Francis Meli

And one of the first sets, Peter Wallace, 'cause Manu Vatuvea was the winger I was up against, known for jamming.

This is when like, you know, Francis Meli was before him.

Manu also known for jamming and, my God, could they jam.

And one of the first sets down there, we just put a grubber in straight away.

Especially those who were kinda trigger-happy on the jam.

Well, it's like Francis Meli, he was the...

He-

[laughs]

Did you ever see-

Francis Meli?

...

Francis Meli?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, I played with Francis Meli.

Did you?

Yeah, he, he-

Any thoughts on that lot that I just covered off before I throw it your way for the Saucy Seabrooks?

Well, the other one to add into that list of Mata'utia would be Francis Meli.

Wouldn't be, too many props wouldn't be running at him front on either.

Francis was normally pretty legit though, bro.

And then 2002, it really just sort of set that up, eh? You had the experience of the Kevin Campions, the Ivan Clearys, even Stacey and, um, a few others, Owen Gutmill.

And, you know, you mix that with the likes of Henry Fa'afili, uh, Clinton Toopi, Francis Meli, who was just starting to make their way, including the, uh, Michael Jordan of rugby league, Ali Lauitiiti.

So, you know, it was just a moment in history when everyone come together, and, uh, we were able to create some really cool memories.

When you think back to the 2002 Grand Final, what stands out most vividly?

That 2002 team, man, what a team.

As well as you, obviously, Kevin Campion, Clinton Toopi, Mark Tookey, Stacey Jones, Lance Hohaia, Jerry Seuseu, Francis Meli, Ali Lauitiiti, Aaron Guttenbeil, Wairangi Koopu, Ivan Cleary, coached by Daniel Anderson.

Yeah.

What a team that must have been to be a part of.