Why? Because despite playing just 48 games and being robbed of a chance to play for the Wallabies, Vaea touched the heart of every player in a different way.

For some it was his broken English and mispronunciations.

For others it was the way a two-game rookie Vaea dealt with a television crew trying to get an interview from him when former Brumbies coach Andy Friend was sacked. Vaea told the crew to "get that camera out of my face before I break it".

There's the time his entire body started shaking in his first media interview on the eve of his debut Super Rugby match that his teammates still watch on Youtube.

Then there's the big hits, the hard runs, the tries, the celebrations and the cheeky grin with a chipped front tooth that endeared him to everyone he met.

Vaea - the Tongan smiling assassin - was forced to retire from rugby this week after doctors told him it was too risky for him to play on as he manages a life-threatening heart condition.

It was the same feeling that swept through Brumbies ranks just a couple of years ago when Pat McCabe called time on his career when he broke his neck for a third time.

Vaea's news hit hard given he was in Wallabies camp and chasing a Test dream just days before doctors told him his career was over.

Vaea gathered Brumbies players at the club's headquarters on Monday for a team meeting. Some knew what was coming. Others were left with tears rolling down their cheeks as Vaea, just 27 years old, told them he had played the last game of his rugby career.

It hit home because Vaea had fought so hard to get a second chance at rugby. It hit even harder because the man known as "Dox" - Tongan slang for brother - was loved by everyone.

"The thing about Ita is that you can get fooled by his broken English into thinking he's not smart, but he's actually one of the most switched on guys in the squad," said Robbie Coleman.

"I was one of the guys who was emotional, it hit me hard. He's irreplaceable. He's inspiring us still.

"I remember the day Friendy got fired, that was our first year in the squad. Reporters were hassling me a bit and I couldn't get into my car. Ita was a few cars down and I believe the words were: "get that camera out of my face before I break it".

"They jetted off pretty quick. Ita said what was on his mind, he'll be missed. We'll be friends for life. I can honestly say that I've never met a loving and caring guy that is so gentle towards you, but when you get on the field he's an absolute animal and beast."

Vaea was an old-school rugby player. No mouth guard, no fear and refusing to be told he couldn't do something.

When he dislocated his finger a month ago and the bone was sticking out of the skin, the Brumbies' doctor tried to get him off the field.

Vaea turned to him and said: "I'm not going off, just tape it". A few days later he needed surgery.

Legend has it when he was in the Brumbies Academy, the coaches said no one could leave until they'd managed to move Vaea off the ball in a breakdown drill.

Some players were stuck on the oval for more than half an hour. "He was a giant against boys," said former Brumbies captain Stephen Hoiles.

Vaea's rugby rise was put on hold in 2012 when his foot turned white at Brumbies training and scans found a blood clot in his calf. More scans found that he had been having mini heart attacks and clots were being pumped around his body.

Had he played on without the clots being discovered, he could have had a stroke or died on the field. Doctors told him he would never play again.

He was put on blood-thinning medication and stacked on more than 20 kilograms when he was told the only exercise he could do was walking around the block "at a granny's pace".

Rugby looked like a pipe dream but Vaea eased his way back. So you can imagine the trembling knees of opposition players the day Vaea was given the all-clear to play for the Gungahlin Eagles' second-grade side at the end of 2014.

I stood with Vaea at an Eagles training session on a freezing winter's night on the eve of his comeback. He didn't understand what the fuss was about, he just wanted to play rugby.

Vaea was bigger, but his rugby heart never died. He worked tirelessly to get back and got a shock call from the Brumbies when Fotu Auelua was injured in the pre-season last year.

After Vaea's first trial game against the Western Force, Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham was asked if the comeback was real. "On his first run they tried to tackle him. Ita picked the defender up and ran with him," Larkham said.

He dropped weight but his trademark grin and aggression never wavered.

"The bloke is a laugh a day. He was an awesome bloke to play with, one of the most talented I've ever seen. The guy could do anything," said Brumbies prop Ben Alexander.

Former Brumbies winger Clyde Rathbone penned a column this week describing Vaea as the quintessential giant.

"You need only mention Ita's name to watch those who know him break into smiles," Rathbone wrote on rugby.com.au.

"Though Ita would begrudgingly tolerate recovery sessions and skin fold assessments, his true passion was violent, rugby-approved combat."

His bashing days are over, and Brumbies players, fans and Super Rugby as a whole are poorer for it. But Vaea said it best when his career seemed over in 2013.

"If I come back I'll be very grateful, but if I can't I just have to accept it and move forward. There's nothing you can do, my heart is more important."

Ita Vaea didn't deserve to have his career ended this way. But he's still all heart.