Drew-Sta for the Bags!
Opportunity
I've been honestly sitting here trying to write an article for the last three hours. No luck. There's a certain pressure to these things, but I'm at the stage where I think I need to write from my heart.
I've been in Tonga for about 10 months. In my time here, I've played football twice a week with a bunch of 'palangi's*' and Tongans. The games are the highlight of my week. I love getting out there and mixing it up with the locals and some mates of mine.
Tonga is a funny place. It's technically a third world nation, or 'developing country' as the politically correct call it. Living here has taught me a lot about myself, but also about what it is to be human. I feel more at ease here with a simpler lifestyle than I do in Sydney. Most importantly, I do without; I have no car, I have less gadgets, I have no gel - things like this I go without because I don't need them.
Over time I've noticed something though. I've noticed the difference in the Tongan's mentality. Having lived on this tropical island for a while now, I really don't want to come home. But the Tongans - well, they can't wait to leave. Their attitude in this regard has been a little curious. But I think I've begun to work it out. It's a matter of opportunity.
What do I mean by that?
Frankly, I have what they want. I have the chance to go home when I want. I have the opportunity to earn bucket loads of cash they dream about. I have the luxury of good health care. I can drive down a road without there being a thousand potholes in it.
I've got the opportunity. They, on the other hand, do not.
And that's big here. It's big because Tongan culture places great emphasis on status. The higher you are in society, the more opportunity you get. As a palangi, though, I have opportunity without status, and that makes me special.
It makes me special because I can do things with it. I can progress in my life, I have a certain control over my fate that the Tongan's don't. I have education, know-how, money, and a country that wants to see people succeed - I have everything Tonga doesn't.
And this is the hardest part of living here. Each time I go to footy I catch up with a friend, Jo. Jo works for Coca-Cola 6 days a week. He's a guy who has to work 6 days a week to feed his family. He works quite hard too, for a Tongan. But when the guy comes to footy, he puts it all to bed and has fun. He laughs, he enjoys, he runs - he's a damn good player.
I asked him 'Why don't you play on the weekend? Why don't you play in the competitions?'
He smiles sadly and tells me 'I have to work.'
A friend of his, Tavake, tells me Jo gave up a shot at the Tongan rugby league team because he's the only breadwinner in the family. His mother has to take care of the house and the rest of the kids. His father passed away, and nobody can till the land for their little farm. As a result, the chips have fallen to Jo. He works for the family and keeps them fed.
Tavake tells me Jo would have played for Tonga if he made himself available for selection.
'But he doesn't have the opportunity to play because he works so much.'
That word, opportunity, keeps popping up all the time. The kids lack opportunity to progress their skills at school because they are dragged away by important life stuff. Talented twenty-something’s like Jo are forced to pass up the opportunity to trial with a national team because if he doesn't, his family won't eat.
I genuinely wonder if Australian rugby league players realise the opportunity they hold in the palms of their hand as they run out onto the field each week. Because the reality of the matter is that it isn't so much the talent that has seen them succeed; it's the opportunity that allowed them to develop the talent in the first place. I hope more NRL players realise the privileged opportunity they have to feed their family whilst doing what they love, rather than having to choose between the two.