Fainu brothers reveal the blessings, burdens and missteps taken on the path to NRL stardom
When Samuela, Sione and Latu Fainu lived with their grandparents they shared the home with 17 relatives - and the backyard with a host of future NRL stars.
Fatima Kdouh
Fatima Kdouh
@FatimaKdouh_
6 min read
August 10, 2025 - 5:00AM
News Sport Network
The Wests Tigers' three Fainu brothers, Latu, Sione and Samuela, provide insight into their lives and what it was like to all score in the same NRL game.
As Lily Fainu sat in the Suncorp Stadium stands watching a third son, this time Wests Tigers rookie Latu, make his NRL debut last year, she was keeping a life changing secret.
Just hours before Latu ran out alongside brother Samuela, 900 kilometres away in Guildford, the auctioneer’s hammer went down on the first home the family has ever owned.
Latu didn’t know it as he prepared to line-up against the Dolphins, his mother not wanting to distract him before the biggest game of his budding career so far.
Just nine months before, Latu and Samuela, both still teenagers, each signed a four-year deal, worth a combined $4 million, to join the Tigers from Manly.
The deal reunited the talented duo with older brother Sione, who had also jumped ship from the Sea Eagles to join the Concord club mid-season in 2022.
It would also help change the Fainu family’s lives forever.
“None of us were in Sydney when the auction happened, because I had my debut up in Queensland,” Latu said.
“After the game my mum told me. She was in tears.
“My parents have done so much for us, it meant a lot to them.
“We grew up living at my grandparents house with all my cousins, so it was really tough.
“Getting a stable home for me and my family meant the world.”
Today, Latu, Samuela, their two sisters and parents Lily and Chris live in the six bedroom home that the youngsters helped purchase.
But back in the day, Samuela reckons up to 20 people – Latu recalls it being even more – lived in his grandparents home in Sydney’s south-west at any given time.
“That was just the way we were living and I accepted it,” Samuela said.
“Thinking back now, we had six boys in a small, tiny room.
“There would have been up to 20 living in that house but I never complained.
“It was hard but I loved it.”
The brothers, including former Manly star Manase, who is serving a four-year jail sentence after being found guilty of a stabbing in 2022, spent endless hours tearing up their grandmother’s backyard playing footy.
Close family friend and barnstorming Sea Eagles backrower Haumole Olakau’atu, who lived nearby, would join in on the action.
Latu, the youngest of the Fainu brothers, jokes his grandmother’s house routinely hosted the most ‘star-studded backyard footy games in Sydney’.
“There was a lot of backyard footy with my cousins, us brothers had to split up otherwise it was unfair on everyone else,” Latu laughed.
“Also we had Haumole Olakau’atu and his brothers come over too to play with us.”
Their backyard clashes were never friendly, however, thanks to the boys’ competitive nature.
“My grandmother had that many broken windows and broken fences,” Latu, 20, said.
“There was always a broken something, broken bones even.
“One time, one of my brothers pushed me over while we were playing and I split open my ankle on a bit of concrete, I needed so many stitches
“We’d also start off playing touch, then a fight would happen and it’ll turn into tackle footy.
“That’s where I learned to grass cut, because I was the smallest I had to go real low so they couldn’t get me.”
Samuela says he never really loved the game as a kid, but Sione, 24, tells a different story.
“It was competitive as, none of us like losing. So it never ended well for us,” Sione laughed.
“Manase was competitive, he always wanted to get one over Samuela.
“But Samuela always wanted to be the winner.”
Still, the brothers’ obvious aptitude for rugby league was never enough for Samuela – who made his NRL debut for Manly in 2023 – to see rugby league as a genuine career path.
Despite many observers believing Samuela, now 21, was actually the most talented of the Fainu bunch, his path to the NRL was paved with personal hardship.
His older brother Manase was in the middle of a protracted criminal trial, which spanned over three years due to Covid delays, in relation to charges laid in 2019.
