As a player, Mils Muliaina climbed rugby’s Mt Everest with what he achieved. Now the Samoan-born Invercargill product has developed into one of the sport’s leading TV pundits. Logan Savory reports.
Any New Zealander that pulls on the All Blacks jersey and plays in a test match gains entry to a special club.
Mils Muliaina did that on 100 occasions. The first in 2003, the last in 2011.
Only 12 All Blacks have made it to that century mark.
When Sky TV executive producer Marcus Kennedy called last year with some news for Muliaina, he felt like he’d been transported back in time.
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Transported back to his 2003 All Black test debut against England in Wellington.
Kennedy advised Muliaina that he would be part of Sky’s commentary team for an All Blacks test against Australia. It was his first test match behind the mic in a commentary role.
He felt like the All Blacks coach had just called.
Just like a player, Muliaina had worked his way through the broadcasting ranks from the National Provincial Championship, to Super Rugby, to the All Blacks.
“I was sitting there, and I felt like I’d made the All Blacks again. It is one of those things you sit back and think, ‘far out, I’m here commentating in an All Black game’.”
“[Justin Marshall] has held that role for a long time, and I’ve sat back and watched him go about doing different things and trying to learn from him. It was special, given the fact Marshy is from Southland as well.”
STEPHEN BARKER/PHOTOSPORT/Stuff
Sky TV commentators, Grant Nisbett and Justin Marshall, before a test match.
In fact, three of Sky TV’s leading rugby pundits hail from Southland, with Jeff Wilson also included.
“It’s crazy, isn’t it. It must be a criteria that you have to be from Invercargill,” Muliaina joked.
Muliaina takes the role seriously. After all, it’s his voice, alongside others, that is beamed into many New Zealand living rooms, and throughout the world for that matter.
It’s Muliaina’s analysis that people tap into during the game.
The 41-year-old recalls the week of his first test match as a TV comments man as being a frantic one.
“I prepped so much that a lot of the stuff I didn’t end up using, but they say that’s what you are supposed to do. By the end of the week, I was pretty exhausted.”
But most important of all, the Samoan-born All Black great feels like he, in some small part, is now providing a positive example to young Pacific islanders.
That’s what he’s most proud of.
Pacific Islanders are traditionally humble and somewhat shy, Muliaina says. To have one of their own on TV and commentating on world rugby’s biggest stage, he hopes is inspiring.
“I was very shy myself, and it’s not until you can see someone that you can relate to and think one day I can do that.
“I’m very conscious of that and actually really proud of that. That you can inspire the young Pacific Island generation to not just sit in the corner and shy away from things.”
Muliaina, who shifted from Invercargill to Auckland in his final year at high school, is proud of his Pacific Island heritage. He speaks the Samoan language fluently.
“Growing up in Invercargill I probably lost [the Samoan connection] a little bit, until I came up to Auckland.
“Although I understood the language in Invercargill, I would always reply to my parents in English. But when I moved to Auckland I really embraced it.”
Robyn Edie/Stuff
Mils Muliaina hopes he can inspire young Pacific Islanders through his role working for Sky TV.
Muliaina’s entry into TV rugby punditry came with a fair bit of reluctance.
Throughout his glittering 17-year professional rugby career he had no intention of entering the broadcasting game when he hung up the boots in 2016.
It took an approach by Scotty “Sumo” Stevenson, who was then employed by Sky TV to sew a seed.
Stevenson wanted Muliaina on one of his panel shows. It was only supposed to be for three episodes.
The former All Black fullback initially indicated he wasn’t all that interested.
“I’m a pretty reserved guy, I didn’t think I wanted to be in front of a camera.”
At the time of Stevenson’s approach, Muliaina was a student, studying to become a chiropractor. The appearance fee was an appealing proposition, so Muliaina eventually agreed.
“Those three shows went like that, and I kind of enjoyed it. Then the emails kept coming, and I just kept coming back, and before I know it, now I’m contracted. It’s so weird how everything has happened.”
JO CAIRD
Mils Muliaina inaction for the All Blacks against Ireland in 2010.
Muliaina has developed a newfound appreciation of what goes into the broadcasting gig, whether that be for a panel show or a game.
He says timing, in terms of when to speak, is vital. It’s a balancing act.
Earlier on he says there were times he would say too little, waiting to be prompted to say something.
Muliaina says he’s still learning about when to speak and just how much to say.
Then there are the nerves to contend with.
“That nervous feeling often relates back to my playing days. I remember people saying the skills you pick in rugby will transition into everyday life when you finish. Man, it is what it’s done, from the Sky stuff to running your own business, to managing staff.”
Iain McGregor/Stuff
All Black fullback Mils Muliaina with his 100th cap after the All Blacks v Argentina Rugby World Cup quarterfinal in Auckland in 2011.
The criticism, or potential controversial takes, on certain players or topics is another aspect Muliaina has had to grapple with.
How far do Sky TV broadcasters push it?
Muliaina concedes, for him personally, that is a balancing act.
He feels Sky TV probably leans more towards the role of promoting the game compared to some media outlets which can take a more critical approach.
Although he’s aware that he is there to provide an honest opinion.
“I’m always conscious that I was once there [as a player].”
“You want to give an opinion that is respectful. Guys make mistakes on the pitch, I made plenty of them.”
“There are respectful ways of being able to say it … You’ve got to get the balance right, you can’t sit on the fence.”
While it’s his role with Sky TV that has kept Muliaina’s face in the public eye, that work has had to be juggled with his weekday employment.
Four years ago Muliaina joined former schoolmate Vinnie McClafferty in setting up a business called The Mortgage Hub.
McClafferty comes from the banking sector and Muliaina says he had an interest in the sector through his own property portfolio.
He had initially eyed a job as a chiropractor post rugby, but with some encouragement from McClafferty they went about setting up The Mortgage Hub, which specialises in mortgage advice
“The first year was an eye-opener … but it’s been bloody awesome.”
It means from Monday to Friday Muliaina wears his business cap, before at the weekend he switches to his role with Sky TV.
On top of that, he’s a father of three boys. He has a 13-year-old, 4-year-old, and 3-year-old.
“It’s pretty nuts,” Muliaina says about just how busy he is at the moment.
So what would the 15-year-old Samoan boy at Cargill High School in Invercargill, think about what the now 41-year-old businessman-cum-broadcaster has achieved?
“At the time I thought rugby was going to be it. I thought I would retire at the age of 60 still playing rugby, that’s how naive I was. Compared to now where I am now, I’ve come a long way.
“I’ve learned a lot of valuable lessons, both good and bad. I think the 15-year-old Mils Muliaina would be very proud of where he has got to. Because there were stages of that teen’s life when it could have easily gone down a different road.”
It was in Invercargill where Muliaina emerged as an exciting rugby talent, first at Cargill High and then at Southland Boys’ High School.
He departed Invercargill as a teenager in 1998 and hasn’t looked back, although Muliaina hasn’t forgotten his roots.
“Invercargill is, and will always be a very special place for me. My siblings and my mum are still down there.”
His business has set up a programme called My Fale which is based around helping Pasifika living in New Zealand with home ownership.
He intends to bring that programme to Invercargill.
“I want to bring a few workshops down there around home ownership, and what financial literacy looks like, without all the bank jargon
“I’ve been working on that for the past month or so, so I’m looking to get down there.”
It’s one of many things he has going on at the moment.
