Geelong ruckman Esava Ratugolea playing for the love of the game, physical contact and to support his family in Fiji

HE WAS born in Griffith, NSW, is of Fijian descent and loves hurting people on the footy field. Esava Ratugolea isn’t your average AFL ruckman.

Geelong footballer Esava Ratugolea. Picture: Glenn Ferguson

THEY call him Sav.

His full name is Esava Ratugolea. He was born in Griffith, NSW, is of Fijian descent and headlines a surging group of young Geelong players.

Already, after just four games, Big Sav is likened to Nic Naitanui: Athletic, explosive, aggressive.

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At 19, he plays for two reasons. He loves the combative nature of a sport he first played at 13. And he loves playing for his family.

“I love the contact,” he said. “I love throwing my weight around. I love crashing packs. I love getting into people, hurting people really. I just want to continually improve my game all the time. There’s many areas I can get better in and at the moment ... I know I need so much improvement.”

Esava Ratugolea surprised himself by playing this year. Picture: Glenn Ferguson

He’s as raw as an early harvest of Fijian fruit.

His aggression on the ground, though, is enveloped by a tenderness off it, not unlike Nic Nat.

It is born from the strength and culture of the Fijian family.

Sav’s village is Namarai on the northeast coast on the island of Viti Levu. Population a couple of hundred. “It’s our village,” he said.

He’s visited once, back in 2008, yet his connection to the island and its people winds through his mother and his grandparents who arrived in Australia in 1990. It’s why he sends money to the family to help his village when he is asked. Because being Fijian, that’s what you do.

“My grandparents (Kiti and Peter) came to Australia to give their kids a better opportunity with school and sports, but also to work here and send money back to our village, back to our extended family in Fiji to help them out as well,” he said.

“They still do it now, my grandparents and mum.

“Now, I send money to my grandmother and my mum and my siblings as well to help out with things. If Nana asks me if I can help with stuff going on in Fiji, I just send her the money.

“It hasn’t been a real lot of money. I sent my grandmother $500 to send to Fiji because there was a funeral they needed it for. And, like, after the storm, they needed money for rebuilding in the village, like for concrete and stuff. It’s just the way I’ve been brought up. It’s the reason I love doing what I do because I can support my family. That’s how it is, to be honest.”

Everyone has a story and Sav’s is more remarkable than most.

He is a vigorous, exciting prospect — he stands 197cm and weighs 103kg — and clearly was born with a natural desire to compete.

Mum Kelly didn’t play sport, he said, and he has no memory of his father.

“I didn’t know my dad, but he was a professional boxer. He played a lot of sports, a bit of rugby, but boxing was his main sport. Dad left when I was really young, so I can’t remember him at all.

“I never met him and he passed away three years ago maybe. A lot of people I’ve met during my time told me they knew him, he always a boxer, a really good boxer.”

As a youngster growing up in Griffith, Sav was a rugby fan. He moved to Cobram when he was five and soccer became his sport of choice

“Soccer was my most dominant sport when I was young,” he said. “I wasn’t really into footy. I had to choose out of soccer and footy when I was in Cobram. I always wanted to play in the NRL when I was older because my family loved rugby, being Fijians and that.”

At soccer, he was a sweeper and goalkeeper. At AFL, he is a forward and occasional ruckman.

His first footy club was the Yarroweyah Football Club, just out of Cobram. He was 13 and joined to play with mates.

“After that I had a few years off. One year I played soccer and footy at same time. Another year I didn’t play footy at all. There was a year I came back and broke my arm. My first full season was probably my rookie year at the Murray Bushrangers. In my top-age Bushies, I made it through the whole pre-season, but then I tore my cartilage in my left knee and that put me out me out to Round 8 or 9 and then I played the rest of the year.’’

Esava Ratugolea in action for the Murray Bushrangers in the TAC Cup. Picture: David Crosling

A bag of eight goals for the Bushies put him on the radar, mainly Adelaide’s, and they flew to Cobram to meet the family ahead of the 2016 national draft.

He said the Crows were the only club to visit home.

They had pick No. 44 and that was the only selection Sav had his eyes on. So much so, when the Cats took him at Pick No. 43, he missed his name being read out.

“I wasn’t really focusing on any other picks, I was focusing on the pick No. 44,” he said.

“As it approached I was starting to get nervous ... I didn’t realise I had been picked by Geelong until my name was on the screen. I didn’t hear my name. My mates were going crazy and I had no idea.”

The eldest of five siblings — he has twin brothers Peter and Josh who are 16, sister Kiti, 12, and baby sister Eva, 4 — it was the second most memorable day of his football career.

The first was his debut game this year against Melbourne in Round 1.

They all came to the MCG. Mum, nan, the brothers and sisters. It was a day of celebration and a thank you of sorts because life had never been unchallenging for the family.

Nan and grandpa were fruit pickers in Griffth, as was mum before she began working with disabled people.

“It’s crazy to think about my first game, even before that I couldn’t believe I was at an AFL club,” he said.

“I’ve been through a lot of things, my family has been through a lot of things, and just for me to step up and get my chance to play my first AFL game was unreal.

“Nan was very emotional. Before the game, during the game, after the game, she was emotional. She couldn’t hide it. We all felt the same thing. We’d been through a lot and it all just came down to that game. They were all emotional. Mum was proud. It mean everything to me.

“I can’t really explain what it was like to see how happy they were. It was good to repay them for what they’ve done for me. Just playing that one game, It was a thank you to them.

“They’ve done everything they possibly could to make me live a better life and I want to do the same thing back to them.”

He has been a revelation for Geelong in a period of vast exploration of the playing list. Injuries have meant the Cats have fielded one of the youngest teams in the competition across the first five weeks.

Sav’s career started as a forward, but last week he was the starting ruckman against Port Adelaide’s Dougal Howard.

It’s incredible when you think about it. He played only 10 VFL games in 2017 because of achilles and calf injuries, as well as breaking a hand.

“This time last year I wouldn’t have thought I’d be playing in the ruck, let alone playing AFL,” he said.

Esava Ratugolea loves the physical side of the game.

The attraction for coach Chris Scott was Sav’s ability to leap, his athleticism at ground level and, of course, his competitive edge.

“I find if I play ruck I get into the flow of the game a lot more, but I don’t mind the forward line at all,” he said.

“In the ruck I work in six-minute stints and come off, even though I’ve been feeling good. I probably want to lose a few kilos to cover the ground better.’’

He’s 103kg and wants to shed 3kg.

He works daily with Tom Hawkins and Dan Menzel to improve his craft.

“If I’m unsure about anything on the ground, I just go to Tommy and ask: ‘Should I be here? Where should I be?’. All the stuff with setups and stoppages. We talk on the ground and do a lot off the ground on vision.’’

In his second game, Sav met Nic Nat for the first time, after the final siren.

He admired the West Cast star and felt a kinship, and Nic Nat didn’t disappoint him.

“We had brief chat after the game. He said, ‘Well done, mate, good to see you out here’, and he posted on his social media about me. He put up a photo on Instagram and a few words in Fijian.

“Of course, I knew of him before I got drafted. I did try to mould my game around his, but I did want to play a lot more forward.’’

Similar to Naitanui, he wants to take the game to Fiji in an ambassadorial role.

First things first, though, it’s about getting a kick, working hard and keeping his spot in the senior team.

“I just want to get a game of footy at the moment, but I’d love to go to Fiji and talk about the sport,’’ he said.

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Originally published as Geelong ruckman Esava Ratugolea playing for the love of the game, physical contact and to support his family in Fiji