KEY POINTS:
Brent Tate didn't quite know who to support when the New Zealand Breakers took on the Brisbane Bullets in the NBL playoffs last Saturday.
A Breakers season ticket holder, the Warriors' marquee signing is a diehard Queenslander and long-time fan of the Bullets.
In the end Tate, who
alongside brother-in-law and Warriors captain Steve Price has been a fixture at Breakers home games this season, decided he probably wanted the New Zealand team to win.
He has no such divided loyalties when it comes to his new league club.
Tate will make his Warriors debut tonight against Manly in a pre-season encounter on the Sunshine Coast but he has actually been living in Auckland for seven months.
His contract at the Warriors didn't start until November but he shifted to Auckland the week after the Brisbane Broncos' season ended so the Warriors could oversee his rehabilitation from a knee injury.
Tate's own 2007 season ended in July when he damaged medial and anterior cruciate ligaments representing Queensland in game three of State of Origin.
The injury, suffered just weeks after he signed for the Warriors, not only ended his season, but also an eight-year association with the Broncos.
"When I did it I didn't know whether to feel sorry for myself, Brisbane or the Warriors," he says. "It was a tough time all round."
Choosing to end his Brisbane career had been a wrench. But being denied a shot at a fairytale exit - or any kind of on-field exit for that matter - was even harder to take.
"It wasn't very nice to finish that way at Brisbane and it's not the ideal way to start at a new club, but I guess what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. If I come through the other end a better person and a better player, then it can only be a positive."
But why leave a perennial contender like the Brisbane Broncos for the Warriors in the first place?
Money was surely a factor, with Tate reported to be commanding big bucks at his new club.
But his friendship with Price, who is married to his sister Jo, also made the decision easier.
"Never at any stage did Steve pressure me into coming here. I just felt like I needed a change and I didn't really want to go and play in Sydney. I'm an avid Queenslander.
"I just felt really comfortable with the decision to come to New Zealand and it has turned out to be a really good one."
The club's biggest signing since Price in 2005, Tate isn't fazed by the level of expectation Warriors fans are sure to heap on him.
"I haven't even thought about it. I haven't had time to. I've been pretty much focused on getting my knee right before anything else. There is always a bit of expectation but I've come from a club in Brisbane where you are expected to win every week. So I guess I'm used to that."
Tate's a good talker, happy to discuss pretty much any subject. But he could never be accused of blowing his own trumpet.
"I hate sitting here telling you what I'm going to bring [to the team]," he says. "I've just come here to hopefully do my job and play well every week. I'm not going to sit here and tell you I'm going to do this and do that, I'm just here to play footy."
Tate has been one of the most recognisable players in the NRL in recent years, thanks to a distinctive neck brace worn since a potentially career-ending injury in 2003. But he says his neck problems are now well and truly behind him.
"There is a real misconception out there that if I get another neck injury it is going to finish my career. It's not like that at all."
His problem stemmed from a hyper-flexible neck that meant when he got hit hard in a tackle, a whiplash-effect would cause nerve damage. The result was often unconsciousness and a loss of feeling in his arm.
The problem got worse to the point where he was "getting knocked out every week".
The brace fixed the problem but he wears it now mainly out of habit. "It's more like a security blanket. I just feel really comfortable when I've got it on."
He'll be strapping on the brace again tonight, but it is his knee he'll be thinking about. "I am really excited but I am also gonna be pretty nervous.
"It's been eight months now and it is starting to feel like a knee again. That's a real relief. It's not a very nice thing to happen, I can tell you that. I still have days where it is pretty sore but on others I feel like I can do everything. From where I've come from, it's a hell of a lot better than where it was.
"My top-end speed is pretty good. The only thing I am lacking is that explosiveness off the mark. They say that is the last thing to come, but I don't think I'm too far off."
With fullback Wade McKinnon having been ruled out for the season after suffering a similar knee injury in the club's first pre-season game against Newcastle, Tate's nerves are understandable.
"It was a real stark reminder that these things can happen. But I know I've worked really hard on my knee and if something does happen, that's just in the hands of the footy gods."
* BRENT TATE
Born: March 3, 1982
Birthplace: Roma (Queensland)
Position: Centre
Height: 1.86m
Weight: 89kg
Junior Club: Redcliffe Dolphins (Brisbane)
NRL Debut: Brisbane v Melbourne, Colonial Stadium, July 29, 2001
NRL Career: 110 appearances
NRL Points: 164 (41 tries)
Representative: 15 tests for Australia 2002-07 (11 tries),
10 State of Origin matches for Queensland 2002-07 (4 tries)
