Fa’amanu Brown would like to pass on experiences and challenges – in RL and in life

FA’AMANU Brown needed just three games to make a mark that he hopes will have a long-lasting effect on rugby league.

Okay, that mark was on Warrington player Ben Currie’s head with the broadcast forcing a rewrite of new rules.

But the Hull FC star hopes the impact of what he found himself in and the way he responded will be felt for years to come.

But when you’re told you may never walk again, responding to challenges is nothing new.

Brown’s red card for making head contact confused everyone, even he didn’t initially realize he had been sent off.

Fortunately, the Rugby Football League saw the point and was the first to add the word to the law after spinning and then colliding with Currie.

“It’s not about me, it’s about the progression of the game and the coming of the next generation,” said Brown, who wrote his thoughts eloquently on social media.

“If the message is real, it comes from my head. It came from the heart, so it didn’t last long.

“It was just important because that happened at a crucial moment in a game that we could have won. I just wanted to speak because you don’t want to go to the play-offs or when teams are chasing two points to get to a grand final and that happens.

“I spoke to Robert Hicks and the team at the RFL and they agreed they were wrong. Sometimes as a human being you do things wrong and that’s how you deal with it in the future.

“The sport is about learning a new way of playing. Everyone agrees that we need to reduce the number of concussions, but at the same time there needs to be some common sense that things can happen accidentally.”

It’s not just on the rugby field where Brown has faced challenges.

A serious foot injury left him afraid he would never walk again, let alone play the game he loves.

But like his recent drama, he tackled it head-on and came out the other side.

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As Tony Smith’s men head to Catalans Dragons today, he is passing that same attitude on to his younger teammates.

The 29-year-old added: “God doesn’t really give you challenges if you can’t achieve them. With what came my way, I knew God gave them to me because he feels like I can handle them.

“I adopt that mentality every day. I know what it’s like not to have rugby league in my life, so I appreciate things a lot more.

“I came out the other side and this is a new challenge. We have a young team and have a lot of injuries and suspensions, but we have to rise above that.

“For me, I try to pass on my experiences to our younger players and against London they just stuck around. That showed their character and personality.

“I remember being their age and being there for the ride, but I’ve been through some hard things in my life and you have to pass that knowledge on – I don’t want them to say, ‘Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda. ‘

“I feel like it’s my calling to not only play well, but to mentor the younger generation coming through and guide them the right way.”

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Brown and Hull face a Dragons side coached by one of their own: Steve McNamara.

But he and center Matt Ikuvalu have warned them to expect a response from the 18-10 loss at Leeds – and a cleaner side.

McNamara said: “We were really happy with the way we defended against Leeds but we missed an edge and that hurt us.

“It’s only a huge disappointment if you don’t respond. We will respond, I’m sure.”

Ikuvalu added: “We brought that on ourselves with some sins and punishments when we should not have given them away.

“We dominated in terms of field position, but a few disciplinary actions cost us.”