parra pete
Referee
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I interviewed Mick after SOO for local radio in Hay last year. Easy to interview says what he thinks..Great bloke, good mate...
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Corey Norman: My mistakes cost me the Parramatta Eels captaincy
Parramatta superstar Corey Norman has had to live with the regret of a night out that he knows cost him the honour of captaining the club he's grown to love.
2 hrs ago
Parramatta superstar Corey Norman has had to live with the regret of a night out that he knows cost him the honour of captaining the club he's grown to love.
Corey Norman convicted of possession
Through the deafening noise, it was the silence from coach Brad Arthur that rung loudest.
Corey Norman isn't afraid to tell his coach when he disagrees with him. Nor does Arthur fear telling his star playmaker when he's in the wrong.
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So when news broke of the Parramatta five-eighth's arrest for drug possession last May, the magnitude of Norman's mistake became painstakingly clear when he fronted his coach.
"Brad didn't speak to me for quite a bit there," Norman told Fairfax Media.
"That's how disappointed he was in me. And he had every right to be like that because I let him down. I let my team down. I let my club down."
Eight weeks. That was the price to pay.
Corey Norman is determined to help Parramatta reach the play-offs for the first time since 2009. Photo: Dominic Lorrimer
But in his heart of hearts, Norman knows the cost of that now regrettable night out at The Star is still adding up.
"It probably cost me the captaincy to be honest," Norman said.
"It's not a good look for the club or for Brad to have someone getting in trouble and missing that much footy and then in the new year becomes captain.
"Brad pulled me aside and had a bit of a chat to me. He told me Beauy [Beau Scott] and Timmy [Tim Mannah] were going to be co-captains. I was completely fine with that. I believe I don't need the 'c' next to my name to be a leader in this team."
Given the salary cap dramas that had brought the once proud club to its knees, Norman's indiscretion was the last thing Parramatta needed after having their premiership points stripped and their finals hopes dashed.
Norman was the shining light through it all – blossoming as a player who was suddenly demanding $850,000 a year for his services.
Then a nightmare stretch, which saw him convicted and hit with a $400 fine for drug possession, warned for consorting with criminals and caught in a sex tape, saw his value plunge as his reputation took a battering.
He forfeited close to $400,000 as part of a new three-year-deal with the club he went on to sign.
"It did cost me. I know that and it was the price I paid for what happened," Norman said of his contract.
"When that stuff comes up, the club has a bit of bargaining power. When it was all happening and I was still playing, I didn't talk to any other clubs. I just wanted to play football and let that do the talking.
"I love Parramatta. I love the players and I love the winning culture that Brad has brought here. Obviously I was on the market and could talk to other clubs but I was definitely going to stay loyal to Parramatta. I owed them for what they have done for me."
Those close to the 26-year-old will tell you Norman is the life of the party.
But there were times, especially when he first arrived in Sydney from Brisbane in 2014, when "the party" took up too much of life.
Arthur has made no secret of his attempts to keep Norman away from the temptations of the Sydney nightlife, a scene that is almost impossible to ignore for any single twenty-something.
But Norman is well aware of the reality that awaited him had he not been able to capitalise on his ability to cause havoc on a rugby league field, admitting he has made adjustments to his life to ensure he makes the most out of his career.
"I've changed," Norman said.
"I've learned to make better decisions. I wouldn't say I need to turn my life around 180 – I just need to make better choices and think about the consequences of what I'm doing before I do it. I put all my eggs in one basket when I was younger.
"I always thought I was going to play first grade and I'm lucky enough it came off because if it didn't I'd be a tradie of some sort. I would have left school earlier and got into the workforce. I'm just thankful and lucky I do something I love. If it was all to end tomorrow I would be happy that I got to fulfil my dream and hope I did my family proud."
With Jarryd Hayne in enemy colours, Kieran Foran now across the ditch and Semi Radradra about to walk out the door after this season, Norman finds himself the face of a club starving for success.
The Queenslander knows mediocrity will no longer be tolerated at a club that has instilled a win-at-all-costs mentality under the watch of Arthur.
Not only will he have to shoulder the burden of the unfamiliar No.7 jersey, he has to do so alongside a makeshift five-eighth in Clint Gutherson, only amplifying the significance of his performances to the outcome of Parramatta's season.
The guilt of sitting out the last eight weeks of 2016 and abandoning his teammates in the final months of the year from hell ate away at him.
But it has also fuelled the fire for a redemption story that he believes will lead the Eels back into the finals for the first time since 2009.
"It's not to prove to everyone else, it's to prove to ourselves that we had it and we've still got it," Norman said as he reflected on a tumultuous 2016 campaign.
"Everyone thought we were going to fold and come last. But even with our points taken off us, we turned up every week through all the drama and played well. I remember our first year when we had a couple of tries put on us we'd fold. I believe the last few years we haven't cracked.
