Team salutes fallen Warrior

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HONOURED: The Warriors will wear Sonny Fai's name above their hearts this season, stitched into their jerseys along with his club number, 138.

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The Warriors will wear Sonny Fai's name above their hearts this season, stitched into their jerseys along with his club number, 138, a packed memorial service has been told.

The team will also stand for a minute's silence before Saturday's NRL opener against Parramatta at Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium to remember Fai, who is believed to have drowned after he went missing rescuing his brother and four cousins at Bethells Beach, West Auckland, in January.

A who's who of the league community were among about 1000 people who spilled out of the Samoan Methodist Church in Otahuhu and filled a downstairs room for the service yesterday.

Warriors teammate Jerome Ropati, one of 17 speakers during the four-hour service, said the players missed their mate but that was nothing compared to the loss suffered by Fai's family and partner Jenna Frost.

"I'd like to thank the family for showing the strength and courage it takes to endure," Ropati said. "We can't comprehend what you are going through but we can learn from your conduct."

Ropati joked about Fai's infatuation with his physique and recounted how he had bought a dog he thought was a pit bull, only to learn when it failed to grow that it was a "sausage dog".

"The more you speak of Sonny the more you smile, because those are the memories he left behind," Ropati said.

The Warriors turned out in force yesterday with former skipper Ruben Wiki, current captain Steve Price, club stalwarts Wairangi Koopu and Logan Swann and former All Blacks coach John Hart, now a Warriors director, among those at the service.

A tearful Wiki urged those who were with Fai when he disappeared to be strong, and Fai's parents, grandfather, a brother and two of his sisters also gave emotional eulogies.

There were also performances from New Zealand Idol winner Rosita Vai, one of Fai's cousins, and rhythm and blues singers Adeaze.

Former Kiwis prop Peter Brown, who had managed Fai since he signed with the Warriors aged 14, said Fai was an inspiration in South Auckland.

"The community has lost a real role model. I just hope that you are at peace."