KEY POINTS:
Ruben Wiki laughs when the passage from his biography is read out. "I've said it all before and I'll say it again - I'm not the sort of guy who wants to retire," he wrote of his international career during last year's Tri Nations.
Four weeks later, moments after the Kiwis' heartbreaking extra-time loss to Australia in the final, he was doing just that.
"A lot can happen in four weeks," he says.
"I had a room to myself [during the Tri Nations] so I had a lot of time to think about my future. I looked at the bigger picture, other things in life, like my wife and kids. It was time to give to them. Nothing is forever. I don't know, I was probably holding up one spot," he says, chuckling away.
Always the team man. Even when considering retirement, the team came first and it was why he didn't tell anybody of his intentions before that final because he didn't want it to distract his team-mates.
Given he was 33 at the time, his retirement should not have come as such a shock. But Wiki's announcement proved he can't keep running into younger and stronger versions.
After a summer doing 'normal' things with his family, like supporting his wife Santa at a women's triathlon and taking his family on holiday, he's had time to contemplate his decision and what the future might hold.
It's not the end, because he still has two years to run on his Warriors contract, but it is the end of an era.
A number of parallels can be drawn with Tana Umaga's career, not only because Wiki and Umaga were members of the same Junior Kiwis side in 1992, but because their careers have followed a similar path in their chosen sports.
Umaga is still a wonderful player, but he has lost some of that aura he possessed because he is no longer All Blacks captain.
The same will probably be said of Wiki as his career winds down but the decision to retire from the Kiwis sits comfortably on his broad shoulders.
"It feels like a great weight has been lifted because it takes its toll mentally and physically," he says.
"I've been playing for my country since 1994. The body is still sweet and the mind is still fresh.
"I could have gone on until I didn't get picked any more but, in the end, I wanted to make the decision for myself and not someone making it for me. I wanted to go out on top."
The inevitable question of a comeback comes up.
"No," he says definitively. Not even for next year's World Cup?
"I've played at World Cups, played in finals. I know what it's about and I've done a lot of things. I don't have anything else to prove to anyone.
"It probably won't hit me until the boys are running out for the Anzac test [against Australia in April] but I've played 55 tests - that's not too bad."
Indeed it's not. His 55 tests is a world record and, in a sport that plays fewer internationals than rugby, would probably represent about 100 tests for the All Blacks.
He has, though, been invited along with Nigel Vagana and Andrew Johns to play for the All Golds against the Northern Union in October.
Wiki is coy about what the future holds once he retires from club football as well, but he can see himself involved in the game for life.
"I was born to play rugby league and now I would like to give something back to the game.
"I'm thinking about a few things. I already help the New Zealand guys out within the club.
"I teach them in my own way about footy on and off the field, I give them advice."
At a welfare meeting, during last week's NRL Community Carnival, Warriors utility Cooper Vuna was asked if it had been a valuable session. "Ruben will tell us what we need to know," he replied.
Wiki has the common touch and it's likely his people skills, particularly with Polynesians, will be utilised by both club and country.
It was in recognition of his services that he was asked to present the Sportswoman of the Year Award to shot putter Valerie Vili at Thursday's Halberg Awards.
It was a task that made him more nervous that any Tri Nations final but, as soon as it was over, he and Santa worked the vast room to get photos with a host of their sporting heroes for their family photo album.
"I'm in a room full of sportspeople I have seen on TV, people who I have idolised," he explains, as the kid from Otara in him comes out. "It was a big thing for me."
So was playing for New Zealand.
He's now gearing up for his 15th season of first grade rugby league but his first without the Kiwis.
And that feels strange for everyone.
- HERALD ON SUNDAY
