Captions by Rebecca Scholtz. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2024 - Tonight on Sunday ` is this really our year? The hope and the heartbreak of watching the Warriors. - Loud and proud! Let's go! Up the Wahs! - We've got a real diverse bunch of fans. It makes it so special. - If I'm scared of something, I'm scared of letting down the fans. - The real story of hitting rock bottom... - Yeah, it's been tough, man. - It's like a rollercoaster, really. - I think they've been an absolute joke at times. ...and a remarkable turnaround. - I think there has been a shift. - Whatever people put in front of us ` eh, we're just going after it. (CHEERING) - What did you guys think about golf before you started playing it? - I thought it was for old koros. - (LAUGHS) - And an unlikely talent factory... - First out of all the girls in the country at golf in nine holes? - ...where a special mentor builds mana. - I always say there's always a saviour in somebody's life. - You ask anyone around here, eh? Mm. They all know Micky. - Plus, a truly unbelievable escape story. - It still doesn't feel real. It really doesn't. - When he told me 'I was kidnapped,' it was mind-blowing. - Abducted by his own mother. - She wasn't living in reality. - How did this teenager break free? - I just can't tell you how that felt. (GULPS) Sorry. - Kia ora. I'm Miriama Kamo. 'Up the Wahs' ` it was the catchphrase on everyone's lips last year as the Warriors put on a spectacular season, but behind the hype was a team who'd been to hell and back. Tonight, Tania Paige goes behind the scenes. We find out what went wrong, what went so right, and we ask ` can they break a 29-year drought and launch the Warriors into a golden era? Here's Tania with the Wahs. (INTENSE ROCK MUSIC) - Let's go, boys! Three up! - COMMENTATOR: Here's Johnson! (CROWD CHEERS) There's a try. - 49 minutes in, and the Warriors are up 18-6 against the Redcliffe Dolphins. - Put on the shirt every week, loud and proud. Let's go! Up the Wahs! - It's preseason, but still, expectations are high. - Bro, this year, they're gonna clean up. - Jonathan's here from Brisbane. - We've just come from a wedding. The wedding's still going at the moment. Um, love you, uncle. (PATEA MAORI CLUB'S 'POI E' PLAYS) - They're a dedicated bunch filling Mount Smart with energy... mullets... and a little raucousness. - We've got a real diverse bunch of fans, and it's... I think that's what just adds to it, eh. It makes it so special. - Shaun Johnson is widely considered one of the best players in the club's history. - CROWD CHANTS: We are the Warriors! - What impact does Sean make? - What impact did the asteroid make on the dinosaurs? - When you have a season like we've just had, and you see the joy it brings to those... those people who have stayed with the club for so long, it's like, 'Man, you deserve this.' That loyalty is... Yeah, it's priceless for us. - But it's loyalty that hasn't always been repaid. - I think they've been an absolute joke at times. Not` not only to themselves and to the club, but to the game. - Man, can you see the greys in my beard? - It's been hard being his wife. Um, he's been down. He's been depressed. - Yeah, it's been tough, man. - It's like a rollercoaster, really. - COMMENTATOR: They come to Johnson. He runs this time... - Shaun's been on the Warriors rollercoaster since he was a teenager. - This is Johnson with a drop goal from in front. - You come to work with your mates every day, and, um, you get to throw a footy around with them. If I think you've got the skill, then you can go hard. Whoa! Yeah, you get it, you get it. - The 33-year-old's loyalty ` and that of the long-suffering fans ` rewarded when the team surged to a fourth-place finish last season... (APPLAUSE) - COMMENTATOR: Well, fancy footwork! - ...enthralling the nation with gritty performances... and three immortal words... - ALL: Up the Wahs! - ...after some really scrappy years. - You know what? I used to turn the TV off and wouldn't watch the NRL For (BLEEP) two` Excuse me ` for two years. I wouldn't watch it for two years. - People gave us no chance our last season, and now they're gonna be saying something else ` guarantee it. - And why not? But some fans wonder if the club has truly turned a corner. - Enjoy the day. - No, I don't think so, bro. - I think there is. - Nah, nah, nah. I don't. - It remains to be seen. - I don't, bro. I honestly don't. - I think it remains to be seen. - Good to see you working, Thomas. - Away from the lights, the crowds... - What in particular? - Redcliffe game. - ...the nuts and bolts of an NRL club ` spreadsheets, numbers, banter. - You gonna have a shave of your moustache before then? - We wanna