Miranda Devine: Why Andrew Fifita is a good bloke

You don’t have to be an NRL tragic to know the man of the match for the Cronulla Sharks on Sunday was Andrew Fifita. Yet the NRL has treated him like garbage ever since, writes Miranda Devine.

• No d***head policy: NRL make example of Fifita

You don’t have to be an NRL tragic to know the man of the match for the Cronulla Sharks on Sunday was Andrew Fifita, the 120kg prop who scored the matchwinning try with five Storm players hanging off him like baby koalas.

Yet the NRL has treated him like garbage ever since. He was snubbed for the Clive Churchill Medal and yesterday wasn’t named in the Kangaroos touring side.

Andrew Fifita with the Premership Trophy. Pic Stephen Cooper

Fair enough that the NRL wants to enforce standards of behaviour. But Fifita has been unfairly crucified over his support for childhood friend Kieran Loveridge, the jailed one-punch killer of Thomas Kelly.

Police have even warned Fifita for “consorting” because he visited Loveridge once in jail, talked to him on the phone, and wrote his initials on his wrist in a private signal during games that blew up when it hit the media last month.

Cronulla Sharks Ben Barba and Andrew Fifita at Sharks’ grand final fan day. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

He apologised immediately to the Kellys for distressing them, but refused to renounce Loveridge.

“I do not excuse what he has done — but I can’t turn my back on a mate.”

A devout Catholic, Fifita, 26, understands the power of redemption and has never forgotten his roots.

Andrew Fifita was the fans’ favourite for the Clive Churchill medal.

His father left when he was six and he grew up with his mother and brothers in welfare housing in Mt Druitt. By his own admission, he ran with the wrong crowd until, at 18, a magistrate issued him an ultimatum: Get out of Sydney or go to jail.

He turned himself around, moved in with cousins in Griffith, passed his HSC, and rugby league became his passport out of trouble, as it is for a lot of boys who grow up without fathers.

Fifita apologised for an distress his support of Loveridge may have caused the Kelly family but refused to turn his back on a mate.

He still has demons, revealing a previous suicide attempt to the Footy Show last year, but appears determined to be a good father to his children and has even taken a wayward nephew under his wing.

In supporting Loveridge, who he once coached in junior league, Fifita is abiding by the Christian imperative to extend forgiveness to the lowliest sinner. He should be admired for having the courage of his convictions.