LANCE, YOU’VE BEEN IN THE STATES FOR MORE THAN A DECADE – WHAT’S KEPT YOU BUSY?
I had three years coaching at Davenport University and I’ve been coaching the Aquinas College rugby union team for five years, we’re a small private school based in Grand Rapids in Michigan. I’ve lived here for 11 years now. My ex-wife is from this region, and my two boys are here. They’re 12 and 14, so I want to be close to them.
I’m the foundation coach for the Aquinas team, I started the programme there. It’s university-aged kids from 18 to 22 and we get recruits from all around the world. We’ve got a couple of Kiwi boys on the team – including a couple from my old high school, St Paul’s in Hamilton – a few Aussie lads, some British boys, and then kids from all around the US. It’s a lot of fun, mate. I also work in domestic procurement for an educational furniture company called MiEN Environments.
PAINT US A PICTURE OF LIFE IN GRAND RAPIDS…
It’s a great place to raise a family. The cost of living is pretty affordable, but the weather is a bit rough in the winter. We’re guaranteed snow every year, so we sort of bunker down and hibernate a bit during those months, but it’s a beautiful place to live – freshwater lakes everywhere, the summers are awesome.
My boys are into sports: cross country, water polo and track and field. There’s not a lot of youth rugby in Michigan and there’s definitely no rugby league, which is why I’m involved in rugby union. Coaching is meaningful work for me, mentoring young student athletes and rugby players.
I definitely miss home – my culture and country and all my friends and family. But my boys are here and they obviously bring me a lot of joy. Once they’re adults, there’s hopes for me to get back to New Zealand, spend more time back home
SPEAKING OF HOME, HOW DID YOU MAKE YOUR WAY FROM WAIKATO TO THE WARRIORS?
I was lucky, my dad (Rex) was a coach and my older half-brother, Tama, played in the Lion Red Cup back in the day, so I grew up around that footy environment. That was actually when a young Stacey Jones was running around in that competition, so I remember watching Stacey play when I was a kid.
I got picked up by the Warriors when I was 16, playing at some age-grade tournaments. I went to a good school in Hamilton and played some rugby union, which I enjoyed – I loved the All Blacks and Super Rugby – but my true passion is rugby league. I had some great times growing up in a pretty strong rugby league family in a coal mining town there in Huntly.
In my last year in high school, I did my ACL. It took the wind out of my sails a bit and slowed me down, but it helped with my resilience. I was lucky enough to get a contract and Daniel Anderson got me in for the 2001 preseason. Guys like like Stacey, Monty Betham, Logan Swann, Ivan Cleary, Richie Blackmore – legends of the game.
YOU DEBUTED FOR THE WARRIORS IN 2002 AS AN 18-YEAR-OLD AND BY THE END OF THE SEASON HAD PLAYED IN A GRAND FINAL AND REPRESENTED THE KIWIS. QUITE THE ROOKIE YEAR!
Monty got injured [and PJ Marsh moved to hooker], Motu Tony had a short-term injury, so I got an opportunity to play and never looked back, really. I was pinching myself to go from a classroom to 12 months later being on a Kiwis tour with all these legends that I looked up to and having just completed a full NRL season and a grand final.
YOU WERE PROBABLY EARMARKED AS A NATURAL SUCCESSOR TO STACEY JONES AS THE WARRIORS’ LINCHPIN, BUT IT DIDN’T PAN OUT THAT WAY IN ENSUING SEASONS?
Looking back, I didn’t have enough time as a true, genuine half controlling a game. They probably do a better job coaching that into young halves in Australia – nothing against the coaches that I had in New Zealand – and the strength of competition was a little stronger in Australia at the youth level. So I got to the NRL and didn’t quite have all the tools to be a halfback, and I was relatively quiet at the time. I was young and shy and didn’t have that personality to bark and demand everybody around the field. I preferred to just kind of play on my instincts.
The club went through some challenging years, but I made a conscious effort in the 2007 preseason. It was either I need to leave or just really give it one last shot. I knuckled down with my training, quit drinking and focused on footy as much as I could. I was off-contract that following year, too, so I had good reasons to pull finger and had a fantastic four-year run at the back end of my career with the Warriors.
YOU’D PLAYED ALL OVER THE TEAM SHEET, BUT ARGUABLY YOUR BEST FOOTY CAME IN THE UNFAMILIAR FULLBACK ROLE IN 2008 AND 2010 – STARRING IN SUCCESSFUL WARRIORS AND KIWIS CAMPAIGNS BOTH YEARS?
The fullback role came out of nowhere. We had a couple of injuries at the back, Wade McKinnon and Aidan Kirk. (Coach) Ivan (Cleary) asked me to jump in for an opposed session – and I kind of killed it. So that’s where the idea came from. It was on the back of me being in outstanding shape and having a great mindset and training really hard.
I wasn’t really a traditional fullback – almost like a second five-eighth – and it worked really well with the way we were playing. I entered the Kiwis camp [in 2008] with a lot of confidence, having played a full season there … it’s easily the highlight of my career, playing at the World Cup and winning that tournament.
YOU WERE THE ONLY PLAYER TO FEATURE IN BOTH OF THE WARRIORS’ 2002 AND 2011 GRAND FINALS. DO EITHER STAND OUT MORE THAN THE OTHER AS A LOST OPPORTUNITY TO LIFT A MAIDEN PREMIERHSIP?
Probably the 2011 final – at that point in my career, I was a more established player and a senior member of the team. In 2002, it just went by so quick and the importance of my role was less than what it was in 2011 … coaches aren’t heaping a ton of pressure on the youngest player in a grand final.
We had guys like Stacey at the peak of their powers; Ivan, Kevin Campion and Awen Guttenbeil leading the team. I was just happy to be there, to be honest. But 2011 was probably a bit more disappointing – we had a fantastic year, a great team. I thought we were right in the game but the Eagles just found another gear.
YOUR ST HELENS STINT HAD A BITTERSWEET ENDING – A GRAND FINAL WIN OVERSHADOWED BY THE BEN FLOWER INCIDENT AND CAREER-ENDING CONCUSSION ISSUES AS A RESULT. HOW DO YOU LOOK BACK ON YOUR TIME IN THE UK?
Things didn’t end the way that I would have hoped in the Super League, I wish some things didn’t happen. But I really enjoyed the UK, having the ability to travel around Europe and experience a new culture and be a part of a fantastic club. Saints were steeped in tradition and I was there with some great players. Both of my kids were born in the UK, so it’ll always be a special place for me.
DATE OF BIRTH
1 April, 1983
CURRENT AGE
43
BIRTHPLACE
Huntly, New Zealand
POSITIONS
Five-eighth, halfback, centre, hooker, fullback
PLAYING HISTORY
2002-11: Warriors
2012-15: St Helens
REP FOOTBALL
2002-11: New Zealand
JUNIOR CLUB
Taniwharau
TOTAL NRL MATCHES
185
TRIES | POINTS
57 | 357