be great at what we do, and that takes a lot of hard work behind the scenes. - CEO Cameron George joined in 2017 with one goal ` - The challenge of winning that premiership for New Zealand. Like, it's... it's something I just strive every day to do. And then out here, which is the foyer full of our old jumpers. A lot of memories here; all the blood, sweat and tears that both men and women have left in these jumpers. - COMMENTATOR: From an avenue of fire, they emerge. - That legacy started with the club's launch in 1995, rugby union's little brother staking its claim. - With their entry, Australia's domestic league competition suddenly became Australasian. - I think it will always go down in history as one of the greatest moments ever for the game in New Zealand, but they got it wrong. They overhyped it. They delivered off the field, but they didn't deliver on the field. - Sir Graham Lowe is straight-talking rugby league royalty, but his garage is just like anyone else's. - I know Karen said there's still a few things down here. She'll be so pissed off I've let you into this rubbish. - COMMENTATOR: Graham Lowe looking at the clock ` don't forget the famous... - He's had international success coaching the Kiwis, Wigan and Queensland to historic victories, collecting multiple gongs on the way. - Lowie ` Thanks very much, mate. Mate, we all love you. - There's only one of them on the planet. - CHUCKLES: Just as well you're taking such good care of it. And for a short time, he was part owner of the Warriors. - That's from the Warriors' first away game, their first win. - It's Matthew Ridge, eh? A career underpinned by a deep passion for league and its working class roots. - Look, in my day, at school, if you were a rugby league person, you were definitely being socially disadvantaged. You'd get frowned on; you'd get caned; you'd get punished. You are not allowed to play rugby league. I mean, it was just` when you think of it now, it was just ridiculous. - COMMENTATOR: ...Jones, and the little general will get there. Great pickup from Jones. - Despite flashes of brilliance, stand-out players and coming close on two occasions, in 29 years, the Warriors have never won a grand final. - The reason they haven't won the Premiership ` because they've lacked leadership. It's as simple as that. I don't think that they've ever lacked the player quality. - Look, we've had nine different owners, similar amount of coaches. If you've got stability, it's a huge component to success. And, um, we hadn't had that at all as a footy club, uh, in its entire life. - There's no beating around the bush with how inconsistent we were, right through to my own performance. Ups and downs. - We're only getting 4000 or 5000 people here, uh, to a game, and we just weren't winning footy games. - Cameron's made his own missteps, controversially releasing Shaun from his contract in 2018. - Yeah, it was, um, the only place I ever knew, you know? And it's all I ever wanted to do, was play for the club, so... yeah, when that time came to... to go, it was difficult. - Losing Shaun that year had a huge impact on the club, and, you know, I personally had a lot to do with that. You know, that for me was just probably me just being too ruthless. - But far bigger problems loomed. - From 11.59pm tonight, we will close our border. - In 2020, Covid travel restrictions meant the entire team had to move to Australia. - It was without doubt the toughest, the hardest time that I've experienced, and to then try and lead a club through those dark times, which` so many unknowns existed. - At first, players were told their families would follow, but that became impossible. The Warriors were stuck across the Tasman. - You never want to leave` leave your home. - Captain lock forward Tohu Harris was there through it all. - We had a lot of guys living out of their family homes for the very first time. No one knew how long it would take. The first year was real, real messy because we just were going off very little information. - The players took a pay cut. We all went on... I think it was $575 each across the club ` myself, right through. We couldn't sell seats, couldn't sell memberships ` unlike other clubs. - Was there ever a moment when you thought the club might not survive? - Yeah, there were definite questions around that, so you're not fully focused on... on the job at hand, and it makes` when you're playing against guys who are, it's, um, makes it very difficult. - Yet they performed solidly. But as one year became two, then more, even having family close couldn't stop cracks appearing. - COMMENTATOR: This is old school stuff. It's not good. - Suffering the worst defeat in the club's history in 