Horror injury to Stefano Utoikamanu’s brother Filia is driving his Origin spirit

An innocuous moment in an under-18s Origin game seven years ago sent the Utoikamanu brothers spinning in opposite directions in the rugby league world.

Stefano Utoikamanu and (inset) his brother Filia.

NSW coach Brad Fittler remembers the innocuous moment that changed the life of the Utoikamanu brothers seven years ago.

Stefano and Filia were on the same career path, destined for higher rugby league honours, before tragedy struck during an under-18s State of Origin game for the Blues in 2017.

Filia, then 18 and in the Parramatta Eels pathways, suffered a broken neck in a 35-28 win over Queensland at ANZ Stadium.

It was a moment so small that Fittler, who was coach of the team at the time, didn’t realise what had happened.

And it wasn’t until later during a normal recovery process that the extent of the career-ending injury was discovered.

Filia Utoikamanu in hospital after the accident.

“When they were young they were all so talented. They were a strong and skilful family,” Fittler says.

“It was just before I started coaching (the Blues).

“I don’t remember exactly what happened, but I remember it was very subtle.

“I remember the attention went away [from Filia] and then I had to come back to it. I don’t remember it being a huge collision.”

The twist of fate sent the brothers spinning in opposite directions.

The neck injury caused an issue with an artery going to Filia’s brain, which is life-threatening.

He was told he could never play rugby league again, which has given Stefano, who will make his debut for NSW on Wednesday night, an intense lesson in gratitude.

“There’s a lot of shit stuff going on at the moment, but sticking up for his brother means he’s got to work hard and live with that sort of conscience of, ‘My brother could have done this’,” Fittler says.

Stefano Utoikamanu of the Blues. Picture: Getty Images

“It’s good, it shows spirit.”

If not for Filia’s injury, Stefano, 23, believes they could be playing Origin together.

“He’s not supposed to play anymore,” Stefano says, although Filia still plays park football on the side after his day job as a carpenter now.

“It was tough for him, he couldn’t believe it.

“He’s not supposed to be playing anymore but it’s hard when you’re a good player and all of a sudden you can’t do it anymore. It’s a big thing.

“He was just as good as me, I believe he would be next to me playing now, or next to me at club footy. You could only dream of something like that.

“He’s good though, I love him, he always comes to my games and he’s a big supporter of mine.”

Filia Utoikamanu playing for Campbelltown Collegians. Picture: Julian Andrews

As the rugby league gods would have it, Stefano’s teammate on Wednesday night, Payne Haas, was captain of the Blues’ under-18s side the day Filia was injured.

He, too, doesn’t remember the moment being anything but innocuous, but he’s watched Stefano’s career closely since that day.

“I remember his brother, he was a very good player and I thought he was going to play NRL to be honest with you,” Haas says.

“He was a very tough, very strong player. He played second row as well, it was a bit of a crap situation he got put in.

“It was crazy how that whole situation played out. But Stefano is carrying that on now for them both and I‘m sure Filia is proud of him.”

The whole family is.

But the tragic fall out of a career lost is believed to be part of the reason why Stefano left the Eels to join the Wests Tigers.

And his own journey to Origin hasn’t been easy either.

He’s a humble man, but full of spark, and Fittler could always see that in him as he waited for this promising junior to be ready for higher honours.

“Just after it happened to his brother, Stefano got all the injuries, I think at one stage he was coming through as an 18-year-old front rower and then he did his knee, shoulder, all sorts of things,” Fittler says.

“But during that time I think he realised, ‘You know what? This can go really quickly’.

“If you have a look at him, how fit he is for a big man, and you can tell he’s been very professional and that takes a lot of discipline, it takes a lot of things. He’s doing it all right.”

Fittler could see having coached him in the junior rep sides too, that he had a new edge to him.

A fire in his belly that not many players his size have.

“Stefano was always the biggest kid,” he says.

“I remember watching him play at school and for NSW and I just always liked him.

“A lot of those big kids don’t always have that streak in them sometimes of being competitive, they’re just big, but you could always tell that he was just competitive.

“He had about two or three years with injuries, and I always figured it was just a matter of time when he was going to get going and I feel like now is the time.”