Tributes flow for ‘talented footballer’ Lauaki
Sir Graham Henry handed Sione Lauaki his All Blacks debut. Just 12 years later he’s coming to terms with the shock of his death.
The former Chiefs star, who played 17 tests for New Zealand, has died, aged 35.
In 2012, it was revealed Lauaki was suffering from renal failure and cardiovascular problems.
These health issues forced him to stop playing top level rugby and he returned to New Zealand, before getting married in Rarotonga in 2014 and living there since.
Having come through Kelston Boys’ High School - where Henry was a headmaster - then playing NPC with Auckland, Tongan-born Lauaki shifted south, representing Waikato and playing Super Rugby for the Chiefs, then playing international footy for the Pacific Islands team in 2004, and earning a black jersey the following year.
Henry was the coach of the All Blacks at the time, and said news of Lauaki’s death had come out of the blue.
‘‘Yeah, a shock, really,’’ he said. ‘‘I didn’t know that he was struggling, and obviously he’s got the same liver problem as many of those boys have. It’s really sad.’’
Henry remembered Lauaki having plenty of x-factor on the park, though acknowledged that with such players as Rodney So’oialo and the late Jerry Collins in front of him, he was always up against stiff competition.
‘‘He played some brilliant football for the Chiefs,’’ Henry said.
‘‘He was a very talented footballer. Probably didn’t reach his potential at international level, because Jerry and Rodney were there.
‘‘He’s a big boy, must’ve been close to 120kg playing loose forward. So he was devastating at the level below international level, because he got opportunities obviously, and he didn’t get so many opportunities at the top level.
‘‘He was a popular guy with his fellow players, obviously they’d rather play with him than against him.’’
One man who carries those similar sentiments is former Waikato and Chiefs team-mate Roger Randle, who was able to hang out on the wing and let his big mate take care of business in the middle of the park.
Randle’s final season with the Chiefs was Lauaki’s first - 2004 while the pair also linked up in the Mooloos’ 2006-championshipwinning campaign.
‘‘It’s just bloody sad, he was such a destructive player on the field,’’ Randle said. ‘‘And you always felt pretty comfortable when you see the likes of him and Liam Messam are leading your forward pack.
‘‘We all know he was a devastating ball-carrier and tackler, with his x-factor.’’
In 2004 Randle had snapped his Achilles, but has fond memories of Lauaki making him jump out of his seat when scoring the matchwinning try against the Blues at Eden Park.
‘‘I remember just being on my crutches and just jumping around in my moon boot around the lounge room,’’ Randle said. ‘‘So that was a bloody good memory.’’
Having known he had been ‘‘crook for a wee while’’, Randle said it was still ‘‘a shock’’ when news of Lauaki’s death came through.
In 2006, Lauaki was offered police diversion after admitting to assaulting a Hamilton security officer. Three years later he underwent an anger management course after appearing in court on a charge of wilful damage relating to an incident in an Auckland motel room.
In 2010 he was fined $800 and ordered to pay his victim $500 for emotional harm after pleading guilty to assault, which led to a lucrative contract with a Japanese club being torn up.