Just 15 at the time, Samuela went from being a budding athlete at Westfields Sports High to a concreting job as a way to help ease some of the financial burden on the family of nine, with his father Chris already working two jobs.
The soft-spoken backrower almost instantly tries to downplay the magnitude of the sacrifice to leave school.
“It didn’t contribute much, but I tried too,” Samuela said.
“We really hit a rough patch a few years ago and at the time I was doing concreting and that was just us getting by, we were really scraping towards the end.
“I had to leave school to help out the family in any way that I can, I was about 16.
“I was focused on trying to contribute to the family, helping out my family where I can.
“I went to Westfields Sports High until year 10, moved to Narrabeen Sports High when I joined Manly but after a few months I ended up leaving school.”
Again, Samuela never made a fuss about his predicament but that didn’t stop his uncles from serving him a daily dose of reality.
“I never complained about it being hard,” Samuela said.
“I actually liked all the banter on the job site, that made work fun. My uncles that I worked with would rip into me, saying, ‘It’s a hard lifestyle, you would rather play footy’.
“They always believed I had potential to go all the way with footy.
“But I didn’t have a problem being a concreter.”
Despite the early rises before the sun was up and the taxing toll of the physical labour of being a concreter, Samuela was turning heads during his rapid ascent through Manly’s junior ranks.
Sione Fainu was named NSW under 18 state player of the year in 2019. Picture: NRL
Sione Fainu was named NSW under 18 state player of the year in 2019. Picture: NRL
Three months after making his NRL debut as a teenager, he was rewarded with selection in the 2023 NSW Blues under-19s side – alongside brother Latu at halfback.
The Guildford Owls junior was also handed the honour of being captain of his state.
It was just another rugby league milestone collected by the Fainu family, but one that left Samuela at a crossroads.
Did he want to be a concreter or an NRL star?
Samuela was involved in an altercation with Queensland players in the early hours of the morning after the Origin clash, after a heated exchange with Brisbane’s Ben Te Kura during the contest.
“After the Origin moment, there was a little altercation that happened and that really opened my eyes to how the world sees NRL players,” Samuela said.
“After that happened it gave me more of an insight into how things work.
“I’m glad that happened because if not, I don’t think I would have taken things as seriously.
“That was the turning point.”
Wests Tigers brothers Latu, Sione and Samuela Fainu. Picture: NRL Photos
Wests Tigers brothers Latu, Sione and Samuela Fainu. Picture: NRL Photos
The incident had served as his biggest wake-up call, leaving the message that his older brother Manase still hammers home till this day ringing through his mind: ‘Don’t waste this opportunity’.
“During that time, all the stuff with my brother Manase was happening. He really ripped into me saying don’t take your chances for granted,” Samuela said.
“He knew when I react to certain things, I can lose my head. But I’m a lot better when it comes to that. He helped me see the world for what it is, both in and out of footy.
“So yeah, growing up I didn’t really love the game as much as I do now.
“Seeing what footy does behind the scenes, I think that is what I really care about more.
“Just like the wonders it’s done for my family.
“Now my family is living comfortably, I would say.”
Sione, the eldest of the Tigers trio, was the last to make his debut back in Round 11 last year, only a month after Latu was blooded.
Nine weeks later, against South Sydney, Sione, Samuela and Latu became the first set of three brothers to play in the same side for the joint venture.
Achieving a feat only a few have – including Manly brothers Jake, Tom and Ben Trbojevic, who the Fainu’s line-up against next Sunday.
But the Fainu brothers weren’t done making rugby league history.
In Round 18 this year Sione, Samuela and Latu became the first set of three brothers to score a try in the same game in the NRL era.
The brothers shrug off its significance.
Their parents Lily and Chris, however, were still watching replays weeks later.
“It just meant so much to my parents,” Sione said.
“It didn’t hit me until after the game but then my parents were home watching it, and did for a long time after.
“I moved away from Manly before them, when they came over to the Tigers, it was a blessing because we got to live the dream of taking the field together, it was unreal.