"Last year we won games on the back of our defence and it's been a long time you could relate Parra to doing that. We know we have the attack, so if we stop the tries, we'll be playing at the back-end of the year."
"I believe we have the team do it and have this winning culture that they probably didn't have a few years ago. I want Parra to win. We need to be playing in the back-end of the year. It's been long enough now. It's now or never."
I doubt BA would have given him the c, even if he wasn't a f**kchop last year.
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From Prison to Parramatta: Manu Ma’u and Suaia Matagi’s friendship goes full circle
THEY’RE a series of texts he’ll never forget.
- February 22, 2017 8:52am
- Nathan Ryan@nath_ryan
- Source: FOX SPORTS
With a young son and partner to provide for, Manu Ma’u was out of prison but he still wasn’t truly a free man.
It was 2012 and the backrower was playing for the Warriors’ reserve grade side, the Vulcans, but thanks to his criminal record, he could only play the games in New Zealand.
So after a strong game at home the week before, Ma’u found himself at home while his teammates were in Sydney.
Sitting at home and down on his luck, that’s when he felt his phone vibrate.
It was a text from Suaia Matagi.
It read: One day we’ll crack the NRL and get a contract.
It was the message he needed to see but it’s a text he himself had sent Matagi before.
Manu Ma'u of the Eels looks on.Source: News Corp Australia
Why? Because Matagi couldn’t leave the country either.
It was just yet another thing these great friends had in common.
“We were texting each other, trying to motivate each other,” Ma’u told foxsports.com.au of his friendship with Matagi.
“He’d text me saying ‘just keep training hard and one day we’ll crack the NRL and get a contract’.
“It was disappointing we couldn’t fly to Sydney to play (due to our criminal records) so we just had to play the home games and do our best.”
To truly appreciate how remarkable the narrative is we have to go back to 2009 when the pair first met playing park footy after Ma’u was released from prison.
He was desperate to live a better life. He knew he couldn’t change his past but he could his future and that’s what he’d set out to do.
So like fate often does, it brought the duo together and they instantly clicked.
Suaia Matagi playing for the Warriors.Source: News Corp Australia
Matagi had already gained a reputation among the rugby league community as a player to watch. You know, one of the guys who had all the talent to make it regardless of his age or his past. Ma’u wanted to be one of those blokes too.
“(Matagi and I) both played park footy back in NZ in premiers. I met him playing for the Auckland team in the local league,” Ma’u said.
“I was 22 or 23 and we clicked straight away. I heard about his story and he told me he was an ex-con and it motivated me because he was one of the best players in Auckland at the time and he couldn’t travel.
“From there we got the call up to the NSW Cup and me and him were just playing the home games in NZ.”
Before they became friends, Ma’u had heard Matagi’s story. It’s the same story which prompted Phil Gould to sign Matagi to Penrith last year, but that’s a tale you’ve heard before.
You’ve heard Ma’u’s too.
You know about his teenage years caught up in gang life and how he was sentenced to three years for his part in a frenzied brawl at a house party.
It was behind bars he would watch the Warriors on a tiny television, workout to pass the time and play a version of league which saw burly men belting the snot out of each other on concrete.
Those days are behind him. He was “Xx” but he doesn’t like talking about that life anymore.
So it’s 2013 and Matagi had picked up an NRL deal with the Warriors but Ma’u hadn’t heard from any clubs. That changed a few months later when his manager Tyran Smith called to say Parramatta wanted to throw him a lifeline.
After fighting for almost 12 months to land a visa, he moved to Australia and the rest is history.
Manu Ma'u passes the ball.Source: News Corp Australia
“I was happy for him. I text him and then a couple of months later I got a phone call from my manger saying that Parramatta was interested in me,” he said.
“He had already started training with the Warriors and I came over (to the Eels) the following year.”
Now, behind the tattoos which cover his neck, arms and hands is a man who accepts his position as a role model.
He’s a role model to the fans and most importantly his two young boys, Melino (five) and Levi (three).
No longer a hell raiser walking the streets of Central Auckland, Ma’u is now mentoring the Polynesians at the Eels.
It’s something he enjoys doing. It comes naturally. Brad Arthur has built a culture that’s inclusive.
At the Eels everyone is welcomed regardless of their past. It’s cliche but they’re a family. That’s why when Ma’u’s old mate Matagi called him to get a feel for the blue and golds after his contract with the Panthers expired, Ma’u told him straight.
“He rung me and asked me what Parra was like and I was like ‘why are you asking?’,” he explained.
“He said he saw the coach and he was keen to have him over and I was like ‘come, that’s us’.
“He said he’d try and sort it out and I was (in England) on the Four Nations (tour) when I found out he’d signed with us.
“He’s a really great guy.”
Plus Frank has hair.
