In the monocultural world of ’80s rugby league, the ‘galloping garbo’ blazed a trail for the 46% of NRL players of Pasifika-Maori descent
“You sure know the way to a Polynesian’s heart” said Olsen Filipaina, eyeing a large pile of grilled Greek lamb chops. I had finally enticed the legend of Australian and New Zealand rugby league to commit to a story about his life for the Guardian Australia in their “Forgotten” story section.
“Why would anybody be interested after 35 years?” So the journey began. It turns out that a lot of fans are still interested in a cult hero who became one of the most lovable figures in rugby league. However, beyond the stories and statistics lies an impact and legacy still felt today as the “Pacific Revolution” culturally disrupts rugby league across the world. Today the NRL boasts 46% of its players with Pasifika/Māori background.
Olsen played 29 Tests and 50 total games for New Zealand and over 100 first grade games for the Balmain Tigers, Eastern Suburbs Roosters and North Sydney Bears. Yet pioneers have different metrics beyond cold statistics: soft measures matter like inspiration, role modelling, resilience and restraint.
He was born on 23 April 1957, under a cabbage tree in the small village of Awarua, near Kaikohe. His mother, Sissie, was his guiding light, and she was a tough, proud and compassionate Māori woman of the Ngāpuhi nation north of New Zealand. His father was a tough Samoan boxer who migrated to Auckland, a pioneer of the mass migration of Polynesians into New Zealand.
The Filipaina family moved to Auckland when Olsen was five and he gravitated from dominating bullrush to terrorising opponents in Auckland rugby league. His heady mix of brute strength and silky skills turned his beloved Mangere East Hawks into a contender and at 20 made his debut for the Kiwis. At 23, at the urging of his mother he signed with the Balmain Tigers and began his journey.
There had been a smattering of Pasifika/Māori players in the NSWRL but Olsen was the first to carry the burden of expectation. His form fluctuated in Sydney and he was dropped a number of times for non-performance related issues. Playing in the NSWRL, a new monocultural world hostile to outsiders, he promised his mother that regardless of the physical or verbal abuse he received, he would never use his fists to fight back and give Pasifika/Māori a bad name.
Olsen was a confidence player who needed coaches to love him and, without that key relationship in place, he suffered from homesickness, depression and was particularly affected by racism. There were many months when his phone bill to his mother in New Zealand exceeded his combined salary as a ‘garbo’ and a rugby league player.
He received the aroha/love he needed from revolutionary Kiwis coach Sir Graham Lowe and rewarded Lowe’s cultural competence with a dominant Player of the Series display for the Kiwis in the 1985 test matches against the Kangaroos billed as “the world championship”.
To achieve this on a losing team is a major achievement. To do so facing Wally Lewis, who had the year before won the inaugural Golden Boot award for the best player in the world, was a shock to rugby league’s cosmic order. “The influence, domination and magic of Polynesian players in the NRL was created by Olsen,” Lowe reflected. “He knew what would follow him .”
Olsen’s influence went beyond rugby league. As the first Pasifika superhero his inspirational feats were celebrated across the sporting divides. For former All Black Eroni Clarke, Olsen was the chosen one: “We talk about how we as Pacific people navigated the oceans of the Pacific by just using stars. Olsen was like those stars for us; he dared to open the pathway. Olsen gave us permission to dream, express our talent and individuality without conforming and he gifted us a map to navigate through.”
Wally Lewis, an NRL Immortal considered one of the greatest players of all time, recalls Olsen’s impact: “The Kiwis were desperate to increase their standings in the international rankings … and thanks to his injection, New Zealand immediately became almost unbeatable on the international stage. He was an instant inspiration to teammates and fans, but Olsen was so humble he rarely sought credit … He was a wonderful player, but an even better bloke.”
Olsen was also a man of principle. He refused to accept his prestigious Hall of Fame, Legends of League induction unless family were allowed into the event having driven for four hours to pay tribute to their relative. And when he was asked to captain Samoa late in his career, Olsen accepted on the strict condition that 50% of the players be local based Samoans to help the development of the local game.
As the Māori All Stars honour the memory of Olsen Filipaina in the 2022 Indigenous All Stars match, they will know that they are paying respect to a key person in their rugby league whakapapa (lineage). John Devonshire, chair of Māori Rugby League calls Olsen: “A man with humility and humour and whose playing skills spoke for themselves’
“He was the flagship for the Māori and Polynesian pathway and most importantly he has unquestionable mana – his respect, his stature and his reason for being.”
Patrick Skene is the author of The Big O: The Life and Times of Olsen Filipaina - Pacific Revolution Pioneer, available in bookstores. @patrick_skene
Story first published on The Guardian