Manly star Addin Fonua-Blake became a hard man when he tore down his hero
Find out how a spray from his own mother inspired Manly tyro Addin Fonua-Blake to quit being a fan girl and start being a hard man.
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He has become one of the fiercest front-rowers in rugby league yet hulking Manly prop Addin Fonua-Blake became a “fan girl” when around his hero, former Brisbane and Queensland star Sam Thaiday.
Fonua-Blake’s mum, Miriam, even urged her son to get rid of an Instagram photo he snapped and posted of Thaiday in 2016.
After his fourth NRL game, Fonua-Blake grabbed a photo with Thaiday, despite the fact Brisbane had just whacked Manly 30-6 at Suncorp Stadium.
When Miriam saw the post, she told her son to remove it from social media.
“A few weeks after I debuted, I took a photo of Thaiday at Suncorp after we got a hiding, we were embarrassed,’’ Fonua-Blake said. “I posted it up on Instagram. It was a surreal moment.
“I was told by mum to take it down, so I took it down. My mum didn’t think it looked good posting photos of opposition players.
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“He was bare foot and I was a bit of a ‘fan girl’. I was ‘fan girl-ing’ when I saw him.
“Mum also said I should take it down because we got a hiding that week. I said: ‘Aw, yeah, true, I should take it down’.
“I don’t have that photo anymore. I really wish I did, man.
“Maybe one day I will get to see him out at a pub and sit down and have a beer with him.
“He had a nice afro with the ‘ratty’ (rat’s tail). I liked his hair, I liked him. I was lucky enough to play against him a few times.”
Fonua-Blake led Manly’s forward charge in last weekend’s upset elimination final win over Cronulla at Brookvale.
After the game, the big Sea Eagle was interviewed by Thaiday.
“I was lucky enough to have a chat with him on the weekend after the game,” Fonua-Blake said. “He was one of the commentators (for Channel 9) on the sideline. It was good.
“I really liked Thaiday growing up, the way he played. He was a player I really looked up to.
“He could play edge and middle and ran really hard, did really good tackles and was always in Origin.”
Fonua-Blake will be called on to do more heavy lifting in Friday night’s sudden-death final against South Sydney at ANZ Stadium.
Luckily, the return of suspended front-row partner Marty Taupau will take some pressure off him.
“Getting Marty back, he’ll be fresh, ready to go, ready to rip in, and ready to do his role,’’ he said.
“That will take some weight off my shoulders and the rest of the team. I’m just happy we could get the win for him.
“I feel good. We are right where we want to be. It was a good win on the weekend but we have a tough game ahead so we will start training hard again and go through the same process.
“We came into the year with the belief we could mix it with anyone, no matter who we played. Everyone had the same belief.
“No matter who is in the team you have the same job to do and you’ve got to do it.
“We were always confident of the boys that came in, especially the debutants. We never, ever had a doubt in any of them. And they did the job. We have shocked a lot of people.
“But we knew we had it in us and were proud when the young players got the chance and did the job.”