Manu Vatuvei

[TheDMC]

Just why? So stupid. Was a legend. Now his life is in ruins. f**k dude.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

His much older brother has been a very high ranking gang guy for 20+ years. Hard to know how easy it would have been for Manu to say no tbh

Which gang?

 

[Rich102]

How come he is out on bail?

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

Which gang?

Honestly I'm extrapolating a bit from different bits and pieces I've heard, I don't have the inside word or anything. I know Manu has been mixed up with the Headhunters though so assume it's them.

 

[JJ]

I read one of the reports and it went into quite a lot of detail.

It seems his Brother was the main player. Manu possibly the Financer. Either way Manu has lost his Marriage, full custody of his kids, probably all his money and now his freedom

Very sad situation

I’m not feeling the Manu is a victim here vibe…

it’s sad, but not for him or his scumbag mates

 

[Blair]

Just why? So stupid. Was a legend. Now his life is in ruins. f**k dude.

Like 'Jake the Muss' in 'What Becomes...', "F**ken gangs!"

 

[Blair]

...I know Manu has been mixed up with the Headhunters though so assume it's them.

Being a Warrior wasn't wasn't good enough?!

I saw his last game for us, in front of 30-40-odd spectators in Blacktown, NSW. It was reserve grade and the big fella was battling a foot injury or something.

It was 2017 and something didn't seem right with him. He looked lost, depressed. I noticed it at other games too. Of course, he was the senior member of the Stupid Six too. His last few years looked tough with us.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Honestly I'm extrapolating a bit from different bits and pieces I've heard, I don't have the inside word or anything. I know Manu has been mixed up with the Headhunters though so assume it's them.

Guessed it might have been. Heavy bunch, those guys make the Mongrel Mob look like a bunch of amateurs. I used to train at a gym that was connected to them before I moved to Aus.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

I read one of the reports and it went into quite a lot of detail.

It seems his Brother was the main player. Manu possibly the Financer. Either way Manu has lost his Marriage, full custody of his kids, probably all his money and now his freedom

Very sad situation

Look, I feel sorry for Manu. It doesn't mean I want to let him off, or that I think he's a victim. But it seems to me like he probably didn't invest his money well enough during his playing days, or he really struggled once he was out of the limelight, or his brother/the gang manipulated or made it very hard for him to escape that scene....or all of the above. He had a good life presumably when he was a family man and Warriors cult hero, now his life is dogshit.

 

[JJ]

Look, I feel sorry for Manu. It doesn't mean I want to let him off, or that I think he's a victim. But it seems to me like he probably didn't invest his money well enough during his playing days, or he really struggled once he was out of the limelight, or his brother/the gang manipulated or made it very hard for him to escape that scene....or all of the above. He had a good life presumably when he was a family man and Warriors cult hero, now his life is dogshit.

He’s dogshit…. To me anyway

 

[Penrose Warrior]

He’s dogshit…. To me anyway

Fair enough mate.

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

I’m not feeling the Manu is a victim here vibe…

it’s sad, but not for him or his scumbag mates

Dont get me wrong, no sympathy from me at all, he made his bed and he has to lay in it. Good riddence

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

Look, I feel sorry for Manu. It doesn't mean I want to let him off, or that I think he's a victim. But it seems to me like he probably didn't invest his money well enough during his playing days, or he really struggled once he was out of the limelight, or his brother/the gang manipulated or made it very hard for him to escape that scene....or all of the above. He had a good life presumably when he was a family man and Warriors cult hero, now his life is dogshit.

Had to buy his Parents a house. Not just A house but a certain type of house that his parents picked. so that wasnt cheap.
Split from his wife so child support for 5 kids for the next decade or so is going to add up.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Had to buy his Parents a house. Not just A house but a certain type of house that his parents picked. so that wasnt cheap.
Split from his wife so child support for 5 kids for the next decade or so is going to add up.

Yeah i legit feel sorry for anyone who is subjected to that kind of pressure. Sounds like he had a LOT of hangers on treating him as a cash cow. I imagine the premature end to a potential post footy boxing career was a blow too.
none of this forgives his decision to engage in criminal behaviour and he deserves to cop whatever sentence he is given. But it sheds a light on some of the pressures that some of the players from less fortunate backgrounds can end up with.

 

[Bobby DIGital]

Pobably breaking bad due to giving 20% of his money to the church and probably about 50% of it to friends and family. After retirement he couldn't keep his lifestyle at the level he became accustomed to so went the wrong route. Dumb.

Boxing and DWTS would've been pure desperate cash grabs.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Pobably breaking bad due to giving 20% of his money to the church and probably about 50% of it to friends and family. After retirement he couldn't keep his lifestyle at the level he became accustomed to so went the wrong route. Dumb.

Boxing and DWTS would've been pure desperate cash grabs.

I got the impression that boxing was something he was genuinely into, and in the very short time it took him to demolish Letele he looked like a natural. Would’ve sucked getting told he couldn’t continue for medical reasons. 100% on DWTS though.

also how f**ked are all those poly churches that tithe the shit outta their congregations. Absolute parasites.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

On a bit of a tangent here, the Daily Telegraph ran a 2 page spread on ex Parra winger Daniel Vidot the other day who has got a development contract with the WWE and is making a go of it post footy. He's bulked up considerably to 110kg and looks the part as a wrester these days. I'd always though that was something Manu could've tried post footy- he had the size (he was already a lean and fit 115kg when he fought Letele and would've looked at home in a ring then, a few months on the WWE's training regime and he'd have looked like a real top line heavyweight) and had the look, big personality and fan rapport to have made it. Of course no chance of that now given his travel privileges are going to be severely curtailed even when he's out of jail.

 

[Tongue]

3 YEARS. Nasty.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

3 YEARS. Nasty.

Sounds about right. Means he’s barred from Australia now without gaining exemptions.