From Super Rugby to CEO: An Interview with Saia Fainga'a and Albert Anae

Last week, I had the awesome privilege of catching up with an old friend, former Red and Wallaby, Saia Fainga’a. He and his twin brother Anthony are known for helping take the Reds from the bottom of the table (at the end of 2009) to Super Rugby champions in 2011!

Both of them went on to star in numerous games for the Wallabies. The last time I caught up with Saia properly was in June 2020 over Zoom, as part of my Reds Rugby Rules lockdown series.

In the warehouse with Albert and Saia.
(Thank you for the new shirt!)

Since retiring from professional rugby, Saia and Anthony have gone on to start a business called Moonyah WorkForce, a large labour hire company.

For our interview, Saia brought in one of the early pioneers of the company, Albert Anae! Also a member of the Reds 2011 squad, Albert has gone on to help establish the Moonyah as a leader in the field. With these old mates around each other, there were plenty of laughs and great stories told.

I know you’ll love reading my interview with Saia and Albert!

Thank you for catching up with me today! The last time we caught up officially was in June 2020.

(Saia:) From someone that’s been with us from 2009 till now, bloody hell... Who would ever think that a team that came last, that you were supporting, with your red jersey and your hat… you still came every week, you came to every charity day, every fan day…. For us it’s a big deal having you come here Tom.

How have you been over the last 3 years?

(Saia:) As you can tell, very well, and very busy. It’s been a long journey, it’s been mayhem, but it’s been good. Obviously we’re still alive - and it’s good to see you fighting fit!

I’d love to hear about the history of Moonyah Workforce. What led you to start the company?

(Saia:) So I will start, and then maybe because Albert’s been here longer than most people, I’ll pass it over to him… As you know, we grew up in tough times, we lived in a pub for a bit… we got scholarships to go to school, 5 boys in the house, beautiful mum… But we were so blessed that hard work was always a given. Our business means “safe house”, and if you look at the logo, it means, everyone has a right to sit at the table. It doesn’t matter if you sweep the floor, or you’re the CEO. It doesn’t discriminate, it doesn’t matter if you’re black, white, purple, Asian, Tongan, Polynesian… For us, we go to the narrative around: Rather than worrying about other peoples business, maybe we should worry about ourselves and what we’re doing to help other people.

Loved getting a tour of the Moonyah facilities.

Our business signifies, giving people a good opportunity around work, around traffic control, just to do something they’re not doing. Probably Albert can tell us about the journey to because he’s been a part of it…

(Albert:) My journey with Moonyah workforce started last year in June. They were at one of our indigenous games at Suncorp Stadium, and Saia saw this overweight kid on the bench with a broken tricep… Which is me… And he pretty much gave me my opportunity then and there and told me to come in on Monday.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it’s been beautiful seeing this company grow from a fleet of 2 to 3 youths to now a fleet of over 30 youths.  There was only a handful of people, now there’s a lot of people, both in the workforce and in the office.

It’s humbling to be a part of a growing business, but it’s been even more special doing it with these boys. They threw me under their wings coming through the system and my mindset is to repay them by doing the best that I can here.

(Saia:) One thing about our workforce is it’s like a rugby team. There‘s fat people, skinny people, tall people and in our business, we have accountants, payroll, we’ve got operations… we’ve got so many departments, and we treat it like a rugby team. And like a team, we have to have a good ethos, a good culture… and when people start bringing other people down, they have to exit. And it’s exactly like rugby, you have to keep winning and if you don’t win, you have to reflect on your losses.

What’s your favourite thing about running this company?

(Saia:) Absolutely nothing. It’s not a company. It’s a daycare centre. (Laughs).

And then, Mum looks after me, so I’m like a big daycare for her and Albert has to do daycare for the other 300 people that we have… (lots of laughs).

Grateful for the gifts from Moonyah Workforce!

No… I think the best thing about this business is that we do give real opportunities to people that are less fortunate than us. And we don’t give them hand-outs we give them hand-ups. One thing that I will say, from my experience, we went from the Reds, who were coming last, along with my twin brother, but I knew that we were there for the same common goal.

And there’s a business now, I think what makes me come to work each day; it’s because I see the single mum that hasn’t had a job in 2, or 8 to 10 years. I get to see people like Albert blossom in work that he probably hasn’t done before. And I look at myself and I see that I get to come into this beautiful office and see all these people work towards the same common goal. The reason why I love it, is because I get to talk s*** with Albert, I get to have fun the guys here, but also we’re all here to make a buck for everyone and if we get to help provide money for other families, then we’re doing the right thing. Maybe Alby has something on that?

