Ma'a Nonu

Ma'a is  inspirational to me and others, because he persevered when Steve Hansen said, "I think we will put you in sevens instead of All Blacks." So Ma'a tried harder and trained harder so he could get in. Funnily enough, he got into the All Blacks in the next tryouts.

Ma'a reaches his goals, when Ma'a sets his mind to something he will not give up until he achieves what he set out to do.  He does the best for his team and himself. I personally think that setting goals and reaching them is one of the most important characteristics that someone could have.

Ma'a Nonu is determined to overcome challenges. For example, when he played the most challenging game of the world cup, the finals against Australia. He overcame these challenges by playing hard for his team. In the end, him and his team ended up winning 34-17.    

When Ma'a was younger he went to a small primary school and he can still remember in his class there were maps all over the wall and one in particular was an apple which represented the big apple in New York, and the Big Ben in London and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. He said that "When you are 6 years old you could only dream of going to places like that and now I have been there and played rugby for New Zealand." " I feel so blessed."

I personally I think Ma'a is a great hero for a lot of new Zealanders and rugby players that look up to him.

I chose Ma'a  Nonu as my hero because when I was in my mum's tummy they thought I was going to be a boy and Ma'a Nonu had just made his All Blacks debut in 2003 (that is the year I was born). So when I was in my mum's tummy all the family would call me Nonu Nonu .Also, I was due on the 21st of May which is when Ma'a was born but sadly I was born 10 days late. The main reason of Ma'a being my hero is because we have a lot of characteristics alike. I look up to him in a way.

Ma'a is a good goal setter, because he sets goals for himself that he would like to get to, and will not give up until he has met his goals. I think his goals have guided him to always do his best. I think that Ma'a has been successful because he works hard for the things he would like to get. Ma'a is a good example for many young people, who want to be in the All Blacks when they are older and to show them that they need to train hard and they'll get there in the end. To sum up Ma'a Nonu, I would say he is a hardworking and outgoing person.