When people hear the name Braith Anasta on the streets of Sydney, the first image that’s guaranteed to come to mind is that of a young rugby league footballer playing for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Sydney Roosters, and proudly representing NSW in the State of Origin series.
Today though, life looks a little different for Anasta. The former professional footballer, who’s full surname is Anastasakis, is now the host of NRL 360, a player manager and dad to a “Brady Bunch” family.
Speaking with The Daily Telegraph, Anasta shares how although he’s incredibly proud of what he’s achieved in his short 40 years of life, he just wishes his dad was here to see it as well.
Peter Anasta was the heart and soul of the Anastasakis family. In the early 1980s, he ran a successful and highly reputable smash repair business in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
He met and married Kim and later went on to have two boys, first Damon and then three years later, Braith.
“Dad worked his arse off,” Anasta told the newspaper and explained how Peter’s best mate “ended up ripping him off” and he was “devastated.”
When Anasta was just 15, his dad committed suicide. He says his family “has never been the same” and his mum and brother “haven’t been able to come to terms with it all.”
For Anasta, he coped with his father’s death differently. He immersed himself in sport to the point of distraction.
“I played golf, rugby union, signed a contract with Souths at 16, then signed a deal at the Bulldogs and it was one thing after another keeping me going,” he said.
“It distracted me at the time. But then it would come back and hit me at later times.”
Today, Anasta says he ‘misses his dad every day’ but he’s channelled that pain into building a world-class pod of talent for his co-management stable, Searoo Sports.
The company focuses on managing the careers of Australia’s most talented young golfers and a small collection of rugby league players, headlined by Storm and Queensland State of Origin star Cameron Munster.
A perfect fit for Anasta if you ask us!
Source: The Daily Telegraph.