2022. - And it's all Melbourne. It's an avalanche. - Damn, what was that score again? - It was 70-10. - (CHUCKLES) I must have parked that one straight away. (LAUGHS) I'm just gonna have a drink there. Can we cut? No. (LAUGHS) - How much did that hurt? - That was bad. And it was one of those nights where it was like, you just cannot s` It just feels like an avalanche. Yeah, it's a game that I quickly parked. Threw it out the back. I've had a few of those, unfortunately. - It was embarrassing for our footy club. - Some didn't hold back. - They've looked less than a reserve grade team at times. If you're a professional ` doesn't matter where you are ` you act and play and train like a professional. You don't keep coming up with excuses. - At times, you called them gutless and cowardly. - Well, that's to me what it looked like. I mean, you know, that's a bit of emotion coming out at the time, but it's my feeling. - They were stuck in Oz for more than two years. - I can't imagine what it must have been like for them being away from home and playing over there, but I kept in perspective all the time. The public and the fans didn't want to hear how tough it was for them, because some of the fans over here, some of the mums and dads without work, trying to raise 3 or 4 kids, didn't have income. That is tough. - Grenades we had thrown at us all the time, but we desperately just needed to get home, and that was the answer. - When they finally did, two and a half years later... it was a homecoming spectacular. - For a lot of us, that'll be, you know, up there. One of your career highlights, bringing rugby league back to Mount Smart. - It was unreal. - (LAUGHS) - Was trying not to think, cos I just wanted to enjoy the moment. We just... just listened to the crowd and took it all in. - Starved of live sport, the crowd came alive. - COMMENTATOR: Tohu Harris, the captain. - But the year ended with the Warriors second to last ` so the only way 'Wahs' up. Tell us. - I can't tell you all the secrets. - And are the big lows really behind them? - I'm scared it's coming again. - After finishing almost last in 2022, the Warriors needed yet another head coach. - Some of the coaches they've had couldn't coach a choko vine over an outside dunny. - Graham Lowe, league legend. - You have to be ruthless, you know. You have to have a bit of experience. - OK, boys. This field now, that first line's still standing? - But they landed on a rookie head coach. - I want you to roll it on. Got it? Just... - You're taking on a rookie coach in a pretty tough time. Um, there were some questions asked. - They've failed many times in the past, I think, because they haven't had a coach who's delivered a base plan and inserted it into the soul and the mind and the brains of the players. - I wanted the job because I felt like I had, uh, affiliation with the Warriors. I didn't wanna be a head coach at just any club. - Andrew Webster was raised on league in Sydney. - It was a sport that I was brought up on. My dad played it, my uncles played it, my brother played it. - That's a familiar story ` but he's brought a fresh approach. - This is our first opportunity, boys. The point is, don't take it for granted this week. So tactically, I say, 'What style of football is gonna suit these 30 players?' Rather than designing something you love that they hate. Basically, we sat down last year as coaches and then we just said, OK, so what four stats will guarantee a win? It can't be an opinion; it's gotta be factual. Now let's coach the drills that achieve that outcome. So we work backwards. - Captain, Tohu Harris. - Every coach has their own systems, they bring in their own staffs, and there's a lot of change going on. - It's designed for them, but it's also designed for what wins in the NRL. - And he knows that, having been assistant coach at Penrith Panthers for back-to-back titles. It's clinical, and there were some doubters. - We're going after everything. The hardest thing for us was to convince what we were doing, um, was the right way. It wasn't until we started playing, and then when they actually got the evidence. - COMMENTATOR: Watene-Zelezniak! (CHEERING) - The buying came even harder. - I remember, like, this feeling of, like, I feel like they've got it right. This sort of... I don't know how to describe it. It's like this... (SIGHS), you know? Like... Man, they got it right, man. - Get out there and embrace it. Enjoy it. Soak it up. - But behind the new tactics, something more fundamental ` a culture change. - I think there has been a shift. He's been a massive part of that, because of the energy he brings and how he speaks to everyone. He just fills players with confidence. - My job is to get