Ben Roberts says leaving the Bulldogs for the Parramatta Eels will reignite his NRL career
YOU look at the photo and then you have the hide to ask Ben Roberts where it all went wrong?
Seriously, the guy hardly looks like he belongs on the NRL scrapheap.
Yet that is exactly where he was before Parramatta threw him a lifeline after his fall from favour at the Bulldogs.
The Eels' new recruit was sitting back this week, promoting the Niu Warrior Polynesian exhibition on show at the Casula Powerhouse, and piecing together the puzzle that has been his six seasons in the NRL.
At 21, Roberts was an international star on the rise after breaking into the Kiwi Test team in his rookie season. By 25, he was struggling to crack the top grade.
So you get back to the question that so far defines the curious career of one of the most gifted athletes in the game today; Where did it all go wrong?
"Your guess is as good as mine because I obviously don't have a clue what the go was,'' he explains.
"Obviously I fell out of favour with the coach (Kevvie Moore).
"I don't know why to be honest with you and that is something that will always be on my mind.
"I sort of felt like I had done something wrong but I don't know exactly what it was.''
But he hopes playing under Steve Kearney at the Eels in 2012 will re-ignite his career.
"That is exactly the way Steve and I look at it, that is exactly what we sat down and spoke about before I signed,'' he says.
"It's not too late. I could have a stellar year and that could turn everything around.
"Without putting pressure on myself, I think this will be a new chapter in my life.
"I look at myself like I am at my peak now.
"If anything is going to happen, if I am going to make something of my career, it is going to be now or in the very near future.
"Steve has said there are no guarantees but I have made it clear I want to play five-eighth.
"I am not satisfied where I am with my football and neither is he. We have the same outlook and the good thing about it is that we both believe I can do better.''
How much better is the big question?
Roberts admits an unhealthy combination of booze and bad manners cost him early in his career _ but he says attributes rooming with fellow Samoan Nigel Vagana to helping get his career back on track at the 2008 World Cup.
The following season Roberts swore off the drink and the results showed in his game.
Dogs' fans will recall one game against Darren Lockyer's Broncos that year that highlighted his immense talent, setting up four tries and scoring another in a thumping 44-22 victory.
That season Canterbury eventually went down to Parramatta in the grand final qualifier _ but the following season injury struck.
"In 2009 I made a lot of sacrifices to get to where I was,'' he recalls.
"I cut out the partying by not drinking for a whole year and I was lucky enough to be playing outside a bloke like Brett Kimmorley who also had a great season.
"But in 2010 injury put me back a few steps. I was out for a large part of the season with a broken ankle. When I came back I thought I did well to be honest with you but obviously the team wasn't going well and then in 2011, well, like I said, your guess is as good as mine.''
You ask him if the signing of Kris Keating crushed his confidence?
"It did,'' he says.
"It was more a mental thing for me. I thought I did reasonably well considering what I had thrown at me. But that is also one of the big reasons I decided to come to Parramatta.
"With Steve Kearney I thought he could help me realise my potential. To have Steve mentoring me and guiding my career, I feel it will help me re-ignite it.
"Steve hasn't guaranteed me anything.
"But in saying that he is going to mentor me and we both believe there is something I can still offer the game.
"I believe he is the person who is going to help me do that.''
Roberts said he was honoured to be chosen as part of the Niu Warrior exhibition now on display at the Casula Powerhouse.
"I am a proud Samoan and to be a part of this is an honour,'' he says of the promotion which is a follow up to last year's hugely successful Body Pacifica exhibition.
"To me it means everything. Obviously my whole family is from that island. I am not just doing it for myself, I am doing it for my family and every other Samoan out there. To be honest, I am doing it for them rather than myself.
"I was born in Australia, both my parents were born in New Zealand and my grandparents in Samoa. I think growing up and [being] raised by them, it was always important for them to teach their kids the culture and the way of living as a Polynesian. I am glad to have my grand parents their to teach me and my brothers and siblings that Samoan custom.''
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