(Albert:) Yeah, I’ll tap into that. There was a good story last year, I was looking after the labour sector… there was was a kid and I was getting real pissed off at him because he wasn’t rocking up at work and he wasn’t communicating through the correct channels and our clients were getting very frustrated. The lesson for me was that you don’t really know what’s going on until you reach out.

This kid had been kicked out of home and was living in his rundown car and his father had smashed his phone up, so there was no way of communication! I was wondering if he was telling the truth, but I thought “let’s see how we go.”

So then I placed him out on a job up at Ipswich for two months, he caught the train and rode his bike out there, I was that impressed by him that I drove out there, gave him lunch and later in the week, I went out there and gave him breakfast…

Saia with the Wallabies (circa 2014)

That’s an example of what this company is about. The second chances so to speak, the opportunity that others may not get a look in for. That’s what keeps me up every day, targeting those types of people and letting them flourish… They’ll make their own way. Yeah, that’s what this company means to me and others around here.

Are you playing any rugby at the moment?

(Saia:) So I’ve actually got a good story about this. So my mate over here, obviously Albert retired and well, I thought I retired… but we have a 10s tournament in 21 days… and last year we played in the same tournament and my mate over here was supposed to be our star recruit. He didn’t even make it past the first game! He caught the ball near the try-line, tore his hamstring and he didn’t even make it off the field… and I look at him and he’s got a bottle of Jim Bean in his hand. (laughs)

(Albert:) I’ll try and defend myself. It’s important to hydrate. (Lots of laughs)

(Saia:) I thought “at least wait until you get off the field”… (laughs)

I suppose for me, I couldn’t still keep playing [professionally]. I want to make sure this business is successful. Also, if I am going to go back and play, I sacrifice my family, I sacrifice so many things and… what’s the outcome? Do I lose everything? Being a rugby player - it doesn’t identify me. I had to get into the workforce anyway, so it’s either… last year… this year, on in ten years time… I still have to have a job after rugby.

The thing is, when you leave rugby, you loose your identity. For us, we had to do an apprenticeship when we’re 35, 36. For us, it’s hard to adapt. Because you don’t know what you don’t know.

I’m just blessed that we’ve worked hard, doing things outside of our business, because we had no choice. We needed to make extra money 

Do I want to go and play? Yes, 100%. But do I want it to hold me at ransom? Where I have to sleep at this certain type… eat these certain foods… I can never go out, I miss birthdays, I miss Christmas… you take all those sacrifices… you know, kids drop-offs…

Is it worth it? Absolutely not. Am I thankful that I can transition to where I was then to where I am now? 100%, I’m so proud. Do I seriously think of playing rugby again? No.

I’m happy to do the charity matches and the 4-man yacht games, but I’ll never go back into the A-game.

Albert, you’re playing in… 5th grade right?

(Albert:) Oh, I’ve chipped away at Golden Oldies last year for West Bulldogs…There’s four 20 minute halfs and there’s a guy called Santa, who’s 70-80 years old and he decides half you finish. So you might get to the third quarter and he might decide “yeah that’s it.”

The best thing about that is the warm-up is pretty much kick-off, so you pretty much get out of the car and have to run on the field. There’s a few rules, you you’re not allowed to touch anyone over 80 years old... anyone under 40 can only run 10 meters and you have to pass it… I think that suits me perfectly!

Also, like I said before, hydration’s very important. So, if someone gets hit, you know how medical staff come out… no not in Golden Oldies… your team-mates will come out with an esky full of beers. It literally takes 5-10 minutes for that team-mate to sit up and continue playing! That’s how good it is. (laughs)

What’s the number one piece of advice you would give to young players in regards to life after rugby?

I might go backwards to go forwards. There was a guy for the brumbies called Dave Palavi, he was a hooker like me, played for the Brumbies and he was like my idol. He broke his neck and lost everything, and my Mum and Dad said you can come and live with us. And I remember thinking, how does a guy like this lose everything and have nothing to fall back on.

Mum and dad always instilled in us to have things outside, like property, some sort of study or education, generating money. So my thing now, is that when kids get their contract, they need to to invest, network with each other, they need to diversify… rugby’s gonna stop.

You’re not gonna be… You MIGHT be a millionaire through rugby, but you’re not gonna retire when you finish. You’ve still got another 50 years. So you need to make sure that you have other things out

So my advice to other people, especially young kids, when you finish professional rugby, is keep working hard. Train like your number two, act like you’re number one.

