KEY POINTS:
All Black great 'Smokin' Joe Stanley is in Auckland City Hospital's cardiac ward recovering from surgery.
The 50-year-old former centre-three-quarter fell ill a week ago with what friends believe is an abscess on his appendix. Stanley could not be reached for comment and his son Jeremy - now a doctor at Tauranga Hospital - did not return Herald on Sunday calls.
Former team-mate Steve McDowell confirmed he had to fill in for Stanley at a pre-test rugby function with Mark Ella at Auckland's O'Connell St Bistro the night before the Bledisloe Cup test last weekend after Stanley fell ill.
He said it was his under-standing that Stanley had an abscess on his appendix that was "drained and later cut out".
"I know it knocked him around a bit. He went in for a check... there was a growth that threatened his health and they needed to get it out."
McDowell said he didn't know if the abscess was cancerous or whether there had been complications as a result of the surgery.
"Joe doesn't say much at the best of times."
Daughter-in-law and Silver Fern, Anna Rowberry, was also playing down Stanley's health scare saying it was nothing serious - and that the former test centre would be back on his feet soon.
She said Stanley was only in the cardiac ward because there were no beds elsewhere in the hospital.
A patient who watched the third netball test against Australia with Stanley last week said the former All Black looked "grey and gaunt" - and typically didn't say much throughout the match.
During his rugby-playing days Stanley was hampered by a viral complaint which often saw him in a distressed condition on the paddock.
He was a late bloomer on the international scene - he was a member of the Baby Blacks in 1986, but graced international rugby for six years. In that time he made 49 All Black appearances, with very few in a losing team.
His greatest triumph was as a member of the winning 1987 World Cup team.
He is a former assistant coach of Auckland and a stalwart of the Ponsonby club. Today club members - including former All Black Bryan Williams - were surprised to hear of his illness.
Along with former Silver Fern Julie Coney, Stanley currently runs a specialist hospitality service provider.
