Footy star Manu Vatuvei opens up about why his time in jail for smuggling $200,000 worth of meth will haunt him for the rest of his life
Fallen NRL star Manu Vatuvei has expressed his deep regret about smuggling meth, adamant his jail experience will stay with him forever.
Vatuvei, 39, was sent to prison in 2022 for three years and seven months for his role in the drug syndicate - before he was paroled under special conditions in May of 2023.
Along with his brother Lopini Lautau Mafi, Vatuvei was caught by authorities removing nine packets of concealed methamphetamine - worth $200,000 - from a package which arrived in New Zealand from India in 2019.
'The Beast' knows some footy fans will never forgive him - but he is still seeking redemption, day by day.
'I take ownership of what I did and I'm accountable for it, and now I'm changing my life again and rebuilding from the start,' he told the New Zealand Herald.
'I'm ready to move forward, but it'll always be on me, everything that I've done.
Vatuvei was a fan favourite at the New Zealand Warriors, playing 226 games for the club and scoring 152 tries
'All the hate that I get, I'll just use that as energy to show that I'm doing something good.'
Once Vatuvei was released from behind bars, he started working with Dave Letele's Buttabean Motivation (BBM) team in New Zealand.
Letele is a former Kiwi heavyweight boxer who after retiring from the sport in 2016 turned his attention to motivational speaking and providing food for the needy.
'I owe him a lot. He (Letele) never looked down at me or anything,' Vatuvei said.
'He just took me under his wing and gave me the opportunity, but then it was up to me to work my arse off.
'Now I'm working hard and giving back to the community....I also share my story.'
The father of five's sporting career ended abruptly in June of 2019 after it was discovered the hulking winger had a cyst on his brain.
Vatuvei was a fan favourite at the New Zealand Warriors, playing 226 games for the club as well as 29 Tests for the Kiwis and two for Tonga.
He also featured in the 2011 NRL Grand Final, scoring a four-pointer in the 24-10 defeat against Manly - and his 152 tries between 2004 and 2017 remains a club record.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
6 hours ago
- The Independent
Senior aide to New Zealand prime minister resigns over secret recordings of sex workers
A senior aide to New Zealand prime minister Christopher Luxon has resigned after being accused of secretly recording sex workers and taking non-consensual photos and videos of women. The allegations against Michael Forbes surfaced when a sex worker discovered his phone was recording audio while he was in the shower, NZ 's Stuff reported earlier this week. Mr Luxon's deputy chief press secretary has since offered his 'sincerest apologies to the women I have harmed'. PM Luxon called the revelations a 'shock' and said that Mr Forbes' behaviour was 'unacceptably short of the standards that I expect from our people'. 'My sympathy is with the women who raised these allegations and were made to feel unsafe due to the actions of this person,' Mr Luxon said on Thursday. According to Stuff, Mr Forbes' encounter with the sex worker took place in July 2024. After being confronted about the secret audio recording, he reportedly handed over his phone password. The woman, along with other sex workers from that brothel, discovered numerous audio recordings of similar sessions, along with photos and videos on the device. At the time, Mr Forbes was serving as press secretary to social development minister Louise Upston. He was appointed acting deputy chief press secretary to the prime minister in February this year. Police reportedly looked into the allegations in July last year but ultimately chose not to pursue charges. Mr Luxon said: 'We had no awareness, no knowledge of it. The concerns were raised with us by a journalist at four o'clock on Tuesday,' he said. The prime minister said that the police investigation was not disclosed to Mr Forbes' employer under the 'no surprises' convention, nor did Mr Forbes disclose the allegations himself. 'He was vetted coming into Louise Upston's office. As I understand it, the incidents happened subsequent to that,' he said. 'He has an obligation to actually declare those issues or those incidences to us. That didn't happen, which is why his employment would have been terminated.' In a statement to RNZ on Thursday, detective inspector John Van Den Heuvel from Wellington police said that 'on examining the phones, police also found a number of photos and video of women in public spaces, and what appears to be women in private addresses, taken from a distance away'. 'Police considered the available evidence and concluded it did not meet the requirements for criminality, and therefore charges could not be filed. 'The individual concerned voluntarily spoke with police and admitted to taking the images and recordings. He was reminded of the inappropriateness of his behaviour and encouraged to seek help.' Meanwhile, the prime minister said: 'When you have an incident like this, it actually creates a whole bunch of new questions.' He added: 'They need to do a deep dive on understanding how and what happened here and why. And importantly, then look at what we need to do to strengthen our processes.' In a statement, Mr Forbes said on Wednesday: 'In the past, I was in a downward spiral due to unresolved trauma and stress, and when confronted with the impacts of my behaviour a year ago, I sought professional help, which is something I wish I had done much earlier.' He said: 'What I failed to do then was make a genuine attempt to apologise. Instead, I tried to move on without offering those I had harmed the acknowledgement, accountability, or amends they deserved. I recognise how wrong that was.' 'I understand that my past actions may have undermined the trust people place in me. So, I have resigned from my job to focus on the work I need to do.' The office of Mr Forbes' former boss Mr Upston said in a statement: 'The minister was not aware of any allegations before they were raised with PMO yesterday. Minister Upston has nothing further to add to the PMs statement on this.'
