Tatafu Polota-Nau Feature Article
At the young age of 8 years old, I was privileged enough to experience living in a foreign country: Australia. I had always been interested in many sports from a young age like baseball and after viewing Rugby Union, another one was added to that list. Throughout the three years living there, I came to a reasonable understanding of the game and even began to enjoy it more than American Football (surprisingly). My Dad, during this time as well, came to meet a family friend, Rodney Taylor, that just so happened to be involved with a local club, the Western Sydney Two Blues (formerly Parramatta Two Blues). He shared some stories of his storied 200-match club career in which he met many different people and players but most notably, Tatafu Polota-Nau. Tatafu and Rod met in 2004 when they were both playing for the Two Blues. "We became mates and have been mates ever since," Rod said "both on and off the field. Glad to call him a mate."
Tatafu Polota-Nau had a lasting, successful career on the international and club level stages notably for the Wallabies (Australian national Rugby Union team), the NSW (New South Wales) Waritahs, the Western Force, and Leicester Tigers. With his international career beginning in 2005 in a match against England, and closing a few years ago in his final test (game) against Samoa, Tatafu has seen it all when it comes to the sport. As for the purpose of this article, I was privileged enough to have had the opportunity to ask the Wallaby Legend a few questions glancing back at his career and looking towards his next chapter that are featured down below:
Before matches, did you have any rituals or superstitions that you would conduct? If so, how did they start?
When I began my international playing journey, I was petrified because I’m on the world stage representing my nation that I didn’t want to let it down. So initially I developed such rituals as wearing the same underwear for every match that I played (washed regularly of course) and out of fear and nerves, would not eat 4 hours before the match in case I embarrass myself on TV throwing up on the pitch.
After getting a good grip about 4 years into the role, I began to understand that the rituals were more a way to handle my nerves more than it was to play to the best of my ability. Therefore I began to start experimenting different approaches in terms of pre match to discover what the best approach for me was. Which ended up being to really enjoy other aspects of life that I was encountering, and not necessarily focusing on the game way before the game was played. Obviously the approaches were different when playing opponents overseas, but the logic of mentally focusing for the game would only begin two hours prior when I would go through my strapping/stretching processes.
Outside of New Zealand, who would you consider to be your biggest rivals on a club or national level?
I considered any rival to be a big rival because at the end of the day, the team that is usually well prepared would be the team to go and succeed after the match. I personally was more concerned about my game, what I could control, and minimize as much as possible what the opponents/referees/crowd would have an influence on. Since all the opponents had various types of threats, I would never be the one to leave it to chance and say that any opponent are ‘walkthroughs’ since the whole point of competition is to test yourself against the best.
Based on your experiences from your match in Chicago, what are your thoughts about Rugby in the States?
There is a definite genuine interest in rugby in the States, particularly when there is a huge pool of talent from NFL/College that don’t get selected to make it but have the transferrable skills to cross code over to rugby. This was back before the Rugby World Cup in 2015. Since then, it has been amazing to observe the progression of 7’s rugby, particularly in the Olympics, for the teams to be high contenders for the 7’s tournament as well as for the Gold medal.
I’m also led to believe that there is currently a current rugby competition in the USA called Major League Rugby that is beginning to gather some traction and credibility, as well as other Nations visiting the states to play against the Eagles themselves. So I believe rugby is in a very nice position in terms of growth and scale in the States.
Is there any moment in your career you regret or wish to have a second chance at?
Hindsight is always a killer for sure! But at the end of the day, its made me to be the person I am today by seizing any opportunity that presents itself, and self-diagnosing or troubleshooting the possibilities it has to offer from a personal development aspect.
Probably the one thing I do regret is having the confidence right from the very start. Growing up as a kid, I wasn’t exposed to any sort of mentor/guidance programs or applications. It would have been nice to understand positive mindsets in developing countries. My parents are both of Tongan descent, and it’s no fault of theirs at all, but growing up on the islands, the tendency is never to be above anyone older than you nor challenge the traditions from fear of being labeled as a disgrace or an embarrassment to the family. So my plan is to get some sort of enablement where there is such thing as having a positive mindset where you are able to achieve greatness, as well as having a level head to understand that you respect the way the parents have been brought up, but also educate them that the only constant in life is change.
Since you retired, do you miss playing? If so, what aspects? Anything you don’t miss?
Definitely a yes and no response to this question.
Yes because you definitely miss the people you would spend the majority of the year with learning how to work together to get the desired results, sharing personal journeys together, as well as creating friendships that will last a lifetime.
No, because I don’t regret waking up in the mornings as stiff as a board having to take ages to warm the body up just to get up out of bed. I don’t miss having to wake up knowing in the back of the mind that you will be beaten up during the session for sure.
