TAUFA IS TOUGH TO THE CORE FOR ROOS
SIMAIMA Taufa is fast gaining a reputation for being one of the toughest players in women’s rugby league.
But the guts and grit that the 23-year-old sensation has shown, particularly over the past year, is something she learnt from her dad.
Taufa’s father, Pelenato Manuhengi Taufa, died last year after a hard-fought battle with cancer.
But this heartbreaking loss has inspired Taufa to a careerbest season, which saw her claim the Dally M Female Player of the Year medal.
The way her dad pushed through his fight with cancer has also seen Taufa produce her own acts of courage.
When Taufa won the Dally M, Jillaroos coach Brad Donald spoke of her tenacity and how she played the majority of the Auckland Nines tournament with a broken arm.
Taufa, one of eight children, cared for her father every Friday and saw everything he went through over the past four years.
“I lost my dad a year ago,” she said.
“He was the strongest person I know and I’m sure I get it from him. Even when he was suffering, he never let it on, right up to the day he passed.”
Some of Taufa’s fondest memories of her father include walking in on him re-watching some of her games for NSW and Australia and the way he would “giggle at the amazing talent and physicality of the women’s game”.
That is what makes winning the upcoming World Cup all the more important for her.