WARRIORS STAR CLINTON TOOPI 'OUR LOVE IS IN A LEAGUE OF ITS OWN'

Introducing his perfect match, the sporting hero opens up about life after league ans the changes he's had to make for his beloved family

- Ashleigh McEnaney

When former Warriors star Clinton Toopi reflects on his professional league career, it's not his coaches or management that he credits for his sporting success. Rather, the father-of-two says meeting the love of his life, wife Turenga, at just 19 was the real reason the sporting legend was able to perform under the pressure.

"Tu came into my world exactly when I needed her," smiles Clinton, 43, who was introduced to the "shy girl" from Bay of Plenty town Whakatāne at an Auckland fundraising event more than 20 years ago.

"She didn't know a thing about footy, which was so refreshing," he recalls. "There's a real risk when you're playing competitive sport that you can get mixed up in all sorts of bad things, like parties and alcohol. I was lucky enough to have Tu.

"She was my rock. She reined me in so I could focus on the game. Tu remains such a powerful, positive force in our relationship. She's strong, intelligent and beautiful - all things I value to this day but probably took for granted when I was just a wannabe athlete." Back then, despite Clinton's newfound fame as the Warriors' exhilarating, free-running centre, it meant little to Turenga, 42, who fell hard and fast for the genuine, funny boy from East Auckland.

"He stole my heart on the dance floor that night," she recalls. "Toops has the best sense of humour and the most honest nature. Even from the earliest days in our relationship, he wore his heart on his sleeve, which is why things were never complicated with us. We were young and did what made us happy."

The lovebirds tied the knot after five years together and welcomed their first child soon after. Nowadays, the whānau of four, including the couple's two teenage daughters Waimania, 18, and Brianna, 16, live in their home-away-from-home on Australia's Gold Coast.