1: Yeah, as soon as you walk in, Yeah, as soon
Speaker 1: as you walk in, there's a big shrine, just some
Speaker 1: photos and flowers and whatnot, candles and that. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: think for me, it's just a telling reminder when I
Speaker 1: go home every day that like, like I said, I've
Speaker 1: got a nice house and I'm not ashamed to say that,
Speaker 1: but I think all the hard work and sacrifices she'd
Speaker 1: made for us, I'm able to do that, and I'm
Speaker 1: able to do the job I do every day. And
Speaker 1: I think walking into that house every day, this just
Speaker 1: reminds me and go, you know what, this is what
Speaker 1: I'm doing it for. This is what I did it for,
Speaker 1: and this is who I'm you know, who I am
Speaker 1: and who I was always have been trying to make proud.
Speaker 1: So yeah, there's no hiding. As soon as you open
Speaker 1: the front door, straight there and you kind of you
Speaker 1: got your head down because you're embarrassed or you're looking
Speaker 1: at the pictures straight in the eye. So yeah, I enjoyed.
Speaker 1: I enjoy having it right there.
Speaker 2: That's beautiful. The next couple of years, I mean, you
Speaker 2: talk about the losing ground final and everything you went
Speaker 2: through there, but the next couple of years you're also
Speaker 2: cop to acls and missed pretty much the best part
Speaker 2: of the next few years. How hard was that to
Speaker 2: navigate your way through?
Speaker 1: I see, were hard. I think just compounded, you know,
Speaker 1: exacerbated by what had happened, you know, the previous years.
Speaker 1: You know, the first one was was sad and I
Speaker 1: was upset, But the second one that hit home, I
Speaker 1: was like, man, I've done one I've ever done too,
Speaker 1: But no perspective. I always say it. People probably sick
Speaker 1: of me saying it. Perspective has been a bigger one
Speaker 1: for me. Like I've always put things into perspective and
Speaker 1: know that there is a worst life out there, and
Speaker 1: I think that's why I traveled to certain places like
Speaker 1: like I said, I lived in some dodgy areas. I've
Speaker 1: done some things where I've been able to see people
Speaker 1: living a pretty hard life, and I revert back to
Speaker 1: seeing that, you know, my village last style and people
Speaker 1: got nothing, people struggling that, but they still find a
Speaker 1: way to get through. And oh well, and there's no
Speaker 1: one to blame for my knees. And like someone's come
Speaker 1: and run me over in a car crash or anything
Speaker 1: like that, Like I've jumped up and not been able
Speaker 1: to land. Probably his my own fault, so I can't
Speaker 1: blame anyone, like I didn't do no one else did
Speaker 1: my need to me. But you yeah, well I'd got
Speaker 1: to learn a land better, so I yeah, it's not
Speaker 1: the worst thing. Like people will talk about how hard
Speaker 1: it is and what not. Yeah, it is hard, and
Speaker 1: there is a long journey back, but it's just the
Speaker 1: patience of the whole thing, Like it's a year long injury.
Speaker 1: The patience and finding things to keep your brain occupied
Speaker 1: was probably the hardest part. But like I said, I
Speaker 1: wasn't dead. I'm still living, so still living and breathing.
Speaker 1: Like you can't cry about it, Like, well you can
Speaker 1: cry about it, but don't cry for nothing. Cry and
Speaker 1: get something out of it's my biggest thing. Like it
Speaker 1: was tough, but it's just a knee, Like, oh, well,
Speaker 1: get over it.