The Guardian
6 hours ago
- The Guardian
New Zealand PM mulls privacy laws after aide ‘secretly recorded sex workers'
New Zealand's prime minister has suggested introducing new privacy laws after his deputy press secretary was allegedly caught making audio recordings of sex workers without consent. Michael Forbes, a senior aide, resigned after the local news outlet Stuff alleged he covertly recorded audio of sessions with sex workers and secretly photographed women at the gym. The prime minister, Christopher Luxon, said he was 'shocked' by the news – but it was unclear whether Forbes had broken the law. 'If you're a New Zealander you ask quite legitimate questions about how does this behaviour happen, and is it legal or illegal,' he told reporters on Thursday. 'I have that same reaction to it as well.' The manager of a Wellington brothel where the recordings allegedly took place told the broadcaster RNZ that privacy laws needed overhauling when it came to recording people without their knowledge. 'This is an issue for all women. Women are being recorded, photographed, filmed without their consent or knowledge and heaven only knows where it's ending up. This is the main issue and that's what needs to be focused on.' Luxon said new privacy laws could be drafted to clear up the legal grey area. 'I'm open to looking at our settings again as we go through this experience. We have a series of laws, whether it's the harmful digital bill, whether it's the privacy laws, or now new stalking laws, but we're open to looking at that further as well,' he said. The incidents were investigated by police but did not lead to any charges, Luxon said, and occurred after Forbes had been vetted to work for the social development minister, Louise Upston. Forbes had an obligation to declare those incidents to the prime minister's office 'because it impacts the office and the reputation of the office, for obvious reasons', Luxon said. 'But that didn't happen.' In a statement to RNZ, DI John Van Den Heuvel, the Wellington district manager of criminal investigations, said police also found 'a number of photos and video of women in public spaces, and what appears to be women in private addresses, taken from a distance away'. Police considered the available evidence and concluded it did not meet the requirements for criminality, and therefore charges could not be filed, he said. 'The individual concerned voluntarily spoke with police and admitted to taking the images and recordings. He was reminded of the inappropriateness of his behaviour and encouraged to seek help,' he said. Forbes deleted the images in the presence of police. Police were unable to progress the matter further, but should any new information arise, it would be 'thoroughly considered', Van Den Heuvel said. The police commissioner, Richard Chambers, told the media on Thursday the Department of Internal Affairs would conduct a 'deep dive' into what had happened. Chambers said the allegations were 'obviously very concerning' but did not believe police had erred by not charging Forbes. 'I have faith in the decisions that have been made based on the [information] that's been available to the investigation team or district crime manager in Wellington,' he said. Forbes, a former journalist who became Luxon's deputy chief press secretary in February, apologised in a statement sent to the media. 'I want to offer my sincerest apologies to the women I have harmed,' he said. 'In the past, I was in a downward spiral due to unresolved trauma and stress, and when confronted with the impacts of my behaviour a year ago, I sought professional help, which is something I wish I had done much earlier. 'What I failed to do then was make a genuine attempt to apologise. Instead, I tried to move on without offering those I had harmed the acknowledgment, accountability, or amends they deserved. I recognise how wrong that was.' 'I understand that my past actions may have undermined the trust people place in me. So I have resigned from my job to focus on the work I need to do.'
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Two footy agents land in hot water with the NRL as league chiefs propose hefty bans and fines for breaching Agents' Code of Conduct
The NRL has slapped two player agents with proposed sanctions after the pair are alleged to have breached the league's rules. On Thursday afternoon, the AFL published a statement online in which it stated that Mario Tartak and Matthew Desira had been issued with show cause notices. The pair have until Tuesday to respond. Tartak, who manages Josh Addo-Carr and Josh Schuster, is facing a 12-month ban and a $25,000 fine after the NRL accused him of 'communicating with an underage player without a parent and/or legal guardian being present.' The NRL also claims Tartak had commenced a 'commercial arrangement' with two footy clubs, which contravened the rules of the league's Accredited Agent Scheme Rules. The NRL wrote in a statement: 'The proposed penalty took into consideration previous breach proceedings which imposed conditions that further breaches could result in suspension of accreditation.' Meanwhile, Desira, is facing a six-month ban and a $10,000 fine. League chiefs claim his proposed sanctions relate to non-reporting and dishonesty 'following police charges and court proceedings which were brought against' the player agent, who is the director of Aria Management Group, who have players including Hayden Campbell and Bronson Xerri on their books. 'Under the Accredited Agents' Code of Conduct, Accredited Agents are required to operate with high personal and professional standards,' the league explained. Desira was charged with the possession of cocaine last year and pleaded guilty. No conviction was recorded. He was allegedly on a night out at Sussudio in Potts Point, when he was arrested for possession of the substance on April 5. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the NRL's breach notice relates to claims that Desira's initial claims to police and the Agents Accreditation Scheme that he had not been arrested. He had claimed that a person who he knew had been using his identity and was in possession of the prohibited substance. Magistrate Scott Nash later said that the offence was 'on the lower end of seriousness. It's out of character based on his record. He pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.' Tartak's counsel, Nick Ghabar, told The Sydney Morning Herald: 'This is a matter that directly involves my client's livelihood and as such my client intends to respond to the NRL's show-cause notice as is appropriate. 'To be clear, he does not accept any assertion that he knowingly contravened the Player Agent Rules. His response will come in the fullness of time and it would be inappropriate to make any further comment at this time.'
