Sione Faumuina: Alcoholic footy star confesses he turned up to training drunk and his teammates knew – as he opens up about blowing $1million and almost taking his own life

Former New Zealand Warriors bad boy Sione Faumuina opens up about his self-destructive battle with alcoholism, how he squandered a million dollars and the time he nearly committed suicide.

Faumuina, 43, was an extremely talented footballer who played 132 NRL games for the Warriors, Cowboys and Raiders, as well as New Zealand, but the struggling star never reached his full potential.

The New Zealand star was a wild and sometimes self-destructive man off the field. He could never get his drinking under control, sometimes leading to multi-day drinking binges.

When he played for the Warriors, it was not uncommon for him to drink all night before taking a taxi to the club for a training session.

“I was that guy who could pull an all-nighter, go to practice and still come first in all of our fitness routines,” Faumuina revealed on the Between Two Beers podcast.

‘That was me. I smoked. I drank. I partied hard – but I trained even harder. That’s how I validated it.

‘And some of the guys got really pissed off about it, they’d be like, “Man, you’re still drunk – how can you beat us?”

Although exceptionally talented, Faumunia says he found it difficult to commit to the sport in the way coaches wanted.

“There’s never been a point in my entire NRL career where I’ve said to myself I want to win an NRL final. It’s never crossed my mind,” he said.

‘And honestly, if you ask some of the guys at the club, at the Warriors, it probably never occurred to them either.’

Then-Warriors coach Daniel Anderson found it frustrating that Faumunia and some of his teammates were not as professional as they could have been.

“We’re in the team room… we’re just hanging out there,” Faumunia recalls.

‘And Daniel Anderson comes in. And he says, “Oh man. What about that game last night! St George!”

‘And the boys look at each other and say, “Yeah, what a game!”

“And then he says, ‘They didn’t even play last night!’”

‘Ando couldn’t get over the fact that we didn’t watch football. He couldn’t get over the fact that we didn’t live and breathe rugby league.’

Faumuina, who was earning a lot of money at the time, was involved in several alcohol-related incidents that made news in Australia and New Zealand.

The pressure of being a professional football star became too much for him and he began to fail, leaving every club he played for in a cloud of controversy.

At his lowest point, during a match in New Zealand in 2004, he even considered ending it all.

“I saw no way out,” he said.

‘I was broken mentally and physically.

“I don’t know if I ever shared this with others, but I did consider ending my life.”

Fortunately, Faumuina formed a close friendship with a physiotherapist who worked at the club, who helped him through the difficult period and encouraged him to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

Faumuina managed to curb his partying lifestyle for a while, but could never really escape his demons as a player.

At the age of 28, he retired after a decade as a professional footballer, without a clear plan for his turbulent career.

He estimates he earned more than $1 million, but got little in return.

A major turning point came in 2014, after a conversation with his lawyer about visiting rights for his first child, after his partner had moved away.

‘She said, “Sione, you have to make a choice. Either you want to continue partying and drinking, or you want to see your daughter – what’s it going to be?”‘

He decided to sober up.

The football legend is now an entrepreneur and has a steady relationship with his partner Renay. Together they have children Ella, Aiva and Kees.

He has since written a book about his struggles on and off the field and is committed to helping young athletes transition to the second phase of their careers.

“I think I’m making up for lost time now,” he said.

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