Speaker 2: Were there any moments where you caught yourself and went
Speaker 2: this is this is crap?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, when you got to crawl, when you got
Speaker 1: to plan out your day on how you're going to
Speaker 1: get to the toilet or how you're going to shower
Speaker 1: because you've got to crawl around the house to get
Speaker 1: to the frigi or things like that. Like I couldn't
Speaker 1: walk because they took my hamstring out of my other
Speaker 1: leg as well. So when you're crawling and you feel
Speaker 1: like you're in the army and you're trying to get somewhere,
Speaker 1: I'll never forget this. I feel weird sharing this, but
Speaker 1: my uncle had just moved back from the Netherlands to
Speaker 1: Perth and he's got a Dutch wife and she's the
Speaker 1: make fresh bread all the time. And him and his
Speaker 1: wife would come around and they used to bring me
Speaker 1: food like bread every couple of days or things like that,
Speaker 1: and they gave him a spare key, or they took
Speaker 1: the spare key from the front. Didn't life anyway, I
Speaker 1: had this. I had a process, like my bathroom downstairs
Speaker 1: is about thirty meters away, and I had a process
Speaker 1: where I'd leave my clothes next to them where I
Speaker 1: slept in the lund room because I couldn't get upstairs,
Speaker 1: and then I'd crawl all the way to the shower.
Speaker 1: It's a lot. It was like a two hour process.
Speaker 1: Have a shower laying down. I've got one of those
Speaker 1: showers we can take the head off it and wash yourself.
Speaker 1: And then I'd have to crawl back, like in the nude,
Speaker 1: across back the kitchen floor, all the way back to
Speaker 1: the laundry to get changed. And it took so long.
Speaker 1: And I remember just this is where I felt that
Speaker 1: the lowers the lows. I just hit this Dutch voice
Speaker 1: at the door going hello, Nick, I watch your bread,
Speaker 1: and like, I don't even know that's actually talks. But
Speaker 1: so my uncle and his wife were out the front door,
Speaker 1: and all I could hear was the key like opening,
Speaker 1: and I'm laying there naked, half crawling across the floor
Speaker 1: trying to get back, and I'm like, no, not come
Speaker 1: in here. I've never felt like the biggest piece of
Speaker 1: shit in my life. I was like, I didn't want
Speaker 1: to see them. I didn't want them seeing me at
Speaker 1: my at my worst, and yeah, you know, like have
Speaker 1: you seen everybody loves Raymond? You know how? You know
Speaker 1: how the guys kind of is it. Frank and Marina,
Speaker 1: the dad and the mom had to come over and
Speaker 1: they like, he has to dive across and turn the
Speaker 1: music off and get to the front door. And then
Speaker 1: at the end they just put their hands through into that.
Speaker 1: That's pretty much what happened. They opened the door and
Speaker 1: let's just so it was a pretty sight.
Speaker 2: So they did find you there, they did, but I just.
Speaker 1: Had to roll over and yeah, oh yeah, it wasn't great.
Speaker 1: It wasn't great. But that's probably the hardest part, not
Speaker 1: being able to do things I really wanted to do.
Speaker 1: And I hate just sitting still. Sometimes I like to
Speaker 1: go and do things, even if it's just mop the
Speaker 1: floors to do something. I hate being vulnerable. I hate
Speaker 1: being vulnerable. So to someone for someone to see me
Speaker 1: at that point in my.
Speaker 2: Life was how did they react.
Speaker 1: I was just pissed off that they took my spare key.
Speaker 1: I was like, gave you the right And when I'm
Speaker 1: screaming no, don't still open the door like it's fair.
Speaker 1: Gol Any want their bread. I don't even like bread anyway.
Speaker 2: I shouldn't be laughing because the.
Speaker 1: Hardest times in my life that you're laughing, like you're
Speaker 1: just a little throwaway anyway.
Speaker 2: Of all the stories you've told me over the years,
Speaker 2: you've never told me that one before.
Speaker 1: I think it's a story I really want to tell.
Speaker 1: I've had some bad situations. I'm not going to go anymore.
Speaker 1: There we go, yep, perfect.
Speaker 2: So you end up working your ass off, let's be honest,
Speaker 2: and you make it through to another Grand Final in
Speaker 2: twenty eighteen and you're not out there because you've done
Speaker 2: your a cl that second time. How hard was that
Speaker 2: watching that Grand Final when the boys you've worked so
Speaker 2: hard with are in it and you're not.
