The former fullback has cooked up a comeback
As Aaron Heremaia worked 12-hour shifts at Di Lucas creating pasta dishes, overtime he reconciled with the fact he cooked his own goose as a league professional.
Swapping his Halifax jersey for a chef's apron - and the north of England for the Firth of Thames - represented a sea change for the 27-year-old, even if his appetite for the game was undiminished.
But after stints in the lower grades at North Sydney and the Wests Tigers, then grim winters with English second-tier clubs Leigh, Widnes and The Fax, Heremaia accepted it was finally time his wife followed her career path.
"I signed on to stay for another year but my wife was homesick," said Heremaia, as he detailed a surprising journey that culminates with a test debut in tomorrow night's Anzac test.
"Enrica pretty much followed me around Australia and England as I chased my dream.
"She put her career on the backburner so it was fair enough that we came back home. It was my turn to follow her."
His wife's family owned an Italian restaurant in Thames, so Heremaia was at least able to put some basic culinary skills to good use when the couple returned home in late 2006.
Though happy to put bread on the table, it did not take long for Heremaia to tire of the exhausting shifts and unhealthy lifestyle.
"It wasn't for me. I was in there at one o'clock in the afternoon and home at one o'clock in the morning, seven days a week." His specialties were also problematic. "I piled on a lot of weight when I was working.
"I'd eat a pizza or a pasta every night and then go straight to sleep. I nearly tipped 100kg." These days, Heremaia is a muscular 87kg and able to dine out on a remarkable sporting comeback initiated by Ivan Cleary's surprise invitation two years ago.
The New Zealand Warriors head coach requested Heremaia train with the club, the carrot was game time for the Vulcans in the NSW Cup.
Heremaia initially wondered if Cleary had dialled the right number, given his track record with the Warriors when the former fullback was on the playing roster.
A member of the Warriors development squad when Daniel Anderson started rebuilding the club in 2001, a teenage Heremaia displayed an ego the size of his waistline.
"I was young and thought I'd made it. It took me to travel halfway round the world to find out nothing comes easy. I've come full circle back to where it should have started." The motivation to work hard has been rewarded again - a two-year deal, a starting role as dummy half in 2010 and then a Kiwis jersey that fits perfectly.
"At the start of the year I thought I'd never be wearing this. It's definitely an honour," Heremaia said.
- NZPA
