Consummate team man and leader Nigel Vagana now helps players set up for life, writes Michael Brown.
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Nigel Vagana was a prolific try scorer in his day and if he wasn't doing that he was often setting up his team-mates.
Now that he's hung up the boots, Vagana is setting up players in a different way.
No, he doesn't run a dating agency. Rather, the
34-year-old is one of three NRL education and welfare officers.
It's a role that challenges players to focus on off-field education opportunities and careers after football. He organises workshops on issues from alcohol to drugs and respecting women and emphasises the need for study.
"The NRL wanted someone who had recently retired so they still had a connection with the players," Vagana says from Sydney where he has swapped pre-season training in 30-degree heat for an air-conditioned office. "They interact a lot more [with me] and ask questions about how I did it. I can relate to them and it probably sways a few boys to do something.
"You get a chance to, potentially, set someone up for life, so it's very rewarding. It's similar to helping your team. It's a role I had been doing for so long because if you're lucky enough to still be playing at 30 you become a mentor. I'm still doing it, just doing it in a different environment."
Vagana's role was established in 2004 and was previously held by former Australian internationals Michael Buettner (2004-07) and Jason Stevens (2008) and the NRL have already seen significant returns.
In 2001, 40 per cent of players were studying or undertaking courses. That figure is now 80 per cent. It is likely to improve as NRL regulations say all Toyota Cup under-20 players must study, work or serve apprenticeships.
"You are always going to get people who don't listen," Vagana says. "But more and more they do. People realise it's a professional game, a business, and it's not forever. It's part of being a professional athlete.
"The average lifespan of an NRL player is 50 games. That's two-and-a-half years. It's not long."
Vagana was lucky enough to play 240 NRL games over 12 years with the Warriors, Bulldogs, Sharks and Rabbitohs as well as 38 tests for the Kiwis and a handful for Samoa, who he captained at last year's World Cup.
He practised what he now preaches, having studied for four years while at the Bulldogs for an architectural design diploma and he studied engineering before signing for the Warriors in 1995.
Vagana had offers to continue playing overseas but felt the time was right to retire. His job with the NRL means transition from player to former player has been softened.
"It hasn't been too bad because I get out among the clubs and I am still in contact with a lot of players. But I also wanted to make sure there were boundaries there and I wasn't hanging around the club all the time.
"I needed that separation to help me in that transition from being a footballer. The best way to do that is still be involved in the game in some way but not be too close. The role I'm in is ideal.
"I haven't missed playing. I haven't had a chance. Maybe when October rolls around it will be different. I could have kept going because the body is still in good shape but decided not to. I have been doing it for so long I was ready for the next phase.
"I will miss it to some degree but everyone goes through it. That's another thing we offer," he says seamlessly shifting into workspeak, "a retiring players' programme which goes for two years after they finish. I'm going to help manage that."
Vagana will do that in his own style. He was a natural leader as a player but also a very approachable one. Responsibility sits comfortably on his shoulders.
He was something of a Pied Piper in convincing others to follow him and play for Samoa over the past couple of years and it's hoped they will listen to his new overtures.
He was in Auckland to speak to the Warriors last week as part of his travelling roadshow and will be back later in the year as he travels around all 16 clubs.
Clubs have a say in what workshops are presented and it might not come as a surprise that the Dragons, who this year are being coached by Wayne Bennett, asked for ones on alcohol and respecting women.
"The biggest challenge players face is probably understanding professionalism," Vagana says. "Professionalism incorporates a lot of things: time management, being a role model, making sacrifices, public scrutiny and media.
"Over the last year, clubs have been clamping down on players who get into trouble. Ten to 15 years ago if a player got into trouble, particularly if he was a high-profile or rep player, the chances are he would still be at the club. Now you are seeing the likes of Greg Bird, a current Australian player, and Reni Maitua, a former test player, being booted from a club. Todd Carney was the best halfback the Raiders have had since Ricky Stuart and they got rid of him.
"Clubs are falling in line with professionalism. Clubs are putting their foot down and saying, 'we are fed up with it and want players who are professional'. It's going to be a competition for good guys.
"Players are finding that it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and they need to make the most of it. That's where we come in to try to prepare them for life after football."
Vagana will be a breath of fresh air in the ivory towers of the NRL. He is the only Polynesian among about 40 employees and will visit clubs in his jeans and T-shirts rather than suit and tie because, he says, players switch off at the sight of a tie.
"A lot of players perceive the NRL as being over there, another planet. I'm trying to bridge that gap."