Code-hopper Israel Folau has admitted he never wanted to play AFL, and says he only made the move to then-expansion side Greater Western Sydney for the financial security of his family.
Folau turned his back on rugby league in 2010 to join GWS for a deal believed to be worth $6 million, and he says it was the primary motivator for his decision.
Speaking on Sporting News' Ebbs and Flows podcast - out on Sunday August 25 - Folau said the move was never one he wanted to make.
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"I didn't want to do it," Folau said, "the main reason why I went to [the] AFL was purely just to help my family financially."
"I went back and forth with my parents and particularly my old man; I didn't want to go, it was something I just never wanted to do.
"I wrestled with that for a long time, [but] at the end of the day the money was too good to refuse, and I went purely on that one choice.
"One of the big pillars when you are a Polynesian kid is when someone cracks it and they're bringing in the money and resource for the family, your decision is not based just around you personally, it's based around what can benefit your whole family."
Folau's move to a new city and a new sport came after four years in the NRL where he became one of the game's top talents at the Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos, but he was unable to transfer this form to Aussie Rules football.
After just two years and 13 AFL games for the Giants, he walked away from his multi-million dollar deal to try his hand at yet another code, rugby union.
He said he came to the realisation that despite the financial windfall from his deal with the Giants, he was no longer enjoying what he was doing.
"Even though I was getting paid big money, money can't bring you happiness," he said.
"I was rocking up to training and hating going there, I just wasn't enjoying it.
"If I was to give advice to young kids coming through - and Polynesians - I think it's always a good mindset to help your family and to financially do that, but you've got to do what you enjoy."
Folau says his career was at something of a crossroads at this point, saying he had gone on a "downward spiral" personally due to the influence of alcohol and drugs on his life.
Folau made his debut as a 17-year-old, winning two grand finals and representing Queensland and Australia, but he says being thrust into the position of a sporting superstar at such a young age had its hidden impacts.
"When I left school and went to Melbourne, that was the first time I got introduced to drinking and doing everything, like hooking up with girls and getting on drugs," Folau said, "I got caught up in all of that."
"I look back now at that point in my career, and I was going through a downward spiral, there were so many things off the field that no one knew... what was happening behind the scenes. [I was] getting into alcohol, into the women, into the drugs, and I just hit a dead end, I was just so lost and empty."
Folau says he found a drive and a purpose in his religion, which he says he had gone away from during his time in the NRL and AFL.
"I had everything I wanted, I had money, but there [was] something missing, there's something that needs to be fulfilled.
"I got invited to church one time... and I was singing a worship song at the service, and something hit me," Folau said, "I couldn't stop crying.
"I played out all the things I was doing at the time, and realised how bad I was as a person, and the song was about Jesus [dying] for our sins.
"That was the experience that really started it for me... I can't deny there is a higher being that's out there in control of life and that we're not just put here for any reason. There is a purpose to why we're here."
