League: Proctor right at home too

Kevin Proctor can't wait to play in Napier.

It's about Tohu Harris but Melbourne Storm teammate Kevin Proctor will also be feeling at home at McLean Park, Napier, on Saturday night.

"There's a busload of family and friends - about 30 of them - coming from Te Kuiti," Proctor said from Melbourne soon after training last night before the 7.30 kick off against the St George Illawarra Dragons.

The 26-year-old Te Kuiti-born forward made his debut for the Storm in a losing match against the Dragons in Sydney in 2008 and has since racked up 84 points, including 21 tries, in 146 outings for his NRL team.

The irony isn't lost on Proctor that his origins stem from a rugby union background but he'll be playing a historic rugby league match on the home patch of the Hawke's Bay Magpies, the Ranfurly Shield holders.

"It's always weird coming back to New Zealand.

"Rugby union was my first passion. I still have a passion for rugby union but my heart is with rugby league," said the 103kg second rower, whose father David was a rugby union coach from a rugby-mad whanau.

The dreadlocked one emigrated with his family to Western Australia when he was 12 but it wasn't until they pulled tent and pitched in Queensland that Proctor's loyalty was put to the test when he signed up to play for Tugun Seahawks on the Gold Coast, an area devoid of rugby union clubs.

He caught the eye of the Storm as a 15-year-old and a rugby league scholarship beckoned in 2004.

Proctor represented the Australian Schoolboys in 2006-07, turning down a request to play for the New Zealand Schoolboys but caused a bit of a stir when he crossed the floor to the Junior Kiwis when they came knocking the same year.

The rest is history as the New Zealand Maori representative went on to do Kiwis test coach Stephen Kearney proud on the international stage.

Despite some grumblings across the Tasman on the timing of Saturday's game, Proctor believes any complaints about the franchise's first home game outside Victoria State amount to a storm in a teacup.

"It's for one of our own. It's Tohu Harris' hometown," he said of the Hastings-born star who will start at centre against the Dragons.

The thought of playing in one of New Zealand's "country towns" excites Proctor.

"Tohu's been telling me how good a town it is so I believe him," he said of the former Hastings Boys' High School pupil.

Proctor also dismissed betting agencies' tags of favouritism on the Storm as the fifth-placed side take on the ninth-placed St George but the latter are just a victory away from bridging that gap.

"It's a tight competition so you can miss out on the eight so this game is crucial and the two points are crucial."

Packing versatility as a lock and second rower, a laughing Proctor said he had no preferences provided coach Craig Bellamy didn't put him in a frontrower's position.

Dragons halfback Benji Marshall will be pivotal but so will Storm counterpart Cooper Cronk.