When did you know that it was time to hang up the cleats and call it a career?
In a way, COVID played a big contribution in terms of bringing my career to a sudden halt, but I don’t rely on external resources to ultimately create my decision. Furthermore, it was just a good feeling that, 1. It became less enjoyable, 2. It became a chore than a privilege, 3. It was monotonous with no real sense of achievement after hanging the boots up internationally, 4. A big consideration was missing out on a lot of personal events that I would have to sacrifice because of the schedule collisions as well as FOMO on many more.
What was it like walking off the field after defeating Samoa in your final international match?
It was bittersweet. Knowing I missed out on the world cup squad that year but helping the boys prepare for it, was definitely the last hurrah in terms of playing internationally, but the best part of it was knowing that I got to do it from where it all began for me. Where I grew up, rugby isn’t very popular, but at the same time, it was great to see some of my family and friends from colts and grade teams come along and support me for the final time before exiting the world stage.
Are there any lessons that rugby has taught you that influence your daily life?
I don’t think there is enough time to elaborate on the multiple lessons rugby has given me. But if I were to take the 3 most important ones in order of priority, they would be
1. Failing is critical for growth – it's not an embarrassment, but an invaluable teacher disguised to see whether you are paying attention to what life has to offer right in front of your very eyes. Or just another patient of insanity (doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.)
2. Anyone can be cool but being awesome takes practice – practice becomes a habit – habit becomes a success. It's not easy, but if it were, everyone would be doing it. Also apply to do big tasks in smaller chunks, to the best of your ability.
3. Your time is limited – regardless of whatever activity you do in life, you only have limited time to give all that you have. As we were constrained to 80mins to make an impact on the scoreboard, the same applies to life. The only mystery is knowing when someone's time is up. Make the most of it!
Do you now feel as if you have a lot of spare time without commitment to a team? How do you fill that time? Are you still interested in computers? (based off prior interview I watched on YouTube and answer to previous questions)
Not necessarily, the fortunate thing with rugby being professional is that it is just as important to work as hard as you would let your body recover in the same dose. Saying that I’ve started a new role in the corporate environment to have a total pivot from rugby, challenge my inner skillset, and to discover other areas of living that life has to offer.
Are you still involved with any of your former clubs?
Not currently, as my main focus is to get properly trained in this area so I can get into a healthy routine to hopefully get some leniency to free up my evenings to attend and assist my local club, but I have been approached by some of my friends.
Based on an interview I saw, is your sister truly the better athlete?
Growing up yes that is correct. She was amazing with any ball in hand and was very quick at such a young age. Unfortunately, she decided to pursue the social side of rugby and got influenced to have parties almost every single weekend. But she definitely had the potential to be the world's best back in her adolescent years.
Linked video above is in regards to computers and his sister
What sport would you have played if not Rugby Union? Favorite sport outside of Rugby Union?
Probably would have played tennis had I the resources required to participate and get coached. There are so many sports I love doing that it's hard to choose one. I do enjoy the competitive side of the sport.
What does it mean to you knowing Rod is in the 200 match club for the Two Blues?
It means a great deal considering that there are people in the world that would make genuine sacrifices for not only their bodies but their time and wisdom also. Rod is the type of player you wouldn’t hesitate to go to war with. He won’t admit this, but when it comes to playing rugby, he would be the only player to be working harder than the backs to stop the opposition from scoring the majority of the time.
You know the caliber of a person when you observe them do the 1% basics so well, its stands out like a scarecrow in a field. This definition doesn’t come close to comparison when describing the way Rod played. When the opposition makes a linebreak and is almost certain to score, you would see Rod run from the other side of the park knowing it's an absolute certainty that they will score, just to keep the player honest and score as far away from the posts for the conversion as well.
I wish I had the opportunity to play more games with him because the bloke deserved to be assisted with his relentless work ethic, tireless persistence, and meticulous accuracy that any professional rugby player would be dreaming of having on their team for being so self-sufficient. He doesn’t stock up too bad at the post-match either.
I’m quite jealous he’s in the 200 club because he’s played more games than me, but I’m more than certain that he would have played more games than that since a lot of the boys in our area wouldn’t make the traveling arrangements required, which meant he would have had to back up for the higher teams also.
Tatafu Polota-Nau's career being as extensive as it was, provided him with many valuable experiences and moments. Professional athletes like himself dedicate many years of their lives to their respective sports out of true commitment and love for the game. Furthermore, it is important for supporters and fans of sports and to not allow great careers such as Tatafu's to fall by the wayside.
I would like to give a special thank you to Rodney Taylor for providing me with this interview opportunity as well as Tatafu himself for agreeing to take part.
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