ANENDRA SINGH
A SK Che Bunce how old he is and he quips - "24, mate."
An uncomfortable silence follows before a laughing Bunce, deriving immense pleasure, breaks the ice: "Just taking the piss, mate. I'm 33."
Excellent. SportToday relishes interviewing people with a sense of humour.
Frank Bunce (no relation), who was an All Blacks rugby standout when a grizzled old-timer, the Hawke's Bay United soccer player can still do the business at his age.
All jokes aside, it's not surprising that, like Frank Bunce (no relation), who was an All Blacks rugby standout when a grizzled veteran, the Hawke's Bay United soccer player can still do the business at his age.
But unlike the All Black, the round-ball Bunce is no late bloomer. He's now more in the mould of a journeyman. Despite a niggly foot injury, the former All White has been a crucial link in the franchise's backline four who tomorrow will ensure goalkeeper Mitchell O'Brien's stress levels are below the threshold when they play Canterbury at Bluewater Stadium, Napier, at 3pm.
The 1.91m centreback will be the first one to admit that despite his wealth of experience, he has been focusing on his own game because of the "freak injury" he sustained while playing a tournament in Fiji for his Navua team.
Bunce always knew he was going to play for the All Whites. What the centreback didn't foresee was entering the rollercoaster domain of professionalism.
"From the time I was about 5 years old I couldn't wait to play for a club," says the Auckland-born defender, now based in Hamilton with his wife, Larissa, and their children, Zac and Cole.
Akin to fellow centreback and English import Daniel Kirkup, Bunce used his lanky frame to good advantage as a midfielder and striker in his childhood days, finding the net with consummate ease.
Inevitably, his physique determined his position.
"It was hard to find the discipline not to go up front but it gets easier as you get older," the Coca-Cola sales representative says.
Soccer was the staple diet at home, considering mum Cathy and dad John played the beautiful game too. Add to that a football-mad English grandfather, the late Alan Bunce, and there was no escaping a soccer future for little Che.
"I was 7 years old when the All Whites went to Spain in 1982 and I got to watch them on TV," says Bunce, who slipped on his first club colours of Huntly Thistle, a fledgling club in a town north of Hamilton.
His parents' support from the time he first kicked a ball has been phenomenal and wife Larissa now keeps that flame burning.
"It hasn't been easy being a footballer's wife so she has also been incredibly supportive."
He was only 17 years old when a stint at Sheffield United, in England, beckoned. He spent two years there honing his skills as an apprentice professional.
"It was tough being a foreigner among so many young men but you had to be mentally there," he says.
Seasons in other far-flung countries were to follow, including Denmark, Ireland, Iceland and two spells in England.
"Denmark was probably the best because of the way they run the league there. We won promotion when I was there and they built a new stadium and all that.
"Coventry [City, in England] was my last club but it was a nice icing on the cake," he says, revealing he didn't play at Uefa level.
"I had the opportunity to play [Uefa] at Coventry when I was 32 years old but a little bit earlier would have been better."
But there's no hint of regret: "I had so many wonderful experiences, so it would be crazy to have regrets."
It was during his New Zealand Under-23 season that former Napier City Rovers coach Keith Buckley spotted his talent and invited him to play here.
He had two stints here, former Rovers, national and Wellington coach Mick Waite also luring him back, but he later turned down another invite from Perry Cotton.
A shorter New Zealand Football Championship season now makes it easier for him to commute to Park Island and around the country to play for the Bay franchise.
"At the times I've been here they [HB United] have been incredibly organised and the most professional amateur team I've ever played for," he says, saluting head coach Jonathan Gould and his assistant, Matt Chandler.
Playing for the past few years in major tournaments in Fiji has been of a different scale to Europe and even a far cry from Bluewater Stadium.
"It's still nice but the players, coaches and even the administrators are very naive.
"I've won many tournaments but the most precious was the one for Navua because it wasn't about money," he says, fondly recalling the non-stop partying for three days at a village where they were treated like royalty.
His days of playing in the Pacific Island nation are numbered because he finds it energy-sapping, coupled with his perception that the changing league is beginning to lose its novelty.
His tour of duty as an All White doesn't have too many lasting memories. Having made his debut in 1998 for the national team, Bunce made 29 appearances and found the net twice before calling it quits last year. Injuries robbed him of two years and another 18 months were lost due to the lack of fixtures at international level.
"I remember one time we played just one game in Palmerston North against a very good Korean side and no one turned up to watch."
The dearth of fulltime Kiwi professionals plying their trade overseas frustrates him.
"We always had a reasonable youth base but we've got to get players abroad.
"We need more Ryan Nelsens out there."
The need for a professional league is vital, he says, but he is mindful that New Zealand is struggling "to keep it together even at an amateur level".
Aware he's getting a little long in the tooth, the former New Zealand Knights skipper is happy with the constitution of his body, despite the foot injury, and hopes to keep playing the game as long as he can run.
SOCCER - No kidding, Bunce still has it
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.