There's no shortage of ink on Tetevano's body, but you get the feeling the forearm artwork is his favourite.

"I love my reggae music, man," Tetevano explains.

"A lot of New Zealanders, we grew up listening to a lot of reggae. Bob Marley, Turn Your Lights Down Low is one of my favourite songs."

The Roosters prop then rolls his arm over and reveals another tattoo, that of his father who died in January 2015, and the link with Marley all of a sudden becomes a lot more poignant.

"My Dad and I used to sit in the car, it [Turn Your Lights Down Low] was No.7 on the soundtrack and it brings back memories of little stuff," Tetevano recalls.

"It doesn't even look like my dad; it looks like, I don't know, some rapper. Everyone asks me who's that rapper you've got tattooed on your arm? That's my old man."

Tetevano's father Tony was only 41 when he succumbed to heart disease in Auckland – a moment his eldest son believes was the turning point in his life.

Speaking before the Roosters' clash with Gold Coast in Gosford on Saturday, Tetevano, 27, revealed he wasn't even aware his father was so ill until it was too late.

In November 2014, Tetevano pleaded guilty to a series of drunken attacks on his former partner and only days later Manly tore up his NRL contract before he had even played a single match for the club.

All the while, Tetevano's father was fighting his own battle.

"He had I think about five heart surgeries and just a leaking valve and it's something that he couldn't recover from, his last one," Tetevano said.

"I didn't know nothing about it, I didn't even know he was in hospital until about a month [after he went to hospital]. That's one of the saddest things about it, not knowing your own dad's in hospital and you're over here trying to work out your stuff as well.

"That was pretty much the turning point of everything."

Tetevano was ultimately sentenced to jail but an appeal against his 18-month sentence was upheld and he escaped prison, instead undergoing a domestic violence program and community service.

The former Newcastle and Manly forward played for Wyong in the 2016 Intrust Super Premiership before the Roosters threw him a lifeline for the 2017 NRL season. That has since been extended to the end of 2019.

He now lives on the Central Coast – Saturday's match against the Titans will take place just down the road from his home – and has four children of his own, Kamaia Grace, Lineira, Zarius and Zaiden. And Tetevano has hinted there might well be more to come.

The 27-year-old doesn't mind the commute, and takes the train to training each day walking up to Roosters headquarters from Central Station.

"Last year I pretty much drove most of the time but I got a few tolls, it wasn't too pretty," Tetevano said.

"I was so anti-trains, I didn't know if they were reliable or didn't know how it all worked but I've had fun. [I listen to] music or maybe whatever Netflix that I've downloaded on the way here.

"I just made that decision a long time ago that I wanted to stay put on the Central Coast. At the moment [we're] looking for somewhere to buy and that's pretty exciting; that's one of the goals that me and my partner are hoping to tick off ASAP."

Tetevano has made peace with his dark past, and is eternally grateful to the Roosters for giving him a second chance.

"There's a journey and you've got to face them hard times and then you've got to accept it and change it," Tetevano said.

"My partner's been a big part of it as well. All the hard work away from football is the big key, changing different sorts of lifestyle and different groups.

"You have different people that come into your life, sometimes you have to push them away, you've got to make different friends that are going to come and inspire you to be better away from footy.

"One of my biggest keys of being here is always giving back. They've given me my second chance and it's always good to repay that."

Whenever Tetevano needs inspiration he stares down at that Bob Marley tattoo, and rolls his arm over to see his father staring back at him.

"He'll be pretty happy, not just in that, but taking my younger brothers under my wing as well," Tetevano says.

"They've always looked up to me . . . I've always kind of been their father figure, so having them over here is something that I will do on his behalf as well."