Speaker 1: That was tough. That was really tough because, yeah, if
Speaker 1: you gave me a couple more months, I would have
Speaker 1: been able to play. I reckon. So knowing that, like
Speaker 1: if I just freshly done it, I would have been
Speaker 1: like fair enough. But because I knew I was still
Speaker 1: half a chance, I was aming an R and going
Speaker 1: I wonder if they let them play. Yeah, So that
Speaker 1: was hard. But I had a coaching role at the time,
Speaker 1: so it wasn't too bad. But also there was guys
Speaker 1: around my age group who missed out as well. So
Speaker 1: Eric McKenzie was one, he'd been there for ten plus years.
Speaker 1: Andrew Gaff was the same, and Brad Shepard. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of other guys, but those key guys in particular
Speaker 1: had been around for, you know, the majority of my
Speaker 1: footy career. So to have other guys around you going
Speaker 1: through the same thing, you could almost lean on each
Speaker 1: other and be upset. But yeah, it was tough. It
Speaker 1: was tough to watch. I remember I was happy when
Speaker 1: the boys won it, like I was really really happy,
Speaker 1: but had a little cry, had a little cry and
Speaker 1: the change ms of my own in the corner. I
Speaker 1: remember one of our physios. She probably doesn't know this,
Speaker 1: but she came across and I was putting my suit
Speaker 1: on and I was putting my jacket on, and I
Speaker 1: was crying facing the wall, and we all had given
Speaker 1: this big bottle of champagne, and she came in to
Speaker 1: ask me if I needed anything, and I was crying
Speaker 1: so much, but I didn't want her to see me
Speaker 1: crying because I hate people seeing me weak, so it's
Speaker 1: not weak to crist just to everyone knows. I don't
Speaker 1: like people seeing me cry sometimes, so I like, I
Speaker 1: like shook the bottle of champagne and try to scull it,
Speaker 1: so then it like frosted my mouth and my nose
Speaker 1: and made my eyes tearing, and I was like, oh, sorry,
Speaker 1: so I just drank champagne because she thought my eyes
Speaker 1: are watering because of the champagne. But really I was
Speaker 1: crying because I didn't win the game final. But I
Speaker 1: moved on. I learned, like I find myself going to
Speaker 1: and from So after the Grand Fire and the boys
Speaker 1: were on stage, I went out there with Brad Shepherd
Speaker 1: and sat in the oval. It was it was pitch black.
Speaker 1: No one else was out there. They were all getting
Speaker 1: on stage getting presented. I don't know what they were doing.
Speaker 1: They'd already get their trophies and their medals and whatnot.
Speaker 1: And I just felt like jumping on one of those
Speaker 1: fireworks and just been like, you know what, blow me up.
Speaker 1: I don't care. I'm done with this dumb footy. Like
Speaker 1: it was a tough time, but I don't know perspective.
Speaker 1: I think that's the biggest thing, Like, yeah, I didn't
Speaker 1: win it, but well you hurt yourself so too bad. Like, yes,
Speaker 1: it is the biggest thing, but sometimes it's not the
Speaker 1: biggest thing. And I think it also helps drive me
Speaker 1: to get better and you know, want to win one.
Speaker 1: So everyone else's got different answers on that part of things,
Speaker 1: But for me, I don't know. Yeah I lost, but
Speaker 1: did I die? I know. Look, me and little Shad
Speaker 1: I used to always say that to each other, but
Speaker 1: did you die? And I think that's as stupid as
Speaker 1: that sounds. That's kept me mentally saying and got me
Speaker 1: through some of those tough times because no, I didn't die.
Speaker 1: Yes I lost, but everyone loses in life. Just don't
Speaker 1: keep losing. Yeah, it was tough, and the boys joke
Speaker 1: about it all the time. I used to get jealous.
Speaker 1: I get jealous of everyone's a little well. I got
Speaker 1: my mate to come and tatoo all the boys at
Speaker 1: my house, all the little premiership tatoos on their angles
Speaker 1: and whatnot. That was hard to watch, but same time
Speaker 1: I was happy for him. They did all the hard work.
