Vatuvei (37) was sentenced to three years and seven months' imprisonment for importing methamphetamine in 2022 but after a Parole Board hearing today, he will be released under special conditions on May 31.
He was charged with importing, possessing and supplying methamphetamine in September, October and November 2021 - two years after he had retired from rugby league and just months after he had won Dancing with the Stars.
Vatuvei later pleaded guilty to a single representative charge of importing the Class A drug. His brother Lopini Lautau Mafi also pleaded guilty to the same offence.
CEO of One Warriors Cameron George told Newstalk ZB there was potential for him to return in a mentoring role for players.
George acknowledged Vatuvei had made some “awful mistakes” but had “paid the appropriate penalties”. He assured the Warriors did not condone those mistakes.
George believed he could provide assistance in Vatuvei’s rehabilitation by letting him share his story with other players on a volunteer basis.
“I think it helps both Manu and help the kids have a better future,” George said.
“And if we can stop someone from making the same mistakes by Manu helping us do that, I think that’s a great thing for anyone.”
He is unsure what the actual conditions of Vatuvei’s parole are and does not have a specific timeline on when he will take on this new role.
When asked how he thought this might affect sponsorships, George said they were not the first club to facilitate this sort of programme.
“We don’t condone anything that’s happened in the past. He’s not employed by the club. We’re using Manu as a volunteer to provide his story in order to help kids understand,” George said.
Last year, Vatuvei’s sentencing brought an end to a two-year legal saga, including 18 months in which Vatuvei was identified only as “one of the biggest names in New Zealand sport” due to his ultimately failed fight for name suppression.
Vatuvei - listed in court documents by his full name, Manu Mapuhola Mafi-Vatuvei - was one of four people arrested in 2019 following a joint investigation by Counties Manukau police and Customs called Operation Clydesdale.
Among the evidence authorities gathered was an intercepted video of Vatuvei and his brother unpackaging what initially appeared to be hair ties and other hair accessories from India - before also removing nine packets of methamphetamine concealed in the packaging.
The package was one of many that found their way to New Zealand from destinations around the world, according to a summary of facts for the case. The sender, described in court documents as someone the defendants referred to as “Big Boss”, had requested them to send a “pic of the parcel” via the encrypted messaging service WhatsApp.
“Operation Clydesdale demonstrates that ... Mafi was chief in organising the importation of methamphetamine into New Zealand,” the summary of facts states. “... Vatuvei, on instruction from the defendant Mafi, assisted with import arrangements (particularly making inquiries about imported packages and directing others).”
Vatuvei kept his name suppressed from November 2019 until May 2021, when he revealed himself as the defendant in a video post to Instagram.
Affectionately nicknamed “the Beast” by fans, Vatuvei played for the Warriors from 2004 to 2017 - the team’s top try-scorer for many of those seasons - before spending his final year of professional rugby league in Europe with the Salford Red Devils.
During that same time, he represented New Zealand in 29 test matches, including the team’s triumphant 2008 World Cup, during which he set a tournament record for most tries in a single match by a New Zealand player. As a result, he was named international winger of the year. He also represented Tonga twice in 2017.
In 2018, Vatuvei fought in his first and only professional boxing match as an undercard for Joseph Parker, but he hung up the gloves after discovering a brain cyst.
He then transitioned to dancing, winning the reality TV series Dancing with the Stars in June 2019.
