No ‘what-ifs’ for league player
The chance to play rugby at the Olympics is the ultimate goal for a league-loving Porirua woman.
Manea Poa, 23, is headed to Ireland to compete for one of the last sevens qualifying spots for the Rio Olympics – but her sights aren’t set on wearing black and silver.
Poa plays for the Cook Islands women’s team and said the team’s chances of qualifying through the June 25 to 26 tournament were high.
‘‘We’re going in as underdogs and the girls are super talented.’’
The Olympic bid is even more impressive given Poa came back from a serious injury last year.
Three days before she had to travel to Australia for a sevens competition she broke her leg playing league.
‘‘I had to take a break for six or seven months from any fitness which was really hard.’’
The injury meant she had to pull out of the Oceania Competition. ‘‘The hardest part was admitting to myself I wasn’t ready.’’
The Olympic bid has kept her focused through the long months of rehabilitation and she can’t wait to re-take the rugby field.
She said despite her life-long passion for rugby league, she had learned to love rugby.
She plays for Norths rugby club in Porirua and the Randwick rugby league club in Lower Hutt.
‘‘You have to have a passion for the sport you play, I have that now.’’
Originally from Blenheim, Poa and her partner, ‘‘local boy’’, Marcus Maoate live in Titahi Bay with their 3-year-old daughter
‘‘You have to have a passion for the sport you play, I have that now.’’
Akaina.
Poa, a personal trainer and gym manager, said sport was a way of life for her family.
‘‘Marcus and I both play league and touch and Akaina plays in under 6s. After work, everything in our lives is sport.’’
The hardest thing about travelling overseas would be leaving her daughter behind.
‘‘It’s the longest I’ve been away from her, but I don’t want to look back on anything and think I should have done that. I don’t believe in that.’’
However, despite the Olympic bid, Poa said her first love would always be rugby league, a love she shared with her Dad.
‘‘My friends never wanted to stay in the weekends because me and Dad would have the league on.’’