‘He gifted us a map’: game to farewell Olsen Filipaina, first star of NRL’s Pacific revolution

“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.

Related: ‘Ten feet tall and bulletproof’: how Olsen Filipaina impressed the great Wally Lewis | Patrick Skene

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