Speaker 1: I'd probably a little bit grumpy with some of the
Speaker 1: young boys at one one because I was like, you
Speaker 1: guys have been here like one year or something, and
Speaker 1: you've already got a premiership. But you know, there's some
Speaker 1: great players who've gone through in the past and never
Speaker 1: won one, and they've been there for fifteen or so years.
Speaker 1: So sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you make your own luck.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I did my a cl No one did
Speaker 1: it to me. Does it drive you, Yeah, definitely, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it drives me every single day I got to training. Yeah,
Speaker 1: otherwise I reckon I would have given it up by now. Yeah, yep.
Speaker 2: If you won that flag year old, oh.
Speaker 1: No, I think I would be hungry for another one.
Speaker 1: I like, but I just probably would have been a
Speaker 1: bit slower with getting the training. I think I wouldn't
Speaker 1: be as I wouldn't be as punctured, would not I
Speaker 1: still be punctured in saying that I was late to
Speaker 1: hear that you were.
Speaker 2: I was going to say that earlier the phone call.
Speaker 1: I was in the driver, I was here. I was
Speaker 1: just on my phone dealing with outside problems, school books
Speaker 1: for the children. Appreciate holding my hand.
Speaker 2: So after everything you've been through, there's I mean, there's
Speaker 2: so much there. How much did it mean to you
Speaker 2: that last year when COVID is happening and you're in
Speaker 2: a bubble and thirty years of age that you managed
Speaker 2: to play some of your best foot and win the
Speaker 2: club BNF. How much did that mean to you? Given everything?
Speaker 1: Oh, I think, big, bigger pitcher. It probably just I
Speaker 1: think I was set up for COVID, like I was
Speaker 1: prepared mentally and physically for COVID because I'd been through
Speaker 1: some stuff, like I'd seen some shit in the past,
Speaker 1: like I've done done the time and seen things. And
Speaker 1: I think a COVID year was, like I said it was,
Speaker 1: it was the norm to me, so it was something
Speaker 1: I was comfortable with. Win in the BNF was a
Speaker 1: good way to I guess, top off the year, and
Speaker 1: you know, it was a good little accolade to have,
Speaker 1: you know when I will be to look back on
Speaker 1: at the end of my career. But I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't really get too fussy about those sort of things,
Speaker 1: like if I want to, yes, it's great to have
Speaker 1: as a good honor, But at the same time, if
Speaker 1: I lost it or someone else wanted, I'd be just
Speaker 1: as happy for them. So I was just happy to
Speaker 1: be paying footy, like I think I found myself at
Speaker 1: times winging about, you know, being in a harbor and
Speaker 1: doing things. But then you look back and go, you
Speaker 1: know what, we're the only ones traveling at the moment.
Speaker 1: We're in the Gold Coast. Everyone else is stuck in
Speaker 1: w A. We're staying in a fancy golf resort. We
Speaker 1: get to go to the beach like we're in the
Speaker 1: Gold Coast. Like it's we're getting fed. Get we still
Speaker 1: have a job, Like we still we're still getting paid
Speaker 1: them up be only half the pay, but we're still
Speaker 1: getting paid something. And we're kicking the ball around. Like yeah,
Speaker 1: it is tough in certain aspects, but not the worst thing.
Speaker 1: Like we're still living our living our lives over here,
Speaker 1: so and people were dying around the world. I think
Speaker 1: that's probably what, you know, probably capped off my ear
Speaker 1: and made me really knuckle down and go, you know what,
Speaker 1: concentrate your footy because you're one of the lucky few
Speaker 1: still get to do their job. So I think that
Speaker 1: helped me play some consistent footy and my body felt good,
Speaker 1: My body felt right, And yeah, it's probably a testament
Speaker 1: to medical team because they managed me and looked after
Speaker 1: me really well throughout the year. But still chasing that
Speaker 1: elusive Grand Final win. So yes, it was nice to
Speaker 1: get the best and fairest, but I'd rather the other
Speaker 1: metal around my neck. Yeah, hopefully one day, hopefully this year.
Speaker 1: What would it mean, I mean the world to me.
