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As soon as I signed for the French rugby union, it was just a huge relief, you know, because I was out of Sydney and out of sight doing what was best for myself.

Looking back, my whole life seems so surreal. I didn't just turn up on the doorstep playing rugby; I had to go through a whole lot of things to get there.

When things could've gone really bad, rugby caught my interest and I really stuck with it. The sport brought me, maybe off the streets where we'd be fighting, into putting in a good effort in the rugby field where you're kind of rewarded for that rough behaviour instead of in trouble with the law.

I have just fallen back in love with rugby league again.

I had a very ordinary background in Sheffield; I went to a secondary modern, but I saw something on TV in 1968 that inspired me to join an athletics club, and 12 years later, with great coaching and the support of people who loved me a lot, I ended up at an Olympic Games.

Being a young Kiwi lad, a young Polynesian boy, I was pretty close to my family. But when I moved to Sydney, I went from training twice a week, playing touch footy with my mates, to working full-time as a labourer and training professionally.

There is such a rich sporting culture in Western Sydney, one that nurtured my sporting aspirations. Having Penrith Whitewater Stadium right at my doorstep was such an amazing advantage. It was a springboard to my success as an athlete, and I feel really fortunate to have grown up in this part of the world.

Part of my childhood was spent in Sydney and part in rural New South Wales, at Armidale.

The time I've spent in professional Premiership club rugby has been invaluable.