“Especially for my parents.”
When Samuela, Sione and Latu Fainu lived with their grandparents they shared the home with 17 relatives - and the backyard with a host of future NRL stars.
Fatima Kdouh
Fatima Kdouh
@FatimaKdouh_
6 min read
August 10, 2025 - 5:00AM
News Sport Network
The Wests Tigers' three Fainu brothers, Latu, Sione and Samuela, provide insight into their lives and what it was like to all score in the same NRL game.
As Lily Fainu sat in the Suncorp Stadium stands watching a third son, this time Wests Tigers rookie Latu, make his NRL debut last year, she was keeping a life changing secret.
Just hours before Latu ran out alongside brother Samuela, 900 kilometres away in Guildford, the auctioneer’s hammer went down on the first home the family has ever owned.
Latu didn’t know it as he prepared to line-up against the Dolphins, his mother not wanting to distract him before the biggest game of his budding career so far.
Just nine months before, Latu and Samuela, both still teenagers, each signed a four-year deal, worth a combined $4 million, to join the Tigers from Manly.
The deal reunited the talented duo with older brother Sione, who had also jumped ship from the Sea Eagles to join the Concord club mid-season in 2022.
It would also help change the Fainu family’s lives forever.
“None of us were in Sydney when the auction happened, because I had my debut up in Queensland,” Latu said.
“After the game my mum told me. She was in tears.
“My parents have done so much for us, it meant a lot to them.
“We grew up living at my grandparents house with all my cousins, so it was really tough.
“Getting a stable home for me and my family meant the world.”
Today, Latu, Samuela, their two sisters and parents Lily and Chris live in the six bedroom home that the youngsters helped purchase.
But back in the day, Samuela reckons up to 20 people – Latu recalls it being even more – lived in his grandparents home in Sydney’s south-west at any given time.
“That was just the way we were living and I accepted it,” Samuela said.
“Thinking back now, we had six boys in a small, tiny room.
“There would have been up to 20 living in that house but I never complained.
“It was hard but I loved it.”
The brothers, including former Manly star Manase, who is serving a four-year jail sentence after being found guilty of a stabbing in 2022, spent endless hours tearing up their grandmother’s backyard playing footy.
Close family friend and barnstorming Sea Eagles backrower Haumole Olakau’atu, who lived nearby, would join in on the action.
Latu, the youngest of the Fainu brothers, jokes his grandmother’s house routinely hosted the most ‘star-studded backyard footy games in Sydney’.
“There was a lot of backyard footy with my cousins, us brothers had to split up otherwise it was unfair on everyone else,” Latu laughed.
“Also we had Haumole Olakau’atu and his brothers come over too to play with us.”
Their backyard clashes were never friendly, however, thanks to the boys’ competitive nature.
“My grandmother had that many broken windows and broken fences,” Latu, 20, said.
“There was always a broken something, broken bones even.
“One time, one of my brothers pushed me over while we were playing and I split open my ankle on a bit of concrete, I needed so many stitches
“We’d also start off playing touch, then a fight would happen and it’ll turn into tackle footy.
“That’s where I learned to grass cut, because I was the smallest I had to go real low so they couldn’t get me.”
Samuela says he never really loved the game as a kid, but Sione, 24, tells a different story.
“It was competitive as, none of us like losing. So it never ended well for us,” Sione laughed.
“Manase was competitive, he always wanted to get one over Samuela.
“But Samuela always wanted to be the winner.”
Still, the brothers’ obvious aptitude for rugby league was never enough for Samuela – who made his NRL debut for Manly in 2023 – to see rugby league as a genuine career path.
Despite many observers believing Samuela, now 21, was actually the most talented of the Fainu bunch, his path to the NRL was paved with personal hardship.
His older brother Manase was in the middle of a protracted criminal trial, which spanned over three years due to Covid delays, in relation to charges laid in 2019.
