Grand final week has given Paul Alamoti a chance to reflect on all the people who have helped him get there.
“Definitely, in my culture, for a lot of the Polynesian boys, family is definitely a big part of who we are and the way we do things in life, and I’m no different,” Alamoti says.
“Family for me is massive, I’ve always believed family gets you everywhere. They’ll be there on the weekend, which is pretty special for me.”
There are two very notable omissions.
Alamoti lost his mother, Nita, to breast cancer when he was just seven. The woman who helped fill the void, grandmother Laite, passed away two years ago. The Panthers centre knows they are both with him in spirit on his big day.
“I hope she’s smiling down on me,” Alamoti says of his mother. “My grandma had a massive part in my life growing up, just being able to be there for me and all her prayers.
“I like to think that they’re proud of me and proud of the person I’ve become.”
In their absence, the rock in Alamoti’s life has been his dad, Soane. The father of four wakes up at 3am most days for his catering job at the airport, often not returning until 6pm if he can jag an overtime shift.
Panthers centre Paul Alamoti with his family.
Alamoti hopes he will soon be in a financial position to help his dad retire.
“When I think of what he’s going through, it makes me incredibly grateful for what I have and the position that I am in,” he says. “Essentially, he did all that for me to get to where I am and where my siblings are at the moment.
“He’s been really good, he’s given me and my siblings everything that we’ve ever wanted growing up.
“He’s given us an opportunity to succeed in life, and it just happened to be one of my dreams.
Penrith’s Paul Alamoti will be playing for more than just himself in the grand final.Credit: Rhett Wyman
“Everything that I’ve been through, he’s been there with me. He’s been with me on this entire journey and my biggest mentor.”
The loss of his mother has meant the Milperra Colts junior has had to grow up faster than most.
“Yeah, you could say that,” he says. “With dad working and what-not, I’ve spent a fair bit of time growing up. He’s been speaking to me about that over the years, just trying to be that male figure in the house.
“I like to think I took up that role growing up.”
All the extended family, including the cousins he grew up alongside, will be there to cheer Alamoti in the decider. His journey is an unlikely one: the 20-year-old switched from Canterbury in the off-season after superstar Stephen Crichton went the other way. After cementing his place in Ivan Cleary’s side, Alamoti suffered a broken arm two months ago, an injury he feared would cruel his premiership dream.
“My first impression was it couldn’t have come at a worse time,” he says.
However, he came back two-and-a-half weeks ahead of schedule, giving him enough time to re-establish himself before the decider – a blockbuster that pits Alamoti against the team he grew up supporting, the Melbourne Storm.
Paul Alamoti was a Melbourne Storm supporter in his youth.
“He loves the Melbourne Storm – that has been his team all his life,” father Soane says. “I don’t know how he feels playing a team that he followed. All he ever wanted for a birthday or Christmas present was Storm gear.
“He loved Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk. He got to go and meet them when his cousin was playing for Melbourne.”
His cousin is Atelea Vea, whose NRL career included a stint at the Storm, as well as time at the Sharks and Dragons. As a youngster, Alamoti would spend countless hours with Vea and his other cousins playing footy. Most Fridays after school, Alamoti would pack a bag of clothes and head out the door to his cousin’s place, and not return until Monday.
“My sister has two boys older than him and they would always play with him,” Soane says.
“Every weekend, he would say, ‘Dad, I am going’. He would pack his clothes and say, ‘Dad, I will see you on Monday’.
“They love to take him to the park, play touch footy.”
Instead of representing the Storm or junior club Canterbury, Alamoti will give the Panthers another favourite who, like club legend Greg Alexander, goes by the nickname “Brandy”.
“That started when he was still young – he was close to my sister and his mum had passed away,” Soane says. “One time he was really sick, he had a cough and my sister decided to give him a little brandy, and he slept all night.
“Since then, that is what he is known as in the family. No one calls him Paul – only the school or club – but at home he is Brandy.”
Given his tough childhood, spirit is something “Brandy” has never been lacking.
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