NO FACADE: Napier City Rovers goalkeeper Ruben Parker Hanks sports myriad faces behind that mask, on or off the field. PHOTO/Warren Buckland
BROKEN nose, tendons shot in right ankle, tertiary exams, new goalkeeping academy commitments ...
For Conroy Removals Napier City Rovers gloveman Ruben Parker Hanks it isn't just a case of life in the fast lane but more a scenario of trying to adjust to life in the face of oncoming snarling traffic.
Hanks didn't foresee it when the Lotto Central League football season kicked off on April 3 but, suffice it to say, he's blissfully aware that accidents are bound to happen in the fast lane even though he had no intentions of getting to the other end, as it were, in an awful hurry.
"This will be my eighth week out if I don't play on Sunday," says the 21-year-old before the Bill Robertson and Chris Greatholder-coached Blues host Petone FC at Park Island, Napier, tomorrow in round 13 of the league.
Barring an upset of gigantic proportions, the Danny Wilson and Finlay Milne-captained Rovers should come away with three points from the 2pm kick off at Bluewater Stadium.
Anything else will be deemed an underachievement for the table-topping Blues against the last-placed visitors from Wellington.
The defending champions have put aside their disappointment of chasing a double league and Chatham Cup (national knockout) ambitions, after losing 4-3 to Miramar Rangers in an extra time encounter a fortnight ago at Park Island, to exorcise their demons to some extent with a 2-all draw away against Wairarapa United last Sunday.
For Hanks, a torn ankle ligament is to blame for his prolonged absence following their 3-0 victory at home against Wellington United in round seven.
"I had started a Hawke's Bay academy for goalkeepers three weeks before the injury so that has kept me going on my feet up to seven hours a week so it's good for my return," says the keeper who played for Canterbury United in the ASB Premiership during the summer national league.
Hanks has based his academy at the Rovers club where he mentors 11 to 16-year-old boys and girls every week day from 3.30pm to 5.30pm.
"I'm running the academy privately but branding it with the Rovers so it also gives the club a good name," he says.
For the man who wears a mask on the field nowadays, the number of times he has been injured going in head-on isn't funny.
He has gone under a surgeon's knife twice to fix a broken nose after an accidental collision on the football field.
"I broke it quite serious the second time because I couldn't breathe properly," says the man who picked up the injury two weeks before the season kicked off although his first surgery was in March 2013 when he was playing for Auckland City.
The verdict was no more footy for the rest of the year because they weren't going to perform any more surgery if he was going to reinjure the nose but Hanks had other plans.
"They said I would have to retire from playing before they would do any surgery because I had injured it so many times so I took it on myself to wear the mask," he says, perishing any thoughts of taking the protective gear off after it absorbed a few knocks during the game.
"It's not coming off anytime soon."
It doesn't sound right but if he had to have injuries, Hank believes now is the right time with all the curve balls.
In 2014 he had dislocated his shoulder while training with the Junior All Whites but, touch wood, that is intact.
In his absence, Rovers goalkeeping coach Baxter has conceded 15 goals in six games whereas Hanks has had six put past him in seven outings.
"Kyle's a good goalkeeper. He's had to come in from having no games so that can put a lot of pressure," says Hanks, adding Baxter has made some crucial saves that have kept the Rovers in games.
Parker was born in the region of Galicia in Spain where his parents, Darryl and Lois, were Christian missionaries.
His Kiwi father met his Canadian mother there but the family moved to Rotorua when he was 9 although the wine science student from EIT intends to return to Europe to pursue a professional football career there after graduating.
It is highly likely Hanks won't start tomorrow and Baxter will again have to step up but Hanks will relish the bye recuperating the following weekend away against Palmerston North Marist, who can't play because they are still in the Chatham Cup campaign.
MATCH DETAILS
For the Lotto Central League rd 13 football match:
WHO: Napier City Rovers v Petone FC.
WHEN: Tomorrow, 2pm kick off.
WHERE: Park Island, Napier.
ROVERS: 1. Ruben Parker Hanks (GK), 2. Daniel Ball , 3. Harry Morton, 4. Rob Pearson, 5. Ethan Ladd, 6. Vinnie MacKirdy, 7. Stephen Hoyle, 8. Ryan Tinsley, 11. Tom Biss, 14. Josh Stevenson, 15. Jim Hoyle, 16. Danny Wilson (c), 17. Fergus Neil, 18. Ross Willox, 19. Bill Robertson, 21. Kyle Baxter (RGK).
Player/coach: Bill Robertson.
Ast coach: Chris Greatholder.
PETONE: 1 Jake Piper (GK), 2 James Nash, 3 Bradley Ebert, 5 Matthew Benson, 6 Jordan Pickering, 7 Fernando Montado-Rocha, 8 Ryan Benson, 9 Zach Watson, 10 Fisum Aden, 11 Tavonga Mahowa, 12 Kelly Higgins, 13 Ben Feld, 14 Dylan Goddard, 15 Conor Coulson, 16 Alex Shepherd- Reynolds, 17 Jack Morrissey, 18 Jack Millar, 19 Morgan Blair, 20 Hami Paranihi-Nuku, 21 Bayley Chadderton, Shea Stapleton (RGK).
Coach: Graham Little.