Junior Tatola broke down in tears in the dressing sheds and had to be comforted by South Sydney teammates as he prepared to honour his late father.
Souths players wore black arm bands during Saturday night’s game against Melbourne as a tribute to Tatola’s father, Tevita, who died on Monday.
Tatola senior was receiving treatment for his diabetes at Concord Hospital when he suffered a heart attack.
“It was a tough week, there were a lot of emotions, but dad would have wanted me to play,” Tatola said.
“He had been ill, but it was unexpected. I saw him last week, he was all good and chirpy and having a laugh.
“We spoke about the Broncos game, and he was telling me what I could do to improve.
Heavy heart: Junior Tatola played on Saturday night, five days after his father died.Credit: Getty Images
“He had a heart attack, one of his arteries clogged up. I was at training on Monday, we did the team photo, I was lurking around the training centre when one of my brothers called.
“He was getting his morning dialysis and they said he went to the bathroom and collapsed.
“[Coach] ‘JD’ [Jason Demetriou] gave me the option to pull out, but I didn’t want to. I know my dad wouldn’t have wanted me to miss this game. He was watching from up high.”
Tatola, whose name is also Tevita but is better known as ‘Junior’, watched a video of his father on his phone, deep beneath Suncorp Stadium, just before warm-up when the emotions got the better of him.
South Sydney forward Tevita “Junior” Tatola with his father, Tevita snr, after representing Tonga in a Test match.
“Dad had sent me a video talking about something, and that’s when I broke down,” Tatola said.
“The boys next to me, Hame [Sele] and Lachie [Ilias] came over and gave me a hug. I was bawling my eyes out.
“Every time I put on the jersey before I run out I always say a prayer. But I ran out on to the field [against Melbourne], picked up a piece of grass, did the sign of the cross and looked up to my dad.”
Tatola is one of seven brothers and will farewell his father on Friday. Souths play against the Wests Tigers on Saturday.
Demetriou said Tatola, last year’s George Piggins Medal winner, would have impressed Tevita from wherever he was watching the Storm game.
“I spoke to him earlier in the week about whether he wanted to play or not,” Demetriou said.
“But he wanted to make his dad proud, and he did. The players were awesome the way they supported him.
“It’s one of those things where you can’t pressure a player to play or not to play. It had to be a decision that came from him, and I supported him 100 per cent either way.
“Not only did he make his dad proud, he also gave a bit of light to his family who are doing it tough.”
Tatola is one of Souths’ retention targets with the prop, who is expected to enter the NSW Origin conversation in the next 12 months, telling the club he wants to remain at Redfern.
Souths have won five in a row with Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker scoring a try and setting up four between them.
Alex Johnston bagged a double and could have had a hat-trick ion his 200th game.
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