to know them on a personal basis, create a relationship, and then understand how I need to coach that individual. - He asks me how my day is going before he asks me anything to do with football. He asks me how my family is. He has a genuine care for what life for us is outside of this place. - Yeah, we have fun with it. - Bangers! - What's your nickname? - Uh, they, um... People call me... bangers. I don't know why. I just... I tell people it's because I play good music in our gym sessions. - Does Shaun have one? - We don't call him it, but he said his nickname used to be Princess... - (LAUGHS) - ...when he first come on to the scene. We just call him Shaunie, or I find some sort of insult to call him. - They're both veterans in some of the best form of their careers under Andrew. - Every single player in the club I believe has gotten better since he's arrived. - But Andrew is deeply uncomfortable with the suggestion he is the difference. - I don't think I've turned the Warriors around. Like... And I'm not trying to be modest or anything like that, it's just been an unbelievable collective. And then the most important people is... The players put all the effort in. They go out and do it on the weekend. - In. (ALL INHALE DEEPLY) - For Tohu, who won a premiership with Melbourne Storm, they're all finally on the same page. - From the very top, every... right down to the last player on the list. Everyone's goal is to win the competition. I think that's a big change in the club. - For him, leadership is about the little things... - We've got so many leaders in the club, so many guys with experience, and I don't need to hear my own voice every single day. - ...and the little ones... - I can't bend down and hop. - ...at Te Papapa School, near Mount Smart in Auckland. - Just taking the time out of our day to give to those kids who don't often get to have experiences like that. Like, those are things that they remember for a long time. - It's an investment in the community while the club looks to ensure local talent stays close too with new feeder teams. - It's the first time we've been able to bring in, you know, kids at 16 or 17 years of age to wear our colours. Never in the history have we fielded so many teams, so... - How many more teams are there? - In total, we've got five teams, and then next year we're looking to introduce an NRL-W team, which is just as important to us to allow the women to have a pathway. - It's a big deal if you're 16 ` like Kaawyn Patterson. - Lots of us boys had, like, worked up for a moment like this, eh. Like, haven't really gotten the opportunity like this in NZ before. - Previously, he might have been recruited by an Aussie team. What do your family think of it? - Oh, far... My dad loves it, eh. He's supported the Warriors for ages. But, yeah, always been my dream to be here, eh, and finally we got a squad. Now I can stay here, and yeah, try crack the dream. - Less than a week from their first game of the season, there have never been so many eyes on them. - I suppose there's a lot of people waiting for 'em to fail. If they don't do well, it won't be because of the coach. - Although happy to share some insights... What other specific tactics do you use? - (CHUCKLES) - Tell us. - I can't tell you all the secrets. - ...this time, the filming window is only 15 minutes. The media has to leave now, because they're running some drills ahead of the first game. - External expectations are pretty high. - I think the pressure's from external noise, not from internal. We just listen to ourselves and each other and what we want. It's no pressure. - How do you block out that noise? - If you're consistent around the way you train today, the way you're gonna train tomorrow, the way you're preparing for a game, and the way you did play, then what other people say and put on you, it's no concern. - Are you certain those inconsistencies are in the past? - You can never rest on your hands and say, 'That's in the past.' I'm always... I'm scared it's coming again. So I'm working time in, day and night to try and stop it from coming back into our organisation. If I'm scared of something, I'm scared of letting down the fans. - Was last year a fluke? - There was no fluke about anything. But to win the premiership, you have to have class. But without any doubt whatsoever, the Warriors have definitely turned a corner. They used to drive that way for hope; now they've turned into expectation. It's totally different. - So the bar has been raised. - The bar has been raised right up. - Are we the underdog? Are we the little guy? I think we are, but we don't see it like that. We're going after each challenge, and whatever people put in front of us ` eh, we're just going after it. (CHEERING) - Well, in a way, the NRL repaid the Warriors for moving to Australia during Covid with two pre-season games here in New Zealand. And the NRL season proper gets underway for the Warriors on Friday against the Sharks at Mount Smart. E whai ake nei, from gangs to the greens ` the golfing guru who's turning lives around. - What was your childhood like here? - Oh, harsh. Police busts, everything. - Finding freedom on the fairways. - What's in it for me? I don't know, it makes me happy. - Hoki mai ano. They're just kids, but they are nailing the golfing circuit. These young champs, fresh out of the tiny town of Opotiki in the Bay of Plenty, are some of New Zealand's most promising young golfers. So what's their secret? Tonight, Kristin Hall meets a coach who's overcome tough beginnings and now never turns a student away. Here's Kristin with Micky Huriwaka and his young proteges. (SNOOP DOGG'S 'DROP IT LIKE IT'S HOT') - Golf, the game of rich-listers, businessmen and old fellas ` or so the stereotype goes. - What a shot, eh? - But in Opotiki, you'll find fresh faces, hip hop blaring... (RAP MUSIC PLAYS) ...and lots and lots of Crocs. So you have formal Crocs and casual Crocs? - Yup. - These are some of the best young golfers in the Bay of Plenty. What did you guys think about golf before you started playing it? - Um, it was... I thought it was... - I thought it was... boring. - (CHUCKLES) - I thought it was for old koros. - (LAUGHS) - Same, thought it was for the koros. - Yeah. - Some are even the best in the country. First out of all the girls in the country at golf in nine holes? (CHUCKLES) That's cool! And it's largely thanks to this modest, unassuming man ` local teacher aide and golf fanatic Micky Huriwaka. - Miss, I'll take it. I'll take it. Oh, you wanna take it? (SPEAKS TE REO MAORI) - The story of Micky's success begins at Opotiki Primary, where the welcome is as warm as an eastern bay afternoon. There's a pet chicken the kids named after Maori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Principal Tony Howe knows almost all of his 300 students by name. - Where are you off to? - Skate park. - Skate park? Oh, Chanel. Hey, you had a great day? Eh? - With an eye for talent, Tony headhunted Micky from the local college a decade ago. - He didn't say yes straight away. I had to ask him several times, and then I went and told him, you're starting on Monday. One of the best employees we've ever, you know, been fortunate enough to, um, pull into the school. He's an amazing person. - Just trying to install a bit of mana into the kids. Yeah, a bit of pride, and a bit of self-worth, yeah. I love my mahi. Straight as, Betty. Here. Straight at the ball. Yeah. - He works closely with autistic students like Betty and Mace. - Oh, five wall push-ups, mate! Wah! - One, two, three... - He has high expectations of kids. They will learn. They can get better. Because your special needs doesn't mean you can't learn to play bowls or play golf or, uh, learn to read and write. You can. But Micky keeps them on task in his nice, quiet way. - Young Micky wasn't much of a sports star. - I was a couch potato, I'll be honest. Yeah. Never really loved sport until I was 12. And me and my younger brother, we're the big oompa loompas. - (LAUGHS) What was your childhood like here? - Oh... harsh. Harsh. Um... Yeah. Um, so I grew up in a... a gang family. So, yeah, my uncles were the presidents of... of the Black Power, and, um, yeah, I like, was involved around all drugs and all that ` police busts, everything. - Would it have been quite easy for your life to go that way? - Yeah, definitely, definitely. Um... Yeah, some of my cousins are still in it. I always say there's always a saviour in somebody's life. And luckily, mine's been my grandmother. She raised me. - Her influence helped Micky thrive. He was head boy of Opotiki College. He played rugby until injury forced him to slow down. Golf was a revelation. - Personally... I just felt good at something. I felt- Yeah, I felt that I was great at something. Yeah. Especially in a short time space. A lot of people just started, 'Bro, you're pretty mean.' - Green One. - Oh, yeah. (UPBEAT MUSIC) - Here you go. - Thank you. (BANG!) - Well done. - Good luck, chaps. - Thank you. - Good shot, Robbie. - Within one year, he became what's known as a 'scratch golfer', meaning he could regularly shoot par or below. It takes most people about five years. - How you been? - Good, how are you? - I'm good. I'm good. - How are you? - Yeah, good. - Ready to kill it today? - (CHUCKLES) - We'll find out, eh? - A regular on the Bay of Plenty tournament circuit, usually coming away with a top placing. - It's pretty standard, ol' mate. 