Source :- THE AGE NEWS
The transition to jail life, in the case of former NRL player Manase Fainu, was almost as difficult as the one out of it.
During his time in some of Sydney’s most notorious prisons for the stabbing of a Mormon youth leader, including several of the maximum-security variety, Fainu saw things that can’t be unseen.
“I just kept looking over my shoulder,” Fainu said. “I sussed their behaviour and their character, how they are around you. If something feels suspicious or out of the ordinary, you’ve just got your guard up, ready to go.”
Fainu was sentenced to eight years in prison for the stabbing of a Mormon youth leader at a church dance in Sydney’s south-west in 2019. A jury found him guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after he stabbed Faamanu Levi in the back, puncturing his lung, during a bloody brawl in a car park at Wattle Grove in October 2019.
Fainu was released on parole on Friday.
In a victim impact statement, Levi said the incident took a toll on his mental health and made him “guarded and scared” in his social interactions.
During his time in prison, Fainu said he witnessed stabbings, drug deals gone wrong, and extortion. Despite this, there are times he felt more comfortable on the inside than out. Which is why he can relate to some of the inmates depicted in The Shawshank Redemption; those who had been in jail for so long that they became institutionalised.
“I’m all right now, but on my first couple of day releases, I was panicking,” he told this masthead after being released.
On his first prison-free day at home, it was like the prodigal son had returned. Fainu’s mother, Lile, arranged a pig on a spit. All the relatives gathered to get a glimpse of the fallen footy star. Yet Fainu was so anxious about the change of environment that he was unable to eat or utter more than a few words. During a shopping day in Merrylands, paranoia set in. Everyone, he thought, was staring at him.
“I just wasn’t feeling it,” he said.
That small taste of freedom came at a considerable cost. When Cronulla prop Addin Fonua-Blake posted a photo with Fainu to social media, the latter was accused of illegally using his phone while on the outside. The result was two days in solitary confinement upon his return.
“You don’t feel comfortable in the open world,” he said. “And then when I got back to jail – this is how funny it is – the screw opened the door to walk me back in and he said something like, ‘Oh, I bet you’re not happy to be here.’ And I said, ‘No, I’m happy to be here, I’m happy to be back.’”
Which is surprising given what Fainu went through behind bars. There was a deep depression that came with realising that his once-promising NRL career – then-NSW coach Brad Fittler touted him as a future State of Origin player – was likely over.
Fainu’s playing weight at Manly was about 90 kilograms. Yet after just a short period in remand, he blew out to 127.
“Before I came in, I was on antidepressants,” Fainu said. “They just made me eat for some reason. I just locked myself in the room and ate. But when I came in, they kept giving it to me, but I didn’t take my tablets.
“I’d put them in my mouth, put them under my tongue, show them my throat, and then walk out and spit them back out because they just made me feel depressed in there. I’d see boys training and think, ‘What am I doing to myself?’ You know what I mean?
“Everyone has high expectations of you because you play NRL, and you’re just sitting there eating. That’s how I got out of the habit. I just stopped taking my tablets on my own, and that was a hard couple of weeks.”
The other thing to go was his love of football. Fainu’s last NRL game was a finals appearance for the Sea Eagles in 2019.
“It was weird,” Fainu recalled. “I went to the Dally M awards, I took my mum. I was nominated as interchange player of the year. And a couple of months later, I was sitting in a prison cell and was like, ‘What the hell is happening here?’ It just flipped on its head.”
When the free-to-air NRL games were shown on the prison televisions, Fainu couldn’t bring himself to watch the matches.
“The first two years, I didn’t even care about footy,” he said. “I just didn’t enjoy it. You go to jail and there’s more to life than footy.”
Afforded the privilege of working, a week in the timber yard would yield about $20-$30 a week. It gave him routine. He had witnessed many cellmates returning after being released because they couldn’t handle the outside world. For a period, Fainu feared he would become one of them.
“The first year I came in, there was nothing going on for me,” he said. “And I just kept stressing about my family because I was the one paying the bills and that. So I was stressing, ‘I need to make money quick. How am I going to do this?’ Everything was going through my head …
“There were a handful of boys saying, ‘You’ve got the talent, you’ve been [in the NRL], it’s second nature to you, you’ll be sweet, just train, you never know what’ll happen.’
“And then the other boys were saying, ‘Come do [crime] with us,’ and they would end up back in jail … You can go both ways: you can go one way where you feel sorry for yourself and just drop in, or you can toughen up, train, and be ready for the next day.”
Fainu chose the latter. The turning point was watching his younger brothers – Latu, Sione and Samuela – make their NRL debuts. A love of league was rekindled.
“That just lifted me up,” said Fainu, who became more comfortable in the outside world after subsequent day releases.
“For the boys to go to Tigers and then they all play together, it gave me tears in my eyes …
“I look up to them now. I’m happy they did it while I was in jail, they didn’t live off my name. I had nothing to do with it; they just did it themselves with the help of Mum and Dad.”
From the moment the brothers began playing in the backyard, it was their dream to play in the NRL together. It appeared over when Fainu was locked up. However, the Tigers have publicly stated they would consider throwing Fainu a league lifeline.
After mentally and physically committing to the task – the former Tongan international has lost more than 30kg to return to his playing weight – there are hopes of a comeback.
“That would be the cherry on top,” Fainu said. “They’re all playing first grade now and I know there are bigger things you can achieve playing footy – like winning a premiership – but playing together would be the ultimate dream.
“We grew up playing in the backyard, I used to smash the little brothers and now we could be playing together. Obviously, I want to get out there and play footy with them again.”
Whether the NRL registers a contract for Fainu as a fit and proper person while he is on parole is unclear. However, he vows not to embarrass the game if given a second chance.
“I just want them to know that I’m capable of playing footy again,” he said. “I’m probably fitter, physically and mentally stronger than I was back then playing. I’ve got a lot to give to the game, not just to the game, but to the next generation of kids coming up.
“Most of them probably looked at me as a role model before I came to jail, and hopefully they still do. I can still speak to them about the path that they want to choose, like which way they want to go. If the NRL do hear this, everyone in life needs a second chance. Hopefully, the NRL can give me one. I’ll take it with both hands.”
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