Fa’amanu Brown’s rugby league odyssey is one like few others.
Ahead of the Pacific Championship series, the 28-year-old utility received a call from Kiwis coach Michael Maguire telling him he would be in the New Zealand squad.
It was a call the Christchurch product had long since writtenoff receiving.
In 2019, Brown broke the navicular bone in his right foot which required multiple surgeries to repair. He was told he would never run again and encouraged to retire.
“The surgeon said ‘we’re going to have to fuse your bones which means we’re going to have to melt the joints together in your foot and you’re not going to be able to run again, you can only walk’,” Brown recalls to the Herald.
“Hearing that news, because these doctors study their whole lives to be a surgeon, so for me to hear that, it was just a shock. I couldn’t believe it because this has been my whole life.”
But Brown was determined and worked hard for the following 18 months to get his body right, eventually returning to rugby league with Featherstone Rovers in the UK in 2021.
While his injury history might have scared teams off, Brown showed otherwise as he featured in 25 games for the club, scoring 17 tries on his way to being named the club’s newcomer of the season.
An NRL contract with Maguire’s 2022 Wests Tigers team followed and, after three years out of the league, he returned to the NRL in a 36-22 win over the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in which he scored two crucial tries.
It was a return to the top for a player who has, throughout his career, been unlucky. Be it through concussion, injuries or being overlooked, Brown has stayed resilient in the pursuit of his dream.
While the setbacks might be enough to make someone reconsider, Brown says his upbringing taught him to fight.
“I think from where I come from, my family and what we’ve gone through, I’ve become a fighter that way,” he says. “I’m a state house kid. There were nine of us – four brothers and four sisters – living with my parents in a three-bedroom home. We just fought our way through life.
“For me, what I’ve taken from mum and dad is they’ve always worked hard for what they had. I have so much more to give in my journey to play and I fully believed I could make it back, and I’m very blessed to get back here.”
Fa'amanu Brown's league career has been limited by injuries. Photo / Photosport
His return with the Tigers in 2022 culminated in selection to represent Samoa, where his parents are from, at the World Cup later that year. But still, bad luck followed him as he suffered a concussion in the semifinal and was ruled out of the nation’s first-ever appearance in the main event of the tournament where they ultimately lost to Australia.
“It was just like ‘how much more bad luck can I get?’ but at the same time, you’ve got to be grateful for the simple things and to be a part of that campaign I’m very grateful for,” he says.
“But I feel like it’s my time to make the most of this opportunity now.”
It is rather fitting that now Brown has been called into the Kiwis side for the first time since 2014 as they prepare to take on Samoa at Eden Park on Saturday night. Brown, who spread his time between the Bulldogs and Newcastle Knights this year, knows his chance has come at the misfortune of others; the Kiwis hooker stocks hit hard by injuries with Brandon Smith (hand) and Jeremy Marshall-King (shoulder) ruled out.
But it’s an opportunity Brown is immersing himself in. Whether he is named in the matchday squad or not, he is embracing the moment and everything that comes with it.
“I never thought I’d get this chance again, but 10 years later I’m sitting here in the team. Whether I play or not, I’m just grateful for this opportunity,” he says.
“We’re coming on 10 years in my career, and I’ve just had so much bad luck with injuries and people in front of me getting an opportunity before myself. So, for luck to go my way right now, I still pinch myself and talk to my family about it; for how unlucky I’ve been for so long, to finally get a decent crack and then to get this shot man, far out, it just feels unbelievable.”
“I’m just going to represent New Zealand and where I come from. For my parents, they moved over here for a better life and for me now, it’s my opportunity to give New Zealand back what they’ve given my parents and my family. If it wasn’t for them moving to New Zealand, I wouldn’t know where we’d be.”
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2016, and is an avid fan of most sports with a particular interest in combat sports.
