Manu Ma'u
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Personal information
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
24 August 1988 Auckland, New Zealand |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 184 cm (6 ft 0 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 105 kg (16 st 7 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Playing information
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Second-row, Centre | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Source: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manu Maʻu (born 24 August 1988) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League. A New Zealand and Tongan international representative, he plays at second-row.
Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Ma'u is of Tongan descent. Ma'u attended rugby league nursery St Paul's College, Auckland and played his junior football for the Richmond Rovers and Marist Saints.
Ma'u was an original member of Auckland's Roskill South-based "JDK", one of the many street gangs in New Zealand. In 2007, a younger member of the gang was stabbed during an altercation. In an alcohol-fuelled quest for vengeance, the gang gatecrashed a 21st birthday party, found the alleged perpetrators and "unleashed hell".
Two months later the police showed up at the Ma'u residence with a search warrant. Manu was arrested along with his brother, Semisi, and subsequently sentenced to three years in prison for his part in the brawl. He was released in 2009 to work and continue his rugby league career.
A reformed man with a young family of his own, Ma'u is eager to put his past behind him and make the most of his opportunity with the Eels. "I want to repay Parramatta for their faith," Ma'u said. "I want to build a future. I want my partner Alisi and my kids [Melino and Levi] to be proud of me and I want my family to realise I'm not that naughty boy that caused them pain."
Ma'u joined the Auckland Vulcans in the New South Wales Cup, but his hopes for an NRL career were stunted as the Australian immigration department decided to deny him a visa to play away games in Australia because of his criminal history. In 2013, Ma'u was allowed to move to Australia to play for the Wentworthville Magpies in the New South Wales Cup, the feeder team to National Rugby League team Parramatta Eels.
...
Wikipedia