Rugby: Brown owes career to his nana

An accident 22 years ago could have killed the career of rising rugby star Tony Brown, as SHARON LUNDY explains.

Tony Brown's rugby career might have been over long before he could catch a ball if it was not for his grandmother.

When he was just two, Brown, the Otago Highlanders first five-eighths and All Black squad member, cut his right hand on a pane of glass.

"They were going to cut my hand off in Balclutha Hospital but my nana wouldn't let them so she drove me through to Dunedin Hospital," Brown said.

Brown had cut the tendons of the first three fingers but doctors at Dunedin Hospital believed they could mend them. For the next five years, he had about one operation a year to straighten them and return their movement.

Tendons from his legs and feet were transplanted to his fingers and at one stage he had both legs and one arm in casts.

"I suppose, because I was so young, that I was a wee bit lucky and just adapted," he said. "I'm very thankful to nana for not letting them cut it off."

The fingers remain bent at the first joint - earning him the nickname "the Claw" from some of his rugby mates.

"I get a bit of a dishing when I drop [the ball] - everyone goes 'ah, it's the Claw again.'

Claw or not, Brown knows he is living the dream of many young New Zealanders.

At 24, he has played for the Otago Highlanders for four years, Otago for five and has been in the New Zealand Maori team since 1996.

Last week his rugby career hit yet another high when he was named in the All Black squad.

News this week that incumbent All Black first five-eighths Andrew Mehrtens could miss the early test matches because of a groin injury has many picking Brown in the starting line-up.

His dream of reaching the top in rugby started as a youngster in Kaitangata, a small southern Otago town, and he admits to being "a Kai boy at heart."

He lived there until he was 17, attending Kaitangata Primary School and South Otago High School, before moving to Dunedin's King's High School for his final year.

Brown had by then represented Otago Country in both rugby and cricket and he said the move to Dunedin was necessary to further his career in both sports.

He initially boarded at King's, but found he and boarding school did not mix. "I definitely rebelled," he said.

Since leaving school, Brown has completed a certificate in fitness management.

"I'm keen to go back and do some more study in the second semester this year," he said.

"Jeff [Wilson] is going to do it with me. We're going to go back and do a bit of art history and anthropology, I think."

But finding time to study and play rugby can be a bit of a problem.

"I can't see how guys like Jeremy Stanley can study medicine and play rugby, because rugby pretty much takes up most of your time," he said.

Brown's place of relaxation away from rugby is his home in Dunedin, which is no ordinary scarfie flat - all his flatmates work, and he owns the house. He also bought a second house, which his 22-year-old brother, Cory, lives in.

"Although the pay's pretty good [for playing rugby], if you don't save it and plan for the future, it can easily dwindle away," he said.

Brown's family - parents Neil and Anna and brothers Michael, aged 25, and Cory - is important to him and he gets a lot of support from them.

However, the No 1 fan title goes to the nana who saved his hand, June Brown.

"She told me the other day I'm the best rugby player in the world," he said with his trademark grin.

Brown's distinctive mop of curly, blond hair makes him stand out on the field, especially when he's playing for the New Zealand Maori team. For the record, he is one-sixteenth Maori.

"I never really got brought up in the Maori culture," he said. "But since I've been in the New Zealand Maori team I've learned a lot and it's something I want to continue to learn about."

However, a more immediate goal is making it into the All Black squad for this year's World Cup.

And if he can realise his World Cup dream, he will have his nana to thank for that. - NZPA