Manu Vatuvei speaks on jail time to Jake Duke on Face to Face episode, how to watch, stream

Watch Jake Duke go Face to Face with Warriors legend Manu Vatuvei on Fox League at 7:30pm AEDT on Tuesday!

Manu Vatuvei took one the NRL’s greatest falls from grace and came out the other side.

From New Zealand’s greatest try scorer to serving 15 months in prison, Vatuvei said getting arrested is still one of the best things to ever happen to him.

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After an incredible 14-year career with the Warriors, Vatuvei’s life took an unexpected turn in March 2022 when he was arrested for importing 500g of methamphetamine and amphetamine from India.

Sentenced to three years and seven months, he ultimately served a third of his sentence, released on parole after 15 months in 2023.

Almost three years after his release, Vatuvei spoke exclusively to Fox League’s Jake Duke on Face-to-Face, which airs on Tuesday at 7.30pm, reflecting on his arrest and calling it one of the most important and best things to happen to him.

“To have that fall from grace was something that I kind of needed, that wake-up call to overcome a lot of demons inside of me and move forward with my life,” Vatuvei said.

“Going through everything that I went through and the changes that I have done now, I don’t think it would have happened if I did not go inside (prison).

“You are in the cells 24/7 by yourself, looking at the walls, thinking about a lot of things.

“It made me reflect on my life. It made me reflect on the trauma or whatever you call it, that I was going through, the depression, the hardest times.”

One of the toughest aspects of prison for Vatuvei was missing the birth of his son, who was born three days into his sentence.

Vatuvei said he didn’t know his partner had the baby until several days later, but the information quickly shifted his perspective.

“I didn’t know she had the baby until I think a week later when I got my first letter,” he said.

“That’s what changed my mind. I wanted to get out and I wanted to do well for my son and guide him the right way.”

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Seven years after the fact, Vatuvei reflected on seeing his house raided by police, with both himself and brother Lopini Mafi taken into custody, before their eventual arrest in 2022.

“It was a controlled delivery, so they intercepted a parcel and I think once we opened it, our house was already surrounded. They are busting the door down and we walked out with them,” he said.

“The hardest part was seeing my parents there and that is the one thing that I will regret my whole life and still to this day.

“They only told me once what happened and what they saw, and I think that was the end of it. I never asked again, it hurt a lot.”

His relationship with his family is one thing that has remained consistent throughout a roller-coaster life and career for Vatuvei.

Looking back, Vatuvei credited his family and football for keeping him on the “straight and narrow” growing up, grateful to his father for supporting him throughout his league journey.

“My dad was the number one person who always took me to training and made sure I was at training on time,” he said.

“My dad used to feed me a lot of pies. Pies for tries,” he added, laughing.

After receiving his first Warriors pay-check, Vatuvei famously took it to his family and told his father he did not need to work anymore as he would support the family.

“That’s what fuelled the fire for myself to go as hard as I can and try to make a living out of it and provide for them,” he said.

Vatuvei remains one of the greatest players to ever grace New Zealand, playing 226 games for the Warriors, as well as 28 Test games for the Kiwis.

The winger is the Warriors all-time top try scorer, scoring 152 tries across his 14 seasons.

He also holds the record for the most tries for the New Zealand Kiwis and was the first player in NRL history to score at least 10 tries in 10 consecutive seasons.

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