Tekau mā whitu noa iho ngā tau o Marley Leuluai, i te marama ki muri nei, i waitohu kirimana whai rawa ia mō ngā tau e toru, kia tākaro ia ki te taumata o te hākinakina whana poikiri i Ingarangi.
Ko te mea mīharo anō, i waitohua e Marley tana kirimana i tōna rā whānau 17. Hei whakamānawa hoki i tana waitohutanga, i mau ‘Ula fala’ ia, he rei kakī taketake ake o Hāmoa.
”E mīharo ana te ngākau ki te tuku waitohu. Te hanga nei, ko te waitohu i tēnei wā, he tohu kei te whakaatu mai rātou i tā rātou kaingākau nui mai, tā rātou aronga nui mai hoki ki a au hei kaitākaro. Ehara i te mea, kua ea katoa, engari e koa ana ki te tuku waitohu,” te kōrero a Marley.
Nā te taiohi nei i ārahi te kapa o Aotearoa kei raro i te tekau mā whitu tau te pakeke ki te whakataetae ipu FIFA o te ao, ā, kei te hīkaka katoa ia ki te whakangungu tahi me tana kapa, a Burnley hei ngā marama tata e tū mai nei.
Te aro ki ngā tohutohu a Pāpā
“Me he moemoeā i ngā wā ka haere au ki tō rātou taha. Ka kī mai te kaiako ‘me whakangungu koe me te kapa tuatahi i te rā nei, hei apōpō rānei’, ka mīharo au!”
“I ngā wā ka haramai te kaiako [Vincent Company] ki a au, he tino iho pūmanawa ia ki a au, nōku i tipu ake i Manchester.”
Ko Marley te tamaiti a Kylie Leuluai, kaitākaro o mua o te kapa rīki o Hāmoa, o te kapa rīki Māori anō hoki.
I tākaro a Kylie mā te kapa Leeds Rhinos i te whakataetae Super League i ōna rā, e ono ngā taitara i toa i a ia. Ko tāna, he tuku i āna mōhiotanga mō te mahi i tēnei taumata matua, ki tāna tamaiti.
“Ehara ko te pūtea anahe te mea nui, ka mutu i te nuinga o te wā, ko te kimi, ko tēhea te ara e tino mārama mai ana e eke ai ki te taumata, arā, ki te kapa matua.
“Kia kitea ai tā rātou whakapono ki a Marley, me whakaatu mai te pūtea me te kirimana, ka mutu, ki te whakaatu atu i te pūtea me te kirimana ki a Marley, he tohu tērā kei te kaingākaunui, kei te nui hoki te hiahia ki a Marley,” tā Kylie kōrero.
Ko Whangaruru tōna tūrangawaewae
I tipu ake a Kylie i Whangaruru, he kake hoiho, he ruku moana te mahi. Ka ngana ia ki te hoki atu me āna tamariki e toru ki Whangaruru, heoi mō tēnei wā, ka noho tonu ia ki Ingarangi.
I hūnuku atu a Marley ki Ingarangi, nōna e toru wiki noa iho tōna ohinga, ā, i tana tipuranga ake, i mātakitaki ia i te kapa Ōpango, i te kapa Kiwi, i te kapa Toa Hāmoa anō hoki.
Ko te ngākau o Marley, e pono ana ki te whakakanohi i a Aotearoa, ahakoa he aha te hākinakina, i te mea ko Whangaruru tōna kāinga tūturu.
“I reira au i tērā Kirihimete. I ia Kirihimete, i haere tahi mātou ki reira i taku ohinga. E manawa nui ana au ki taua wāhi. Koirā taku kāinga, ehara ko Ingarangi,” e ai ki a Marley.
Mōhio pai ana a Pāpā Kylie, he rerekē te whana poikiri i te rīki, ina ko te nuinga o ngā whana i roto te rīki, ka mahia i muri mai i te rutu tuarima.
“Kia mōhio koe, he pai ake te kēmu e mārama nei au. Nō reira ka noho tonu au hei matua, ka nohopuku, ā, ka tohutohu i a ia i roto i te waka i muri i ngā kēmu,” te hangareka a Kylie.
E whai ana i ngā tapuwae o ngā tipua o mua, o Time Cahil nō Hāmoa, o te Māori nei, a Winstin Reid hoki, ā, taihoa ake pea ka kite hoki i a Marley i te atamira nui o te ao.