Brumby Tales: Why the Wallabies blindfolded Scott Sio

Sio, Folau Faingaa, Allan Alaalatoa, Nick Phipps, Jack Maddocks and about half of the team were told to put it on because they were being taken to a secret location.

They turned out of the Olympic Park hotel to go towards their team dinner spot. "Yep, I know where we are," Sio told whoever was sitting next to him. "There are hockey fields on the left."

Stunned by Sio's blind knowledge, Wallabies officials got the bus to weave through the streets of Sydney and dodge traffic until Sio was completely lost.

The entire team got off when the bus stopped, but Sio's blindfold was still on. There was a familiar smell wafting through the air, and that's when the real surprise came.

"I took off the blindfold and we were at my house, everyone was there. My mum, my dad, some close family friends ... that will always be a pretty special moment in my life," Sio said.

"We have a team dinner every Tuesday night, but they wanted to put a spin on it to show a deeper connection. My parents put on the works ... a lot of lamb, a pig, chicken, chop suey, taro and a pizza shack out the front. The whole business.

"I got to share my family with the special group of guys I get to represent my country with and I really appreciate the opportunity they gave my family to host the Wallabies. [The team] got to meet the people behind the scenes who have driven me to where I am."

It gave Sio a unique opportunity and gave his Wallabies teammates a chance to meet the people behind the hard-nosed front-rower. A chance to meet the people who he looks for every time he runs on to the field for the ACT Brumbies or Australia.

His dad David, mum Tina, sisters Ana-Lise and Tina and brother Patrick were all there with food spread around the room ready to feed Australia's best rugby players before a Bledisloe Cup.

Most people have heard the story about Sio and his dad, the former Samoan prop and member of the 1991 World Cup side who has been an inspiration for his son's career.

But this is the story about the other four people who have pushed Sio on and off the field.

Like mum Tina, who decided to delay telling Sio she had been diagnosed with gall bladder cancer in 2012 to ensure she didn't distract her son from his first Super Rugby pre-season.

The entire family avoided telling Sio until after Brumbies training. Tina knew her son better than anyone, and predicted he might consider returning home instead of chasing his rugby goals.

She was right. Sio says he did think about moving back to Sydney, but his mum's strength and the rest of his family helped convince him to pursue a rugby career.

Tina went into remission at the end of 2014, but when she was battling illness she had to sit on a certain side of Canberra Stadium because she couldn't walk long distances.

"But she never showed she was hurting. I don't know if there are enough words to describe my mum," Sio grins.

"For a couple of weeks, everyone knew she had cancer but I didn't. She called me on the last day of pre-season and told me she was going into emergency surgery.

"I was pretty rattled. I drove straight to Sydney ... I didn't know how to feel. I was on track to play [Super Rugby], then your world gets flipped.

"But she was so strong through it all, she worried more about us. She was always going to fight through it. She would say: 'I'm going to go about my day the way I want'.

"The strength of her to be able to say that while she went through radiation and a massive life change while going through the disease, that's where I get my strength from.

"If someone asked me what unconditional love was, I'd write my mum's name down."

Sister Ana-Lise helped the NSW women's side win back to back Super W titles last weekend and is also studying to become a police officer. She was also included in the Wallaroos squad this week.

Ana-Lise's twin, Tina junior, also plays rugby, has a university degree and helps run the family business in western Sydney.

"To me, what I'm doing and what they're doing are the same thing. I'm so proud of them," Sio said.

Brother Patrick is an impressive rugby player in his own right and played professionally in France before returning to Sydney in recent years to pursue a career change.

"The thing about Pat is that he goes on instinct, he makes tough decisions. I'm always learning off him and I want to bring that into my game play - taking a risk," Sio said.

But Sio's rise into Super Rugby as a 20-year-old and then his Test debut as a 21-year-old prompted his siblings to dub him 'The Platinum Child'.

"I was the rugby boy and they had that joke," he laughs. "But they're the ones who make me want to better myself. I'm excited for what the future holds for them and seriously, they're all more talented than me."

Sio has carved out a reputation as one of Australia's most reliable front-rowers since breaking on to the Super Rugby stage seven years ago.

He has missed only a handful of games for the Brumbies since his debut since, amassing 97 Super Rugby caps despite being just 27 years old. Sio is also negotiating a new Australian deal, which is hoped to be finalised in the coming months.

He will play his 100th Super Rugby match against the Argentina Jaguares in Buenos Aires in three weeks and is set to play at his second World Cup at the end of this year.

Patrick and David are his biggest supporters, but also his harshest critics before and after rugby matches.

David used to coach Sio when he was in junior teams in Sydney. But instead of giving his son a golden ride to the top, he made him work harder than anyone else.

"We had a big islander boys in our team. He would put me on the other side to them at training with the smaller guys," Sio said.

"Every week I was in that team. We would get pumped. I said to dad I was done, but he told me to wait. After the first game, he said: 'did any of our players get run over?'

"That's why he put me in the other team, because I could tackle everyone bigger than me I could tackle anyone.

"He gave me the tools to do what I needed. That's the way my dad thinks, he challenges us and thinks outside the box. He doesn't give us the easy option."

Sio says every family member has played a critical role in his rugby career. So when you see him run on to Canberra Stadium, turn to the crowd and tap his chest three times, now you know why.

"It reminds me of why I'm here. Why I push hard. The time they all put in helping me to achieve what I have. That's why I tap my chest, because they're in my heart when I'm playing."