Inner Warrior: An inspiring new memoir about redemption and second chances from the former rugby league player
By (Author) Jaye Pukepuke
HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand)
HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand)
30th April 2025
New Zealand
General
Non Fiction
Rugby League
Juvenile offenders
Social discrimination and social justice
Autobiography: sport
796.333092
Paperback
304
Width 152mm, Height 234mm, Spine 22mm
369g
A redemptive story about second chances.
Jaye Pukepuke committed 15 armed robberies before he was caught by police and sent to prison.
He tells people that while he spent almost six years inside, he served 16, because it took him another decade simply to get his life back to the starting blocks. Prison also took away his lifelong dream: to be a professional rugby league player in Australia's NRL competition. It was years before he was permitted to leave New Zealand's shores.
Jaye had to choose a different path to the one he had longed for - one that would take him on an unexpected journey to become a warrior of a different kind.
Jaye Pukepuke is now the founder and director of the successful alternative education programme Bros for Change. Jaye Pukepuke lives in Christchurch. The purpose of Bros for Change is to give young people a second chance. Bros for Change works to create self-esteem, self-awareness, self-respect and self-management for young people and serious youth offenders. By using the protocols of Te Ao Maori the programme helps to break down barriers and build strong relationships through encouraging respect for both the participants and the facilitators.