Marvel Marnus ain't no fool

Wearing the black jersey is the ultimate dream for Whakatane's Marnus Hanley - and making the under-20 New Zealand squad brings him a step closer to fulfilling it.

The former Rotorua Boys High School student sees the national under-20 team as a path to the All Blacks and says he just needs to work hard, focus on the right things and persevere to achieve his goal.

The 19-year-old said that when he heard his name announced in the team he went into shock.

"I sank right down into my seat and wondered if I was hearing things. I felt shocked and then started to think to myself, 'I've cracked it'.

"It came out of nowhere. I was called up late to the last trial and made the squad off that," he said.

The under-20 side will travel to South Africa next month to defend their title as Junior World Cup champions.

Hanley said it was a very strong competition so every game would probably be tough, but as long as his team stuck to their game plan he believed they would come back with a good result.

To prepare, he said he was keeping on top of his fitness by doing a lot more aerobic and gym training, getting as much feedback and advice from coaches as he could and trying to develop a good pre- and post-game routine.

The star centre played representative rugby for the under-18 Chiefs side last year and has played for eight Bay of Plenty representative teams since making the under-13s in 2004.

His move to Rotorua Boys High School in 2009 from Whakatane High School played a major part in his development as a rugby player and also academically, he said.

"At the time it was a tough decision to leave my mates, but a significant part in my development where I was exposed to a higher level of rugby more regularly."

He said being from a small town meant he got a lot of support from the area which was a significant motivator for him to play his best.

"Another one of my biggest motivators is the memory of my close friend Bishop Thompson, who was an outstanding player, and tragically passed away last year," he said.

Hanley said he was surprised when Crowd Goes Wild reporter James McOnie started tweeting about him last week saying that Hanley was a player to look out for in the future All Blacks.

"It was a bit of a laugh for starters, seeing that I've never met him, but it definitely felt good knowing that he's taken notice of me, even though he's a bit of a funny character," he said.

Hanley is studying towards a Bachelor of Engineering, majoring in electronics at the University of Waikato.

He said it was difficult to find a good balance between rugby and his studies and one had had to become more of a priority than the other.

"One of them had to give and when I made the New Zealand under-20s, it was obvious that it was going to be my studies."