BY JOHN DAVIDSON
PROPERTY MAGNATE, bouncer, fashion label owner, personal trainer, bullocking forward – Jesse Sene-Lefao is used to wearing many different hats. While the Castleford Tigers front-rower has made his name on the field in rugby league, he is out to make a name in business off it.
If Wellington-born, Sydney-raised Sene-Lefao looks a busy man, it’s because he is. The father of four lives a hectic life where he tries to make every minute of every day count.
Since arriving in the UK in 2017 to join the Tigers, Sene-Lefao has quietly gone about building his own business empire.
Born out of a desire to plan for his post-rugby future, and to also provide a better future for his children, the 31-year-old has set up his own serviced accommodation company with former Castleford teammate Quentin Laulu-Togagae.
“Try-line Property all started with the mindset that as a professional athlete we’re always told to do something else outside of rugby, because rugby won’t last forever,” Sene-Leafo explained to rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads.
“I’ve always done something – I’ve got my security license, I’ve done my certification 3 and 4 in personal training, and I thought I was set.
“But I wanted something that was passive income and not active income, where it’s a cliché but it’s make money while you sleep.
“I like to challenge myself and I took the opportunity of being away from my family, I came over for nearly a year and I had a lot of time on my hands and didn’t have to do school pick-ups and drop-offs.
“It was just me so I had to play well and be the best I could be, away from my family. So I took it personally and I really wanted to make this time count, so to speak.
“I thought if I just played the PlayStation or Fortnite every day after training then I’m just taking the piss out of my family’s time. So I thought I’d challenge myself with a skill outside of rugby and tried property, I really love property.
“I heard a saying ‘buy a house with no money down’, and that’s exactly the approach I took and that’s how Try-line was created. You learn something every day.
“It’s just like rugby, we get judged by our performance and to be better every day you have to up-skill your skill level and educate yourself. It’s like rugby, I can’t be complacent or my spot will be taken.
“That’s the approach I took. The business is growing and in terms of education and experience I couldn’t explain how much I’ve learned.”
Super League’s wannabe Warren Buffett isn’t just making moves in property but in fashion too. Sene-Lefao has his own clothing brand ETYKYT – short for etiquette – along with ex-Tigers teammates Jy Hitchcox and Junior Moors.
“I’m an Australian/New Zealander and I didn’t want to be one of those players that comes to the UK and you’re just there for rugby and then you leave,” he admitted.
“I wanted to leave a stronger legacy, so I thought starting a brand would keep the legacy here. Obviously playing rugby is something I want to focus on, but it’s something like if I met someone once I want to leave the impact of being a positive, smiley, happy person.
“And that’s where etiquette connects. You have to show etiquette when you go to sleep, you have to be on your best behavior and you have to show some etiquette at the dinner table.
“That’s the kind of experience or look I wanted to portray to others, and use fashion to do it. When you’re a rugby player sometimes when you come out of rugby all you know is rugby.
“So to take a challenge like that really opened my mind that when rugby’s finished, man, rugby’s finished. And if you can’t create an asset that can provide for your family, that’s when bad things happen like self-doubt and depression.
“I’m just trying to stop that happening to myself and to up-skill my knowledge on life experiences.”
Sene-Lefao, who has represented Samoa at international level in the past, admits the global pandemic has also been a wake-up call for him.
“It was kind of a scare when Covid hit because I thought if rugby finished tomorrow, I wouldn’t be able to provide for my family, to get back to Australia,” the forward said.
“I really took it serious and if rugby did go – would I be OK? That’s another reason why I have to make sure my family is secure.
“At the end of the day if I could play rugby for my whole life I wouldn’t need to look anywhere else. I love rugby, I love competing, I love training every day, I love what I do.
“And I love what comes with it, I love being challenged every day and we face different opinions and if you don’t like it then you can’t be a rugby player.
“I love trying to find the edge on other teams, trying to find the edge on myself and to find out how far I can push myself and my teammates. If I had to pick one, and staying with one, it would be rugby.”
Sene-Lefao’s journey has been a hard one from New Zealand’s north island to the rough streets of Penrith and finally to Super League. He grew up in a tough, working-class area of western Sydney and had to scrap and fight to eventually break into the NRL.
Even when he was playing for Manly, where he made his debut in 2013, the prop or second-rower would travel across the other side of the city for several hours for training and then back to work at his second job, as a bouncer in evenings at pubs and bars.
It was not the normal scenario for those playing in the NRL.
Sene-Lefao came from a hard upbringing and unsurprisingly wants the best for his own children.
“If I don’t change it then my kids will probably go through the same,” he said.
“I just want to give them a better life, but I also want them to learn as well. I don’t want to give them everything, but I want them to struggle but learn from it.
“Everyone’s got a journey to where they come from to where they play this beautiful sport that we do. Everyone’s story is special, some stories are harder than others.
“But I think, it might sound dramatic, but if everyone told their story everyone would be so surprised of where every individual came from. I’m just another story, but I love my story and I wouldn’t take it back as without my story I wouldn’t have failed, and without my failures I wouldn’t have had this success.
“I’m very grateful, and if I can get better every day then I’ll be a better Dad and a better person.”
At six foot two inches and 108 kilograms, along with a big afro and extensive tattoos, Sene-Lefao is hard to miss in person. But his physical and intimidating presence on the pitch belies his massive smile, infectious personality and friendly persona away from it.
At 31 the forward still has plenty he wants to achieve in rugby league. But away from the sport he is intent on breaking down stereotypes and making waves.
