Things don't get much better than a Sunday afternoon at Mt Smart and it will be a special day for Parramatta Eels forwards Manu Ma'u and Suaia Matagi. We all know their story and the stars have aligned for Ma'u and Matgai to team up on the same turf that once gave them their opportunity at cracking the NRL.

Prison is less about rehabilitation these days and more about making cash for their private owners, although in Ma'u and Matagi we have one of the more inspiring kiwi sporting stories ever. What is often overlooked though in the story about their respective journeys from prison to the NRL is that they both went through the Auckland Vulcans - the old Aotearoa Warriors reserve grade team - to get to the NRL, thus making the Vulcans a crucial stepping stone in their stories.

A Facebook post from 2012 shows a Vulcans team with Matagi starting at prop and Ma'u coming off the bench. That same team has Konrad Hurrell and Krisnan Inu as the starting centres, Gold Coast's Agnatius Paasi starting on one edge and Wellington Hurricanes forward Sam Lousi starting on the other edge, All Blacks Sevens' Dylan Collier was on the wing.

At the time, you would have had to have been an Auckland rugby league nerd or an oracle to understand the significance of a Vulcans team with Matagi and Ma'u playing alongside each other. An Auckland league nerd would have paid attention to Matagi and Ma'u as they earned their Vulcans spots through strong club form and you would have been a bit of a dick if you weren't hoping they enjoyed relative success after leaving prison. An oracle would have predicted that these two would go on to become two of the most brutal NRL forwards in the game today.

I was neither of those, however I do understand how important Matagi and Ma'u are to this Eels team in 2017. Under coach Brad Arthur, Ma'u has flourished and he's played three 80-minute games this season (along with 62mins and 42mins) while averaging 12.8 carries, 115m/per-game, 8.98m/per-carry and 1.8 offloads a game. Stats tell the story of a super-solid edge forward, although when you watch Ma'u go about his business you get a different story as every bit of his brutality and aggression comes with a bit of subtle footwork or a slick pass.

I remember when I was 16 years of age I was an alcoholic not even playing sports and didn't have any good role models to look up to and just going through the motions . I Guess that's why it was extras special for me and honoured to get the chance to share my journey in life to u16 @theparraeels Harold Mathews and also share the importance of resilience cause to be honest you don't only need it in rugby league but also in this game called life and that's one game we can't afford to lose . No matter how many times you drop the ball in life you got to have the attitude to pick the ball up and run again 🤜🏽 #nevergiveup #alwayshope

740 Likes, 49 Comments - Suaia Matagi (@suaiamatagi) on Instagram: "I remember when I was 16 years of age I was an alcoholic not even playing sports and didn't have..."

On the edge you need to be able to run tough lines as well as creating for those around you, through the middle everything is a lot more simple and that's where Matagi shines. Averaging 8.35m/per-carry, Matagi started the season with three-straight games in which he ran over 100m, despite playing less than 50 minutes in all of them. He's dipped a bit in his last two games - two losses - but Matagi is only playing for the Eels thanks to an excellent 2016 season for Penrith which saw him average 9.59m/per-carry; anything over 10m/per-carry is Jason Taumalolo territory.

The story goes that when Ma'u and Matagi were unable to travel to Australia with the Vulcans thanks to visa issues, they would trade messages. They'd keep each other zoned in their goal of playing NRL footy and that not only led to them both playing in the NRL, but soon enough Ma'u was telling Matagi to come join him at Parramatta. Imagine playing footy against a team with two blokes who had been in prison, yet that has now been overshadowed by Matagi using his standing to do mentor and generally 'pay it forward' as if that was his purpose on this Earth.

Ma'u has been with the Eels for a few years now and apart from being viewed as a leader and a guiding presence for Parramatta's young polynesians. When Ma'u re-signed with Parramatta last year, Arthur had this to say: “Manu has been an essential player for our Club ever since he debuted for us in 2014. His energy and commitment is outstanding and he continues to be one of our strongest contributors each week. It was important for our club that Manu remains with us in the long term"

Now these two return to Mt Smart, a place which gave them refuge and was the only place they could play reserve grade footy for a period of time. These two obviously provide all sorts of hope and motivation for the many young men who are locked up in Aotearoa, but their ability to inspire stretches far beyond that. Anyone can draw upon this great yarn to get through a tough time or use as fuel to strive for more and whether you're pakeha or polynesian, these two are blokes we can all look up to.

The Auckland Vulcans may no longer exist, however as Warriors fans we can be immensely proud of the role this club played - big or small - in the respective success of Manu Ma'u and Suaia Matagi.

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