'Down the middle Micky', we call him. - (CHUCKLES) - Mm. Micky's done wonders for our club. - What's he like as a player? - Oh, he's not too bad! (LAUGHS) Nah, he's solid, eh. Yeah, nah, yeah, as you know, with a handicap, he's on a plus one or something. So that tells you a lot with golf. Yeah, yeah. So he's renowned around the, uh, around the Bay area, and, yeah. Maori golf. You asking anyone around here, eh. Mm. They all know Micky. - He began coaching his son Elijah as soon as he was old enough to hold a club. Now 14, Elijah is the current Maori Nationals rangatahi champion. Micky's nieces and nephews have benefited too. - (INDISTINCT) Yeah. Keep going. - Before long, kids from Opotiki Primary were queuing up for a swing, and then word spread. - Yeah, no, it's just meant to be our kids. But I go past there, (CHUCKLES) and I'll see... 'Oh, gee, look at that.' You know, there'll be a dozen kids from other schools, but he goes 'Nah, that's fine. That's fine.' That's the way he operates. - The school pays for Micky to do four hours' coaching a week, but he does at least double that, plus away games and tournaments ` hundreds of hours of work a year for free. Kids of all ages welcome, even if they tend to get in the way. - Peekaboo! - (CHUCKLES) (REGGAE MUSIC) The vibe decidedly relaxed ` plenty of music and treats. So this is the secret to your success, essentially? (LAUGHS) - Could be, yeah. Yeah, could be. Could be. - What do you guys like about being part of this team? - Everything. It's fun. - It's fun. We like doing` oh, going places for tournaments. - He doesn't growl that much. He just tells them what to do, and, like, helps. - The older kids help out the little ones... and the least promising. - You've gotta turn that way. - OK. - Yeah. - So like that? - Yeah. - Yeah. - OK. (LAUGHS) One... Two... Three. Ooh! I actually hit it. (LAUGHS) - Always something to laugh about when you come up here. - Yeah? - Like being cheeky about who hits the ball the closest. - When you have a bad shot. - Yeah. - Making fun of the girls. - Making fun of the girls. (LAUGHTER) - What would you all be doing with your afternoons if you weren't playing golf, you reckon? - On my phone with some game. - Just be jamming a game. - This is a bit better than jamming on your phone, though, eh? - ALL: Yeah. - Tell me about how it's impacted the kids doing so well at some of these national competitions. - Um, I... probably... We had one kid that I was seriously thinking of expelling, and we don't expel kids, but he was extremely violent, um... uncooperative, non-compliant, and he was only about 8 years old. So Micky's introduced him to golf, and I thought, 'Oh, well, good luck,' type thing. And he just took to it like a duck to water. It transformed that kid's life to being far more talkative, going to golf tournaments with Micky, um, and yeah, it just` and by the time he left in Year Seven or` in Year Eight, he was an amazing young man. - If it's not all about winning, what does success look like to you with the kids? - Seeing them see another place. Yeah. Home will always be home. And yes, home is paradise, but, um, it's just trying to open their eyes. - These small town kids get to see the country one course at a time... - Where did that go? On the green. - ...making the seven-hour drive to Wellington for the National Maori Golf champs earlier this year. - Wrong way! Go to the right, please. - What's the best thing about being here? - Getting away from the annoying whanau at home. - (CHUCKLES) Precious is doing pretty well. - Yeah. Cheeky. - She's showing up the boys? - Yep. (BOTH CHUCKLE) - If you're ready. Yup, away you go. Yes. - Were you stoked with that? - Oh, yep. Cos, yeah, it was my third birdie of the week. - Mm-hm. Oh my god! Matua said even some of the seniors wouldn't have made that shot. - Don't know. I'm only at junior. - Well, I know. That's why it's impressive, right? (CHUCKLES) Where could Micky be coaching with the skills that he has? - I'm surprised that someone hasn't pinched him, to be honest. Um... Or tried to. But I don't know whether he'll cross the Waioeka bridge. He's... You know, he loves home. (PEACEFUL MUSIC) - And why would you leave when home looks like this? - That was real high, eh? - And you've got students for life. How much longer do you guys wanna keep playing golf for? - Yeah, till we're like nans. When we're, like, in wheelchairs. - Right, OK. (LAUGHS) It's a little bit of a whanau, this team? - Yup. Definitely. - Yeah. Definitely. - Brothers, sisters, cousins, any kind. - Mm-hm? - Whole whanau. - Good effort, miss. You go. That's us, Remy. We're on the green. What's in it for me? I don't know, it makes