KEY POINTS:
Ben Matulino always knew he would be playing deep into the playoffs. Never doubted it.
He just thought it would be for the Warriors under-20s.
The 19-year-old has been the find of the year for the Warriors and he was deservedly named the club's Rookie of the Year.
Sonny Fai had been the most likely candidate but Matulino has demanded recognition and is even an outside chance for the Kiwis World Cup squad.
Since his debut in June, the second-rower has played 15 consecutive times for the first-grade side, including last night's preliminary final against Manly, and has started the last seven.
What sets him apart from other youngsters is his consistency. Coach Ivan Cleary has a philosophy of dropping players back to the Junior Warriors as a break from the rigours of NRL football. He did it with Fai and Russell Packer. Not Matulino.
"I expected to give him a break, too, but he's never really shown any signs of needing it," Cleary says. "He's gradually improved and when he plateaued a bit, he's gone again.
"He hasn't been over-awed at all, ever. I have just seen no reason to put him back. I think that's why he's a little bit special."
The Warriors thought they had a good one when they signed him last year, but didn't realise how good.
They originally agreed to let him stay in Wellington last year ("as the youngest of eight, he's a bit of a mummy's boy," Cleary says) and still thought he was a long way off first-grade material when he landed at the club this season even though he was named the NZRL's 2007 Young Player of the Year.
"We had no thoughts of pushing him too hard," Cleary explains. "We thought we would let him play under-20s and see how he goes. Even when he started under-20s we thought, 'he's going to be good but he's a fair way off NRL'. Four weeks later he was playing NRL.
"It just shows how fast he's come on. He picks things up quickly.
"He's one of those guys you only have to tell something once, which is unusual," Cleary says.
Defensively, Matulino is strong and reliable and on attack he has done all that has been asked of him. The next step is adding variety to his game so he becomes more of a threat with ball in hand.
Matulino admits to being surprised by his own success.
"I thought I would play the season with the under-20s and maybe look to play NRL next year," he says. "That was my goal. I thought I would have been playing finals footy but with the 20s.
"I had to reset my goals earlier in the season. I just wanted to play consistent football and try not to get too comfortable. What has worked for me is that I play my own game, not someone else's.
"Logan Swann probably helped me out the most. As soon as I came up and started training with the first-grade team, he took me under his wing and told me what to do and how to be off the field."
Matulino hasn't overcome his love affair with junk food, and admits to satisfying the craving.
"They let me have it once a week," he says with a look of guilt on his face.
That might change as Matulino develops and Cleary is looking forward to Matulino Mark II.
"Next year he's got a whole off-season to get ready," the coach says. "I think physically he still needs to become an NRL body. He's still got a puppy look about him.
"He's a big guy already, so that's exciting for him to go into an off-season as an NRL player. It's the same with Sonny Fai and Russell Packer. It will be huge for those guys. Physically he needs to go up a step, which he will. It's exciting."
