HELP OUT A BRO
Titan opens up on Warriors deal and hopes for jailed sibling
LEIVAHA Pulu has opened up about the family ties that led to his decision to sign with the New Zealand Warriors, saying he wants to be a role model for his brother on his release from prison later this year.
Pulu, who is sidelined for the next month after having an emergency appendectomy last week, will leave the Gold Coast at the end of the season after signing a three-year deal with the Warriors.
And while he is grateful to the Titans for giving him the opportunity to launch his NRL career, Pulu could not pass up the opportunity for a threeyear deal and significant pay upgrade that will help seal his family’s future.
Family is everything to Pulu. The 27-year-old and his wife Lina are expecting their third child and the opportunity to have his children grow up around their extended family weighed heavily in his decision to move back across the ditch.
Throw in the fact younger brother George could be released from prison in Auckland before Christmas and Pulu is all in, hoping to be a present role model for the brother he left behind when he moved to the Coast more than a decade ago.
“I’d love to stay on the Gold Cost but it was just an offer I couldn’t knock back,” he said.
“My wife has (child) No.3 on the way and my parents are getting older and they haven’t grown up with the grandkids and plus my brother as well.
“He’s looking to come out sooner or later this year, so I want to be a role model to him and just keep an eye on him.
“No one likes to see their family member inside and if they can, they’ll help them out as much as possible.”
Pulu could even have a training partner in his “changed” brother, who is hoping to get into football when he is released.
“He’s been in there for two years now,” Pulu said of George, 21.
“Hopefully he can come out before Christmas. That’d be awesome just to have him out. He’s change inside.
“He’s looking to get into footy now, so to have him around will be good. I’ll have another training partner.”
Pulu, too, has changed. He left Auckland a boy full of bravado ready to take on the world but will head back a devout man grateful his football opportunity came later in life.
“I’ve been blessed,” he said of his journey, which took him from Keebra Park to the Wests Tigers under-20 system, a stint in France and the NSW Cup before his NRL debut.
“If I come in as a young fella, I wouldn’t have been as appreciative as I am now.”