KEY POINTS:
Only very rarely do long-serving sports stars enjoy fairytale endings to their careers.
Few deserve one more than Ruben Wiki.
He wound up his last game on New Zealand soil after 55-tests and 310 NRL games by running 70 metres to score the last try as his All Golds pros thumped the young Maori side 44-10 in Taranaki last night.
Very rarely do you see the opposition chasers smiling as they watch the soles of the boots of an opponent screaming for the line but Lee Ter Maari and Jason Nightingale were beaming as Wiki ran in.
Then another long-server playing his last game here converted from the sideline, Logan Swann is happy to retire from the game downunder with a 100 per cent record after nailing his only other attempt against Wests Tigers in 2001.
Wiki's first words after the match, which was a festival to mark his contribution to the game as well as a World Cup warm-up, typically were not about him. "Thank you very much to the fans for supporting me through my 16 years," he said.
He'd enjoyed every minute of the build-up, even the six-hour bus crawl down. "It's been special playing where it all began, in an All Golds jersey," he said of the game which marked 100 years of league for the national and Maori sides. "It keeps me young hanging around with new boys." He made no announcement about his future but if there is another season in the 35 year old warhorse it will be in Super League where he has an offer from the new Celtic Crusaders club.
Swann - headed to England at the age of 33 - took the quick tap from a penalty that set Wiki away on his final dash.
"I feel blessed to have played as long as I have," Swann said of his 13-year professional career.
The third player leaving the Warriors, Wairangi Koopu, was proud of the effort of his young Maori side, but conceded that errors committed under pressure cost them in the second half.
The unusual 5pm kick-off to suit television cut back the Yarrow Stadium crowd that would have been far larger if the game had started earlier on what was a fabulous Taranaki day. But those who were there were treated to good football played in good humour.