me happy. Yeah. I don't want anything. I just... wanna help. - Naw, ka nui te mihi, Micky. Now, you saw some of the rangatahi competing in the national Maori golf champs in that story. More impressive news ` Micky's team took away four of the top prizes, with another two teams making it through to the final. So awesome. E haere ake nei ` a mum goes off the deep end... - She believed that we were all slaves. - ...and abducts her own child. - I didn't know if they were alive. I didn't know if they were dead. - But then, an incredible escape. - I've worried about them for the past six years. I need to start worrying about me, you know? - Nau mai ano. Alex Batty was just 11 years old when he was kidnapped by his own mother and hidden away in Spain and France. For six years, he was at the centre of a baffling and unsuccessful missing persons investigation. Then Alex took control of his own destiny. But, as Adam Hegarty reports, his remarkable escape was just the first step of a long journey back to a normal life. (GRAVEL CRUNCHES) (POIGNANT MUSIC) - Alex Batty is the boy who found his way home. Abducted by his own mother on a Spanish holiday at the age of 11, he spent six years on the run in Europe, until he made a daring escape to return to his old life back in England. - It's still not kicked in, really, that I'm back. It still doesn't feel real. It really doesn't. - At 18, Alex Batty has had plenty of catching up to do as he adjusts to his old life back in Oldham, near Manchester. - Obviously, I can't just pretend like the past six years didn't happen, but I'm trying not to think about it. I've missed out on a lot. You're not gonna get it back, are you, really? Of course you're not. How can you? - No one's more thrilled to have Alex back than his grandma and legal guardian, Susan Caruana. Why do you think your daughter took him away? - Oh, I know why she took him away. She took him away because she believed... herself that she was a good mother and she wanted to give him the best life. But a mum puts her kids first, and I'm afraid she didn't do that. - For years, Alex's mum, Melanie Batty, has been on a spiritual quest. This plunged her and her father David into a world of wacky conspiracies and alternative beliefs. - She wasn't living... in reality. - This is Melanie in 2013, leading a protest against the eviction of her father. - All right, let Mel speak. - Can I just give you the definition of statutory law? Statutory law is law that's given force by consent of the governed. - SUSAN: She became obsessed... with hating the government. She believed that we were all slaves, and she wanted to free herself from that, and she wanted to go on the path of looking for the truth. These are her words, not mine. - What resulted was an erratic approach to parenting that saw Susan granted custody of Alex in 2016. The following year, Melanie begged to take her son on a week's holiday in Spain with his grandad. Much to her regret, Susan said yes. When Alex was on that holiday in Spain, was there a moment you realised that you may have lost him? - I phoned Alex and I said to him, 'You will be coming home on Saturday, won't you?' And after that, I heard Melanie in the background say, 'Right, Alex, put the phone down. There will be no more contact.' And I knew from that moment he was never coming home. - To Susan's horror, her daughter sent this video message in which she gloated about her new life abroad. She even made 11-year-old Alex tell his grandma why he wouldn't be coming home. From that day on, Susan was completely in the dark. - I didn't know if they were alive. I didn't know if they were dead. I didn't know what sort of life they were leading, if they were in some monastery somewhere in the Far East. I didn't know. And that was the painful thing. (GLOOMY MUSIC) - Over six years, the fugitives kept up a nomadic existence, living in a succession of hippie communes and remote locations in Spain, then in France, all the while assuming fake names to avoid the attention of police. Well, you weren't even Alex Batty for a lot of it, right? You were Zach. - I still call myself Zach in my third person. But yeah, it was for safety reasons, really. It was... There were a few things, you know. You see a cop ` don't be suspect about it, but avoid them. You know, wear a hat as much as you can, sunglasses if it's not freezing cold outside ` things like that for the first couple of years, just until things calm down. - It was hardly the life for a kid. In fact, Alex forgot what it was like to be one. Over those years ` over the six years you were gone ` Did you go to school? - No. No school. Erm... any schooling that I did, I taught myself. - In all the time he was