Just 15 at the time, Samuela went from being a budding athlete at Westfields Sports High to a concreting job as a way to help ease some of the financial burden on the family of nine, with his father Chris already working two jobs.
The soft-spoken backrower almost instantly tries to downplay the magnitude of the sacrifice to leave school.
“It didn’t contribute much, but I tried too,” Samuela said.
“We really hit a rough patch a few years ago and at the time I was doing concreting and that was just us getting by, we were really scraping towards the end.
“I had to leave school to help out the family in any way that I can, I was about 16.
“I was focused on trying to contribute to the family, helping out my family where I can.
“I went to Westfields Sports High until year 10, moved to Narrabeen Sports High when I joined Manly but after a few months I ended up leaving school.”
Again, Samuela never made a fuss about his predicament but that didn’t stop his uncles from serving him a daily dose of reality.
“I never complained about it being hard,” Samuela said.
“I actually liked all the banter on the job site, that made work fun. My uncles that I worked with would rip into me, saying, ‘It’s a hard lifestyle, you would rather play footy’.
“They always believed I had potential to go all the way with footy.
“But I didn’t have a problem being a concreter.”
Despite the early rises before the sun was up and the taxing toll of the physical labour of being a concreter, Samuela was turning heads during his rapid ascent through Manly’s junior ranks.
Sione Fainu was named NSW under 18 state player of the year in 2019. Picture: NRL
Sione Fainu was named NSW under 18 state player of the year in 2019. Picture: NRL
Three months after making his NRL debut as a teenager, he was rewarded with selection in the 2023 NSW Blues under-19s side – alongside brother Latu at halfback.
The Guildford Owls junior was also handed the honour of being captain of his state.
It was just another rugby league milestone collected by the Fainu family, but one that left Samuela at a crossroads.
Did he want to be a concreter or an NRL star?
Samuela was involved in an altercation with Queensland players in the early hours of the morning after the Origin clash, after a heated exchange with Brisbane’s Ben Te Kura during the contest.
“After the Origin moment, there was a little altercation that happened and that really opened my eyes to how the world sees NRL players,” Samuela said.
“After that happened it gave me more of an insight into how things work.
“I’m glad that happened because if not, I don’t think I would have taken things as seriously.
“That was the turning point.”
Wests Tigers brothers Latu, Sione and Samuela Fainu. Picture: NRL Photos
Wests Tigers brothers Latu, Sione and Samuela Fainu. Picture: NRL Photos
The incident had served as his biggest wake-up call, leaving the message that his older brother Manase still hammers home till this day ringing through his mind: ‘Don’t waste this opportunity’.
“During that time, all the stuff with my brother Manase was happening. He really ripped into me saying don’t take your chances for granted,” Samuela said.
“He knew when I react to certain things, I can lose my head. But I’m a lot better when it comes to that. He helped me see the world for what it is, both in and out of footy.
“So yeah, growing up I didn’t really love the game as much as I do now.
“Seeing what footy does behind the scenes, I think that is what I really care about more.
“Just like the wonders it’s done for my family.
“Now my family is living comfortably, I would say.”
Sione, the eldest of the Tigers trio, was the last to make his debut back in Round 11 last year, only a month after Latu was blooded.
Nine weeks later, against South Sydney, Sione, Samuela and Latu became the first set of three brothers to play in the same side for the joint venture.
Achieving a feat only a few have – including Manly brothers Jake, Tom and Ben Trbojevic, who the Fainu’s line-up against next Sunday.
But the Fainu brothers weren’t done making rugby league history.
In Round 18 this year Sione, Samuela and Latu became the first set of three brothers to score a try in the same game in the NRL era.
The brothers shrug off its significance.
Their parents Lily and Chris, however, were still watching replays weeks later.
“It just meant so much to my parents,” Sione said.
“It didn’t hit me until after the game but then my parents were home watching it, and did for a long time after.
“I moved away from Manly before them, when they came over to the Tigers, it was a blessing because we got to live the dream of taking the field together, it was unreal.
“Especially for my parents.”
