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Watch Story on TV3 tonight (7.00pm) for "Back from the dark side", the compelling story about former Vodafone Warrior and Kiwi Paul Whatuira.

The Wainuiomata-raised Whatuira won NRL premierships with Penrith (2003) and Wests Tigers (2005) as well as savouring international glory when the Kiwis shut out the Kangaroos 24-0 in the 2005 Tri Nations final.

But he's a man of two halves. The dark side saw him tasered by police and locked up in a pyschiatric cell, not just for a night, but for four weeks.

So when Whatuira talks about mental health in mental health week, people listen.

Tonight he tells Amanda Gillies tonight how he turned his life around, and managed to silence the voices in his head telling him to harm his family - and kill himself.

His new role is mentor to the the youngsters, tomorrow's stars, and just beginning to face the sort of pressures that threatened to destroy Whatuira.

What they hear, is what you'll hear on Story tonight, how anyone lost in the dark corners, can still hope to find their way out.

Watch Story at 7.00 on TV3 tonight.

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The New Zealand Warriors honour the mana of the Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa, Australia and the Pacific. We acknowledge the traditional kaitiaki of the lands, elders past and present, their stories, their traditions, their mamae and their mana motuhake.

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