Rugby League: The many paths to a black jersey

By PETER JESSUP

The five new players in the Kiwi side to take on Australia tomorrow night come from widely different backgrounds and followed varied paths to achieve international status.

For Canterbury prop Paul Rauhihi, it was missing out on the World Cup squad last year.

The 29-year-old didn't give up hope and decided to work harder, focus on his goal and work to make continual improvements in his game.

For team-mate Matt Utai, 20, the tour wasn't on the cards at all at the start of the year. He just wanted to get first-grade games for the Bulldogs and, after achieving that in round four, refused to hand the wing jersey back.

He was surprised to get a call-up for the national squad and, with the detached attitude of youth, comes across as not quite knowing what it all means yet, not quite realising the significance of tomorrow as he refers to "just another game".

"This is a bonus, recognition for a consistent season. At the start of the season all I wanted was to be consistent, let the rest take care of itself."

He is a distant cousin of Jonah but the two have never met. But he's not a stranger to the Kiwi players. He, Roosters team-mate Jason Cayless and Tony Puletua played in junior rep teams in Sydney. Lomu started league at the Newtown club at 14 and, now 23, has two more seasons on his contract at the Roosters.

Cayless, 22, had no expectations at the start of the season, certainly no Kiwi aspirations. He had moved from Parramatta, where he felt he would always be behind older brother Nathan and Kangaroo prop Michael Vella, to get a chance. That didn't come until round 11. He can't believe what's followed - grand final victory and now this.

"I never expected any of this - it's all good."

Awen Guttenbeil grew up on league and remembers as a boy in Whangarei watching the Kiwis play Australia and wanting to be part of it. It has taken a long time, injuries wrecking what could have been a record-setting career. But Guttenbeil is a great believer in taking what comes without complaint and doing your best to make it better.

They all have plenty of respect for the veterans of the team and the Aussie-based Kiwis have plenty of regard for the home-based Warriors.

"They were among the toughest teams we played," says Cayless. He and Nathan, 24, have plenty of relatives around Wellington so he's enjoying "hometown" support, as is Rauhihi, who grew up in Porirua before spending four years in the Navy in Auckland.

Nicknamed "Bully", Rauhihi at 1.9m and 115kg has spent more time on the field this season and is looking for even more minutes when he shifts to North Queensland next year with his partner and three children. It's his fifth club after dropping rugby in his mid-20s.

He played for Navy but wanted more time running with the ball and switched to Northcote league in 1994, where he was picked up for an early Warriors development squad. He then went to Melbourne, then Newcastle, notching only 19 games in two seasons before starting at Canterbury last year.

"I've been trying hard all year for the tour. Making this game is a bonus," he says of the test. Craig Smith, who made the Kiwis at a similar age, is his inspiration, with last season's Dogs captain Darren Britt, who was first selected for Australia aged 30.

Coach Gary Freeman has given him his instructions: "Keep doing what I do for the Dogs, go forward, get quick play-the-balls, dominate in defence.

"I'm not worried about it. It's a pretty straightforward job.

"He doesn't want me to off-load or do anything fancy. I'm working on keeping the little improvements coming in my game and I'm aiming for a starter's spot."

Utai grew up in an extended family in South Auckland and left the Otahuhu club and Otahuhu College to pursue work in Australia, never dreaming of a pro-league player's lifestyle. Feet in thongs, bulging thighs stretching his shorts, the staff at the flash hotels the teams stay at didn't expect to see him either. But sitting in the foyer of the James Cook in Wellington yesterday munching grapes, he looked like he owned the place and was completely comfortable in his unexpected role.

He's lucky he's at the Dogs, he says, the big Kiwi influence there helping him settle. They taught him everything he knew about the game.

"It's good to be outside Willie [Talau] because you never have to worry about his defence."

The salary cap scandal hurt the team deeply, he says, but they have dropped it to joke status now. The team is more focused than ever to win the grand final and that, on top of the combinations developed this season, has them positive for the future.

Of his own prospects he's less clear, going back to the "each game as it comes" line, two more years on his contract at Canterbury, no international goals beyond the tour.

"I used to watch the Aussies and Kiwis smash each other on TV and roll about laughing at it. Now I guess my mates will be laughing at me when I get smashed."

Utai looks so far laid back he's about to fall over.

He hasn't set goals for tomorrow past "playing to the best of my ability".

Opposite him will be Dogs team-mate Hasim El Mazri but he's not thinking about them being mates until after the game.