Kruse by name, not by nature

League

Former Carterton School and Kuranui College pupil Kruse Robinson is making big waves in rugby league in Australia.

The 23-year-old, who played age group rugby for Wairarapa-Bush while a member of the Carterton club, and reached a national ranking of eighth in his age group in motocross, turned to rugby league after his motocross career stalled about the age of 15, and he moved across the Tasman.

By his own admission a "massive" Warriors fan, he turned his attention to rugby league and his interest grew when he was selected for the Cronulla Sharks under-18s.

From there he moved to other representative teams including the St George Dragons under-18s and then moved to Queensland where he made the Gold Coast under-19s and played two seasons for the Burleigh Bears, a feeder club to NRL side, the Gold Coast Titans.

The following year saw the rugged lock or centre spend his pre-season with the Warriors reserve team, the Auckland Vulcans, but with no guarantee of work he returned to Australia where he made a New South Wales Maori rep team including several NRL players. He is now playing for the Western Suburbs Magpies, who feed to another NRL side, Wests Tigers.

In an email to the Times-Age, Robinson said his present situation saw him involved in "pretty tough" training sessions practically every day, with the Magpies' new coach placing considerable emphasis on defensive drills.

"Having been to a few clubs, it's nice to feel as much at home as I do now," Robinson said, adding that while he had received offers to play in England and the United States he was keen to have a "decent crack" at progressing his rugby league career in Australia.

"Hopefully I can make it into the NRL in the near future, that's the dream," he said.