Salford Red Devils’ Tim Lafai has been one of the signings of the season in the Betfred Super League but, according to him, he wasn’t always destined for a career in rugby.
The strong centre has not only become one of the Red Devils‘ main attacking threats since joining back in December 2021, but he has also proved to be one of the league’s biggest hitters.
However, speaking on an episode of BBC’s Super League Show which aired earlier this week, the 31-year-old revealed how nearly gave the sport up entirely after having “fallen out of love with rugby league” and putting it aside to focus on providing for his family.
As he explained on Monday night’s show, the Samoan-born bruiser was busy “doing construction work… a bit of traffic control and labouring here and there” for a number of years before he made his move to the UK and the Super League.
👷♂️ From construction work to the @SalfordDevils, it's hard not to love Tim Lafai’s story 🥰
Lafai had more than 10 years of NRL (National Rugby League) experience in Australia and New Zealand before rocking up at Salford, not to mention several caps for his country, but as the father of four recently told The Sportsman, going back to any old day job nearly became permanent.
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Lafai went on to explain that “having a year off from playing professionally, just working like an everyday Australian back home made me a lot more grateful coming back into the game, of what I actually had and what I could have lost.
“It was anything I could get to provide for my family and I was just about to give rugby league up. There was nothing in the NRL and I didn’t really think of Super League.
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“It put my vision into a different perspective with how I see the simple things, and having four kids and a wife makes me more determined, mature and have that passion for the game again.”
Cut to his debut season and the end of last year, the Samoan international was playing in the final of the Rugby League World Cup and, in his words, back to “doing what [he] loves again”. Things you like to hear.
“I’m just out here living my best life,” says Lafai, “doing the best for my team and my club.” It certainly seems to be appreciated as well, with head coach Paul Rowley dubbing him one of the “signings of the season” and among many people’s dream team picks.
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Lafai went on to insist that as long as “I’m doing what I love again and if it brings a smile to the people and makes them feel a certain way that’s fine by me.” What a guy.
You can watch the full episode of Super League ShowHERE.
Featured Image — Salford Red Devils (via Twitter)/BBC iPLayer
Sport
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
22nd February 2023 
