CEO and the boombox apprentice: The rise of Penrith’s latest pint-sized cult hero
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After everything Sunia Turuva and his family owned went up in flames three years ago, the first thing the then-17-year-old did was go out and buy a pair of boots.
Fire ripped through their Glendenning family home on a Saturday, but there was still a game to be played for St Mary’s on the Sunday.
Watch Turuva after full-time against Cronulla on Saturday night. Win, lose or draw, the young Fijian will take a knee, take his boots off and say a prayer with teammates and opposition alike.
His boots will stay right there in the middle of Penrith Stadium as he does the slowest lap possible of the ground, taking time with every fan he meets, more and more each week.
But given he only has one pair of boots to give and the clamour for a piece of Penrith’s latest cult hero grows larger every time he plays, the boots stay put.
“It’s very humbling,” the latest pint-sized Panthers favourite says.
Sunia Turuva with a young fan after Penrith’s recent trip to Melbourne.Credit: Getty
“The love we get, I just love Penrith. My family and I have been through a lot these past few years, so representing them and playing for the Panthers and this area, this community, all I’m trying to do is lift their spirits and keep everyone happy around me.”
Turuva’s hardships coming into first-grade, losing first his family home and a year later his mother Salote Vatuinaruku, have been well-documented.
Emerging more and more though, with every game spent in the spotlight, is one of Penrith’s biggest personalities in the smallest of rugby league packages.
When Brian To’o and Jarome Luai are away on Origin duties, ‘Tito’ Turuva is in charge of the club’s ubiquitous boombox, assuming Luai’s ‘Chief Energy Officer’ duties as well.
Sunia Turuva on boombox duties with his Penrith teammates.Credit: NRL Photos
Turuva’s NRL debut from the bench in Canberra last season saw him sprint onto the paddock and keep running more than 50 metres, barely slowing down to take a pass and charge into the defence.
“That’s just me,” he laughs. “I don’t know where I get it from either. I’ve always been loud and energetic and everyone’s very quiet in my family. Maybe I’m loud enough for all of them.
“But when the boys are away I’m in charge of the speaker, and it’s a pretty serious gig. I’ll pump the tunes on game day around the [Panthers] academy and try to pump the boys up.
“I’m still number two with that job though. The apprentice maybe. It makes life fun and that’s my job.”
Turuva’s emergence makes coach Ivan Cleary’s life easy, if a little noisier.
When Taylan May (183cm, 92kg) ruptured his ACL in February, in came Turuva (181cm, 88kg), while To’o’s listed height of 182cm has been debated for several seasons.
With 81 tackle busts this year (equal 11th in the NRL) and 161 running metres per game, plenty of them coming out of trouble, Turuva is fitting Cleary’s mould of power-packed wingers to a tee.
Turuva’s rise sits pretty in Penrith’s increasingly tight salary cap too, having progressed from a train-and-trial deal in the 2021 summer to a top 30 spot last year.
Wayne Bennett and the Dolphins came knocking, as well as the Wests Tigers in the interim, only for the Penrith connection to keep Turuva at the club on less than offered elsewhere.
“It was a tough call and I spoke to a few of the boys and I was umming and ahhing about it, but the more I spoke to people it became an easier decision,” Turuva says.
“There was head noise there for a bit and I was always open-minded with it, but Penrith’s just my home and the best place for me.”
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