Speaker 1: Top It'd a cap off everything. I think it'd make
Speaker 1: all the you know I think about the keep reverting
Speaker 1: back to these bus schedules and bus time tables. But
Speaker 1: it'll make all those trips late at night, the training,
Speaker 1: all those extra things I've had to do, all those
Speaker 1: times I've had to argue with my mum for footy
Speaker 1: fees or the reasoning why football is going to pay
Speaker 1: off when I'm an older person, which was the hardest
Speaker 1: thing of it. I always hear Basha Hoully talk about
Speaker 1: with having a sneak out to play footy because his
Speaker 1: parents never agree with it. I was in the same boat,
Speaker 1: like my mom was like I bring you to this
Speaker 1: country and you want to and you want to play
Speaker 1: this stupid game, Like go and get a real job,
Speaker 1: be a doctor, do something like that. But then you
Speaker 1: slowly realize how good footy is and you know, networking
Speaker 1: and bringing good things so not only yourself but to
Speaker 1: your family as well. And I think all those hardships
Speaker 1: and all those tough times, having a Premiership medal will
Speaker 1: make it all worthwhile.
Speaker 2: And just finally, you spoke at the very beginning about
Speaker 2: growing up and not seeing anyone like you playing the
Speaker 2: game that you've turned out to love. How much does
Speaker 2: it mean to you to know that Now little kids
Speaker 2: that look like you get to see you and know
Speaker 2: it's possible.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's good, Like I think it's amazing, Like, oh,
Speaker 1: like I always get the odd football that comes up
Speaker 1: and says, you know, what, you inspire me to play footy.
Speaker 1: You know, some of these kids that I play with now,
Speaker 1: I went and visited them at school and spoke to them,
Speaker 1: like some of my teammates now, I've got photos with
Speaker 1: them when they were in primary school and I was
Speaker 1: just starting out my footy career at West Coast and
Speaker 1: you know, they were like, oh, I wanted to be
Speaker 1: rockman like you. And then I see the multicultural kids
Speaker 1: come through and you know, and they've you know, drawn
Speaker 1: from my story what they can and made their own pathway.
Speaker 1: So that's always inspiring. And I think the biggest thing
Speaker 1: I know, it's got me in trouble, it's gotten people
Speaker 1: in trouble over the years. But book week, like, when
Speaker 1: I see kids dress up like me in the right manner,
Speaker 1: it's always a humbling experience.
Speaker 2: You go.
Speaker 1: You know, they could dress up as Superman or Batman
Speaker 1: or a Fortnite character or something like that, but they
Speaker 1: choose to dress up like Nick Knat Like. It's yeah.
Speaker 1: Never in my wilder streams I would have imagined that
Speaker 1: and envisioned that. So yeah, I'm so glad that I've
Speaker 1: been able to have the career I've had this far.
Speaker 2: I don't know if I've got a right to say this,
Speaker 2: but I'm bloody proud of you, having seen it from
Speaker 2: the very beginning. I think you've become such a great
Speaker 2: bloke and I'm very privileged to say a good mate,
Speaker 2: and I really appreciate everything that you've said today, but
Speaker 2: also our chats over the years, I've appreciated it. So
Speaker 2: I really do hope, even as a Freemantle supporter, you
Speaker 2: do get that flat.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much, Thank you.
Speaker 2: Time, Thanks for listening to this episode of Ordinarily Speaking.
Speaker 2: Another episode will drop on Wednesday. If you liked thisp
Speaker 2: with Nick, you may also enjoy the chat with Adam
Speaker 2: true Law from season one. Check it out Don't Forget.
Speaker 2: If you like the podcast, hit subscribe, follow at Ordinarily
Speaker 2: Underscore Speaking on Instagram and at Narrowly Underscore Meadows on Twitter,
Speaker 2: and tell your mates. And thanks again to musician Woody
Speaker 2: Pitney for his track love Me Like You Want to
Speaker 2: Be Loved.
Speaker 1: Tell me that you want a meld. Just end me
Speaker 1: like you wanna mead because I'm competraet the fire and
Speaker 1: the end me like you Water Mead