Alofa Alofa finishes off a brilliant Waratahs try against the Auckland Blues
in last Friday’s pre-season trial

by Brendan Bradford –

“You’ve gotta keep the day job while you’re looking for that contract,” said hot-stepping winger Alofa Alofa in June last year.

Back in union with West Harbour after a stint in league proved unsuccessful, Alofa was searching for his opportunity in the professional ranks while making ends meet by working in a dental clinic in Mascot.

He was the Shute Shield’s leading try-scorer and was turning heads with each five-pointer but the most likely option was a move to France. That all changed when he answered a call from an unfamiliar number and the voice on the phone said “This is Michael Cheika”.

Two weeks later he was on a plane to Argentina with the NSW Barbarians and now, barely half a year on, he’s dazzled the crowd in his home debut at Allianz Stadium in a trial match against the Blues.

Alofa Alofa leaves the opposition in his wake in scoring one of his 13 tries for West Harbour in 13 Rounds of the Shute Shield in 2013 – Photo:www.spaimages.com.au

He’s signed a rookie contract with the Waratahs and was able to leave the dentist’s clinic too.

“I didn’t get the contract back around the Argentina trip, so I was still working, but when I signed and I didn’t have to go to work anymore, that was very cool for me,” he said.

“To go to the boss and say I was leaving at the end of that week was very big.”

He admits it’s been a quick rise, but is adamant he isn’t letting the hype go to his head.

“It’s been a massive step for me, but I’m just trying to take it slowly and not get too excited because anything could still happen. I was really nervous at the start of the game, my hands were sweaty and my heart was racing, but when I got my first touch…man, it just happened.”

He got that right.

After coming on at halftime, he danced down the right touch line, evading several defenders on the way and the Tahs scored a few phases later on the left. He made a scything 40-meter midfield run shortly after and offloaded in a tackle to Adam Ashley-Cooper who was unable to haul in the hurried pass.

The piece-de-resistance came in the third quarter when Alofa dived to a low Jono Lance offload, flicked it up to Peter Betham, jumped back to his feet and was on hand to take over from Bernard Foley and score in the corner in front of his Pirates teammates in the stands.

Alofa Alofa celebrates his stunning try against the Blues with Peter Betham – Photo: Carl Peterson.

“I was just buzzing, and I still am,” he said nearly 24-hours after the display.

“It happened too fast for me to think about, but I just remember getting up and running and I’m very thankful it all worked out.”

A son of two church ministers (his Dad couldn’t watch the game because he was at a youth summit in Melbourne), the ever humble Alofa perfectly sums up the style and approach the Waratahs need to adopt to win over the fans and get Allianz Stadium rocking again.

“He had a good run when he came on, he made some good breaks and showed some good footwork,” said Michael Cheika after the game.

“The effort he showed to score the try – where he was down on his back only a couple of seconds before and got back up – that’s what this team is trying to become; getting up off the ground and getting back into position as quickly as possible and that shows he’s obviously hungry for the opportunity and he definitely gave himself the shot at it.”.

While Cheika singled out Alofa for his great performance, the young winger credited the coach with instilling in him the confidence to play his natural game.

“We had a really good team chat before the game and ‘Cheik’ said he wanted us to remember that today was the day we were going to show the Waratahs fans what our identity is and how we play rugby as a team and I thought we did that,” he said.

“All we had to do was have fun and enjoy the game for what it is.”