Family man...Fuifui Moimoi and (inset) son Sani, daughter Summer and wife Vai. Source: The Daily Telegraph

This is a victory song that belongs to one proud footballing father and his little girl. There's no script or lyrics, but Fuifui Moimoi has sung it to her many times.

The most recent rendition came last weekend, amid the lingering euphoria of Parramatta's Grand Final qualifying win over the Bulldogs. As always, the cue came via a late-night phone call from across the Tasman.

On the other end in Auckland was Moimoi's wife, Vai. After so many wake-up calls the Tongan prop no longer needed an introduction to start singing his native lullaby.

"Our little girl Summer has trouble sleeping most nights, and only gets one or two hours at a time," Vai explained.

"When I can't get her to sleep I'll call or text Fui at home. Even if it's in the middle of the night or after a game, he'll always answer.

"I put the phone on speaker and he'll start singing her a lullaby. It's not like a normal song or a nursery rhyme. It's just simple Tongan words he makes up on the spot.

"We even have a tape of Fui singing that I play her. She loves the sound of his voice. It sends her to sleep when nothing else can."

But it was Moimoi who rang Vai after winning through to a maiden Grand Final on the eve of his 30th birthday. He started the conversation with just three words: We made it.

" 'Yes Fui, we made it' - that's exactly what I said back to him. Then I started to cry. I had all these memories, all these flashbacks. It's been such a tough road to get here," Vai recalled.

The most excruciating stretch of that road lies in Auckland, where seven years ago Vai, Summer and the couple's boy Sani were involved in a horrific car crash. The accident resulted in all three being rushed to hospital in critical condition. Sani, now aged nine, has recovered well. Vai spent three months in rehab with steel rods in her legs but has since resumed office work in personnel recruitment.

But for Summer, the accident's legacy remains. Aged just nine weeks at the time, she sustained brain trauma that now makes her prone to epileptic fits. That is why Summer struggles to sleep, and why the gradient in Moimoi's road to rugby league's pinnacle is that little bit steeper. His climb started in 2003, when the family crossed the ditch upon Moimoi landing an NRL start with perennial battlers South Sydney.

"It was really hard because I had to give up my career and look after the kids on Fui's income - which wasn't a lot," Vai said.

"We lived in an apartment in Matraville the Rabbitohs organised, but we relied on money from my parents in New Zealand to get by.

"Sometimes things were so tough Fui had to fill his training bag with left-over sandwiches and fruit from games to feed the kids. Thinking back to those days, it's like a fairytale that he's now going to play in a Grand Final."

Although Sani will attend after Parramatta chairman Roy Spagnolo smuggled him into Australia six weeks ago as a surprise for Moimoi, Vai and Summer can't make it to ANZ Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

"Summer is a bit crook at the moment, so it's best she doesn't travel," Vai said.

"She watches her dad when he plays the Warriors in Auckland.

"She has a little Parramatta Eels jersey with 'Moimoi' on the back and 'Daddy's little girl' underneath.

"But she's come down with a bit of a flu this week. And when Summer gets a flu, because of her condition, she gets symptoms much worse than other kids."

Although emotionally challenging for her parents, Summer's special needs became an unlikely blessing for Moimoi after he switched from Redfern to Parramatta in 2004. The rising cost of his daughter's medication arrived as a reality check for Moimoi, whose NRL career was stagnating due to laziness on the training paddock.

"Fui was just so lazy - he hated training, hated exercise," Vai said.

"I had to wake him up to go to training, and even after we went back to New Zealand (in 2006) to be closer to our family, I would ring and wake him up to ensure he didn't miss a session.

"There was a time a few years ago when Fui was always complaining about training. He wanted to give up and go back to Tonga and live on a farm.

"I told him he could either sit under a coconut tree or look after his children's futures. Summer's medicine and care was very expensive. She needed her dad to make something of his football, because it won't last forever. That really hit home for Fui - what football meant to his life and his kids. He's just the best dad."

And according to Vai, Parramatta is the best club for Moimoi.

"I know people have criticised him this year, but the best person for Fui was (former Eels football manager) Tony Zappia. I don't care what they say - they don't know Zap," she said.

"He's done some extraordinary things for us. He's helped get Summer's medication and I've cried on his shoulder many times.

"Roy (Spagnolo) has also been a huge influence. They are now treating the players like family and that makes a huge difference when you've come from where we've been."