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In this podcast
2:03 - Welcome Dene Halatau 2:45 - Hello Halatau 3:15 - Early days in New Zealand 4:44 - Moving to Australia 5:35 - Shifting from house to house growing up 6:55 - Learning about his New Zealand heritage 7:55 - Gary Freeman and growing up as a Tigers fan 9:06 - Junior footy 9:51 - Wentworthville Magpies and Ringrose Park 10:39 - Moving to the Merrylands Rams 11:33 - Becoming a jack of all trades 13:15 - Westfield sports high and deciding to have a real crack 13:45 - Making Parramatta Eels junior reps 17:53 - Being cut by Parra 20:05 - Moving to Balmain 23:11 - Work ethic 25:45 - Arrive Alive Cup 26:30 - School 26:55 - Debuting in Reserve Grade at 17 28:02 - Nerves and anxiety 30:48 - Being noticed by Tim Sheens 35:52 - His first grade debut 38:54 - Benji Marshall 42:01 - Developing into a premiership force 44:55 - Moving to lock for the finals series in 2005 48:04 - Pre game sleep overs with Benji and Robbie 51:10 - 2005 Grand Final 52:45 - Pat Richards and that try 54:15 - Becoming a life member of the Tigers 55:29 - Interest in mental health and developing post footy 1:02:55 - How he got the nickname 'Toppa' 1:04:05 - His favourite try 1:05:10 - Funniest team mate 1:06:05 - 5 people he would invite to a private dinner party
DENE HALATAU
Dene Halatau is a former professional rugby league player with his distinguished career seeing him play 249 first grade games for the Wests Tigers and Canterbury Bulldogs, winning a premiership with the Tigers in 2005. He represented New Zealand in 15 tests while away from the game, Dene is involved in the NRL wellbeing and education programs, while his expert comments can be found on the weekends for ABC Grand stand.
Related Episodes - Episode 115: Keith Galloway | Episode 123: Chris Lawrence |
Episode 129: Craig Wing | Episode 128: Danny Buderus