Rugby loses future champion

Ezra Sitagata, 7, with All Black Dan Carter. Photo / Supplied

Young Ezra Sitagata could "swerve, pass and tackle like a pro" when he was named player of the year for his Ardmore Marist Under 7s rugby side last year.

But when he turned up for pre-season training this year, it was to break the news to teammates that he wouldn't be playing for the "Green Machine" in the upcoming season.

Doctors had found a massive cancerous tumour in the middle of his brain in February and, due to its location, were unable to operate.

The rare condition, known as brainstem glioma, is an aggressive form of cancer that spreads quickly through the nervous system.

Ezra's parents, Enosa and Levaai, quit their jobs to care for him full time and spent the next two months making daily trips from their home in Papakura to Starship Hospital for radiotherapy treatment.

Last month Levaai wrote of her heartbreak at the final stages of her son's illness.

"He has finished his radiotherapy the tumour has shrunk but the tumour itself is slowly shutting down my son's system.

"Given his situation, my son has a heart of gold and still believes that there is nothing wrong with him; he is determined that he can do anything."

On September 24, a month short of his eighth birthday, the Kelvin Road School pupil died.

He was farewelled by hundreds of friends and family - including uncle and All Black hardman Jerome Kaino - at the Harvest Christian Church in Papakura, South Auckland, on Thursday.

Projector screens displayed photos of Ezra alongside another uncle, All Black frontrower Keven Mealamu, and of him meeting his hero Dan Carter.

It was the second recent family tragedy for Mealamu. In November his 6-year-old niece Christina Mealamu died after being crushed by a scrum machine on the Tamaki College fields.

Enosa, a supermarket manager, told funeral goers: "I was hoping he would become an All Black like some of the family and friends seated here."

Enosa, who played for Ardmore Marist's premier team, said that the bravery and strength that made Ezra such a talented rugby player had helped him deal with the illness.

"He was very strong, even when he was suffering. We always asked him if he was OK and he would say 'of course'.

"On the morning of his final day with us last week, he was singing and playing; it was as if he could see eternity."

Funeral goers heard how Ezra loved playing interactive video games on a Nintendo Wii.

His grandmother, Lualima Peresipi, said even after he lost the use of his left arm he could still beat her at boxing.

But his passion was for rugby, through which he won club accolades after scoring 56 tries for his side in a Counties-Manukau junior competition last season. Wearing Ezra's prized rugby jersey, cousin Joshua Sitagata, 7, told of how the two of them had shared everything growing up.

"Even when I was a bookworm, and he was a cool boy, we still loved each other," he said.

"Ezra is not just a cousin, he's a brother and a best friend."

In a letter to the club before his death, the Under 7s coach, Peter Tatts, wrote: "As a 7 year old he can swerve, pass and tackle like a pro and his future was very promising.

"He is one of the most wonderful kids you could ever meet and it was a given that he got the top prize last year.

"If he had been able to play in 2010 I have no doubt the Green Machine would still be unbeaten."

Ezra enjoyed a family holiday on the Gold Coast a month before he died with help from the Cancer Foundation and Make-A-Wish Foundation.