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Errol Brain has just about seen and done it all in Japanese rugby.
But the Counties stalwart and former New Zealand Maori captain is scratching his head over the latest trend of Japanese clubs signing rugby league stars for massive amounts of money.
The sudden fascination for NRL
players in Japan has a heavy New Zealand link. The three leading players involved so far, Benji Marshall, Karmichael Hunt and Fraser Anderson, are all New Zealand-born.
Speculation persists that Kiwi star Marshall is being courted by a million-dollar deal, a situation which has led to the NRL demanding that his Wests Tigers club not be a willing party to the cross-code switch.
Aucklander Fraser Anderson - the former Bronco who has been playing for Cronulla - this week signed a two-year deal with Kobe Steel for a reported $400,000-plus a season. And Bronco and Kangaroo star Hunt is being touted as the next player who will make a lucrative foray into Japan.
Ever active player agents, probably frustrated by the NRL's comprehensive salary cap, are driving the moves amid claims there could be a mini-exodus to Japan.
There are factors that will probably prevent a flood of league players going to Japan, however.
They include a Japanese rugby regulation that players must be in the country by July for the new season, which begins in August. That schedule does not dovetail with the NRL season. The 12 top clubs are also limited to three foreign signings, of which one must be eligible to play for Japan.
Brain, who played for the Blues and Chiefs in the 1990s, is one of many New Zealand rugby players who went to the land of the rising sun, but he never envisaged that the import situation would extend to league players.
"I just wonder if some of these players are using Japan as a bit of leverage in their contract negotiations," says Brain, a highly respected figure in New Zealand rugby, and now a referee selector for the NZRU.
"I really can't see a load of league players going there - why wouldn't they go to the UK instead. It's hard to know, but it just seems unusual.
"And the clubs aren't getting them for cheap. They are fantastic athletes, no doubt, but can they play rugby?
"If I was still there coaching, I'd really be doing the homework on these guys. The hardest thing would be working out what position they would play."
Brain played for and coached Toyota near Nagoya for seven years. He and his family - wife Tracy and their three girls - have been back in New Zealand for three years, living in Tauranga where he runs a video store.
He has watched the latest Japanese developments with great interest.
Anderson, a utility who often plays in the backrow, is expected to play as an outside centre for Kobe.
Attempts by the Herald to contact Anderson were unsuccessful. Should he remain in Japan long term, he could qualify to play for them at the rugby World Cup. He could have played for Tonga at last year's league World Cup before injury intervened, so has a couple of international options.
Anderson, whose brothers Vinnie and Louis have played for the Kiwis, came out of the East Coast Bays club. According to his father, Warwick, a leading coach, Fraser's only flirtation with rugby was as a boarder at the Mormon Church College in Hamilton.
But as his father pointed out, centre is probably one of the easier positions to adapt to. And rugby in Japan is fast and open.
It would be a surprise if Anderson could forge a top-class rugby career out of Japan, and if he didn't stay there long term, he was likely to return to league.
For now, he is about to be plunged into a new environment, and one that Brain knows extremely well. The top grade includes 12 company teams, including names like Toyota and Toshiba.
"I really enjoyed my time there. As a family we have wonderful memories, and I've got Japanese mates there who I will be friends for life with," he says.
'"The culture is very different, of course, but in the end, they are very much rugby people so you are dealing with the same beast. For foreign players, it isn't much different to elsewhere, because they are dealing with the rugby team and not the company."
Crowds can range from a few thousand to the 50,000 Brain played in front of in two finals at the Tokyo Stadium.
"Japanese people are very aware of rugby but they might not understand it," says Brain. "At big games you will get a lot of people cheering when someone kicks the ball out or kicks a goal, but when you score a try they don't say anything. It's quite bizarre."
He says the game unleashes a wild spirit in Japanese men, who are very conservative by nature. "For a lot of guys, it is a way of venting their excitement. It allows them to come out of their shell," he says.
"Guys who seem very placid and humble are absolute nutters when they get between the white paint. They would go absolutely mad, put their body on the line, get banged around, get injured, and really guts it out."
Brain cites the case of current Toyota coach Ishii Takahura, an openside flanker who played for Japan.
"We played a lot together and off the field, he was very, very quiet and wouldn't say boo. Get him on the field, though, and his eyes would go red, he'd start frothing at the mouth, and go absolutely berserk for 80 minutes. Then straight after the game, he would be back to his normal self.
"The standard is probably about lower NPC level, but they take the game very seriously. And it involves company bagging rights."
Brain believes that Japanese rugby may view Anderson as a test case for league recruits.
He says players need to enjoy the experience of being in Japan.
"You can't just go there for the money or else it will go pear shaped."