No one gives a f*** when you finish. When you go into business, no one really cares, what you’ve done… they care about the fundamentals [what you can do in the business world.]

So I always say to people, treat people how you want to be treated, respect, be honest… and if you can play sport the way that I did, play hard, do things that no one else wants to do, then you’re gonna be successful in life.

(Albert:) I think you’re on the money there. The only thing I’d add is, give things a crack, do things you like to do. I thought I’d like to be a tradie during my four [Queensland] academy years, I worked with a friend of mine, whose dad was a builder… I hated that, only lasted a week. There’s lots of things I did. I worked at Hungry Jacks, did all these odd jobs, realised I wasn’t good at certain things, but as soon as you get out there and figure it out yourself, you’re not gonna know. I did Real Estate a few years ago and I love that. If the boys haven’t tapped me on the shoulder for this, I’ll probably still be doing Real Estate.

Saia touches down for one of the eight
tries he scored for the Reds.

I guess, especially during your days off, it’s tough, because your body is always broken, but try and push yourself to get around that corner because you might meet the most important person you’ll ever meet, or hear the most important information you’ll ever gather.

We have around two weeks until the Rugby World Cup kicks off! There have been a lot of changes happening through out Rugby Australia. What are your thoughts on the Wallabies and this years World Cup?

Two things on that. Eddie Jones… still scared of him. I don’t know if you remember when the Wallabies were always based out at Coffs Harbour… I remember being there, straight outta school, 17, Australia 19s, and Eddie Jones comes up to me and goes “better get that straight Saia”, just into me the whole time.

I think the boys are gonna be scared of him, and I also think that they’re gonna go well.

I also think of teams like Fiji, Tonga, the Polynesian teams… think of the Drua, they’ve got no infrastructure, they’re just from, literally from the villages. They don’t have hot-cold baths, the fancy gyms like we have here… they’re training on concrete. Imagine if you could resource them.

For me, the World Cup will be a good test for the Pacific Islanders.

I think the Wallabies have an easy pool… And Eddie Jones is a clown (laughs).

To be honest, he was very angry, but also fair. He just demanded excellence from everyone, because he worked so hard. That’s what I think.

What game are you looking forward to the most?

I just wanna see Fiji and Tonga kill it. I love seeing all the Polynesians go back to their respective home teams. Whatever game they play in, the Pacific Islands are no longer the “easy beats”.

I remember when I first came to the Reds, everyone was saying “the Reds are s***”, and people in 2009 would say “ why are you going to the Reds?”

I’d gone from the Brumbies where everyone would be wearing a Brumbies hat and walking around and being proud of it, and coming up here and everyone was wearing a Broncos hat.

Then in 2010 and 2011 when we started winning games and you know it, you were there... everyone was so proud to wear a Reds jersey, weren’t they?

And so I think with the World Cup, I think it’s good that the Wallabies are probably underestimated.

What young and upcoming players have caught your eye?

(Albert:) that’s a good question. Angus Bell, he’s established himself as a Wallaby, and I think he’s really come out of his shell and cemented that number one jersey. To be honest, I really only watch the front rowers, that’s where the action happens. 

All the props that are heading over to the World Cup.

Albert takes to the field with the mighty
Queensland Reds.

This is Reds Rugby Rules, so: besides winning the 2011 championship (what a great moment that was), what’s your favourite Reds memory that sticks out to you right now?

Obviously winning in 2011 was really good. But it was the journey to get there. We all bought into something that was impossible.

It wasn’t because we won the grand final, it was because that whole year, we worked so hard as a collective, we did it together. That was my biggest memory.

You can tell with the relationships afterwards, you know, we are not friends, we are brothers.  And walking around the field, for one or two hours after the game and saying hello to everyone and thanking our fans.

People were embarrassed to wear a red hat, or a red jersey. Then in  2010 to 2011, people were wearing them proudly. We changed that! I can say I was a part of it. Alby was a part of that. That was a proud moment in my career.

Thanks for taking the time to catch up, we’ve known each other a long time and it’s been great seeing what life is like for you after rugby.

Thank you! Thanks for reaching out as well. Thanks for being an honest supporter, and being here through thick and thin. I suppose for us as a business and as people, you can’t buy loyalty can you. You’ve been loyal since the start and you still kept turning up.

And now, I’m a has-been, washed-up player (lots of laughs) and you still turn up. For myself and I know Anthony would say this as well, we are so privileged to have people that have our back all the time, and still want to be a part of the Reds DNA. You’re like us. You’re resilient, people keep telling you you can’t do it, and you keep showing up.

Thank you for your time man, I really appreciate it.