Almanac Rugby League: Vale Olsen Filipaina, trailblazer

 

It’s proving to be a tragic week for rugby league with news today of the death of Kiwi great Olsen Filipaina. His death comes just a day after the passing of Australian Immortal Johnny Raper. Filipaina, ‘The Big O’, succumbed to kidney disease at the all-too-young age of 64.

 

Filipaina was always a crowd favourite in both New Zealand and Australia with his dynamic, almost unstoppable, running style, deft ball skills and menacing defence. Although his club form may not always have been to the full extent of his considerable capabilities, Olsen rose to his greatest heights when he pulled on the black and white Kiwi jersey.  More than once he was chosen from Reserve Grade to play for the Kiwis, leading his side to sensational victories over Australia. In particular, his form in the 1985 series against Australia is the stuff of legends. In all, he played 109 matches in the NSWRL for Balmain, Eastern Suburbs and North Sydney, 28 Tests for NZ and 6 World Cup matches.

 

At the time of the release of his biography of Filipaina in 2020, Patrick Skene wrote an extended piece for The Footy Almanac to explain his interest in and research for the book. Read Patrick Skene’s background piece here. For further insights into the biography click here. To read Braham Dabscheck’s review of the biography click here.

 

What emerges quickly from Skene’s book is that Olsen Filipaina was a trailblazer for the ensuing generations of Pasifika footballers wanting to ply their trade in the bigger leagues of New Zealand and Australia. He was crucial to the first small waves that became a swell which, in turn, became a tsunami of Polynesian footballers who now make up a significant percentage of all NRL players.

 

But it was also as the down to earth, knockabout, ‘galloping garbo’ character of Filipaina that ensured that his popularity and recognisability endured to the very end. He was a humble man who served his community at the most grass roots level. You won’t hear a bad word about Olsen! He was universally admired and respected.

 

RIP Olsen Filipaina.

 

To read a summary of Olsen’s career click here.

 

To read Brad Walter’s tribute to Olsen on nrl.com click here.

 

To return to our Footy Almanac home page click HERE.

 

Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

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