away, Alex barely saw anyone his own age, and found it impossible to make new friends. Did you feel lonely? - Very. All the time. I cried about it to my mum when I was 13. Erm... Had a conversation about it. Didn't complain about being lonely again. (TENSE MUSIC) - By last December, Alex was at his wit's end. Desperate for a normal life, he got ready for the great escape. - I'm worried about them for the past six years ` I need to start worrying about me, you know? - So, decision made, but the follow-through proves brutal. That's next. - I was done. After a couple of days of walking, I was... - And the big question ` What about his kidnappers? - I don't think they'll find 'em. This world's a very big place. (STARTLES) Shhh. (SOFT GRUNT) You've had a big day, Dad. VOICEOVER: Imagine if instead of the kids wearing you out... (SNORING) ..you wore them out. Get AIA Vitality and start thriving. - Snatched by his mum at the age of 11, Alex Batty was desperate to end his life on the run in France. - 13 onwards, I knew I wanted to go back, you know. But... at 14, I started helping financially, so that's a reason I didn't wanna leave, cos I didn't wanna leave my mum and my grandad completely broke, so I had to help out with that. And of course, I don't want them to go to prison, so that was a big worry on my mind. But it got to the point where I was like, OK, I can't... I can't worry about them, because I've already missed out on so much. I need to start a life. I need to... I need to do my own thing. - This is the isolated farmhouse the trio were living in when Alex decided he'd had enough. Following a row with his mum, he made a snap decision ` it was time to go. - We had the argument. Halfway through making tea, I decided, OK, yep, I'm gonna leave. We ate tea at 9 o'clock, and at 12 o'clock I left. - Before he set off, Alex packed a rucksack, scoped out a route, and wrote a remarkably forgiving note to his mum and grandad. - 'Don't worry about yourself. I'm sure you won't get found. 'Don't worry about me either. You know I can take care of myself. 'I love you very much. Don't be too mad with me.' - For two days, Alex walked and walked through the freezing French countryside in the middle of winter. - I didn't realise how... not physically exhausting it would be, but mentally exhausting. I was done. - By chance, delivery driver Fabien Accidini was on his rounds in the early hours of the morning. He spotted Alex in the dark, struggling along the isolated country road. - I saw this guy at 3am, in middle of the night. It was raining. I thought, 'What is he doing here, right now, at this time?' - As Fabien picked him up, he could never have imagined that the bedraggled teenager was at the centre of a major missing persons investigation. - When he told me, 'I was kidnapped,' just like that... 'What did you say?' I don't` I didn't know how to react. Yeah, I didn't know if it was real or not, but he explained me all of his life for the` for the past six years, and... yeah, it was incredible. - He was in absolute shock. (CHUCKLES) Um... I don't think he believed me at first until I showed him, like... cos, of course, I've got articles from when I went missing. He took me out of his way, helped me the entire night, calling the... He called the police, he stayed with the police. Really cool guy. Really, really cool guy. - Was it nice just being yourself again? - It was nice saying my name. Like, 'Alex.' Yeah. Really nice. - For Alex's grandma and legal guardian, Susan Caruana, six painful years of waiting and worry were about to end. - And then the phone rang, and it was the police. And they says to me, 'Alex is in a police station in France.' I just can't... I can't... I just can't tell you how that felt. (GULPS) Sorry. - As for Alex's mum Melanie and grandad David, they're still on the run ` still out there somewhere. How do you feel about your mum? - I love her. Of course I do, she's my mum. But... I definitely wish she didn't do what she did. - She's the centre of an investigation. A kidnapping investigation. - Yep. - How does that make you feel? - I don't want 'em to go to prison, you know. Don't want my mum, and especially not my granddad, but I don't want my mum to go through that, you know? But I don't think they'll find 'em. This world's a very big place. - Well, since his escape, Alex hasn't heard from his mum or grandfather, and doesn't expect to. His one message to them ` 'I hope you're all right.' Well, that's our show for tonight. Do join us on social media, and if you have a story you think we should investigate, our email is sunday@tvnz.co.nz. Remember, you can find our stories on the Sunday page at TVNZ+. Thanks for watching. Nga mihi nui, hei kona.