NRL: Brown flies the flag for south

Lewis Brown. Photo / Getty Images

Lewis Brown was nine when he went to his first Warriors match.

It was 1996 and, after an eye-catching debut season the year before, the Warriors were out to spread the league gospel by taking on the then Sydney Tigers in Christchurch.

The move was hardly an overwhelming success. Canterbury's staunch rugby public pretty much ignored the event. Lancaster Park was largely empty for a match in which the Warriors were soundly beaten.

Not that that mattered to Brown and the rest of Christchurch's small but fanatical league community. They were just chuffed to see an NRL (Optus Cup at the time) match up close.

The next year, the Warriors played Warrington in a Superleague match but Brown would have to wait another eight years to see the Warriors play an NRL match.

It was hardly worth waiting for, with the Tigers humiliating the Warriors 50-4, a result that still stands as the club's fourth-heaviest defeat.

Once again the outcome of the contest did little to diminish Brown's enthusiasm for the game, nor alter his dream of one day playing for the club.

"Ever since I was 4, ever since I put on my first rugby league shirt, all I wanted to do was be a professional rugby league player," Brown said.

"I never got the chance to come up to Auckland or go to Australia to see the games. I always watched them on television. So to go to the Christchurch games was really exciting. I know how some of those kids are going to be feeling in the crowd this week, getting to see some of their heroes running around."

The only Cantabrian in the side, Brown will be right at the top of that list of heroes for the local fans. He knows he flies the flag for the game in the south. It's something that he has been doing particularly well this season, filling in in the second row and occasionally at centre as the club's Mr Fixit.

"Every week I'm not just representing the Warriors, I'm representing the Riccarton Knights, Canterbury rugby league and my friends and family also," he said.

One of the big success stories this season, Brown has proved a dangerous ball carrier on the edges and a robust defender. Twice already this season - against the Bulldogs and Knights - he has featured in game-winning plays.

Against the Bulldogs a clever kick did the trick, while in his last match against the Knights he fended off Scott Dureau and streaked away to send Manu Vatuvei over for what turned out to be the decisive try.

It's the sort of stuff he really did dream about. Unfortunately for the Warriors, their once-frequent forays away from the safety of Mt Smart Stadium have almost always been more like nightmares.

Of 11 matches on New Zealand soil outside Auckland, they have won just one.

There's more than a touch of straw-grasping involved, but one positive is that that lone victory came last time out, against the Tigers in Christchurch.

"Last time we played down there we won the game, so it doesn't have any bearing," coach Ivan Cleary said of the uncomfortable form line. "It's four years since we played anywhere [else in New Zealand] so it's water under the bridge."

Technically tomorrow's game is a home match for the Roosters, with the Sydney club having opted to host the Warriors in Christchurch. Cleary is hoping that remains a technicality.

"Obviously this [Mt Smart] is our home but I'd like to think a lot of the crowd down there will be supporting our team. I know if we play well they'll support us so we'll be looking to get as many people on side as we can. I know personally I'd much prefer to play down there than go over to Sydney."

The Roosters boast a formidable line-up, with the mercurial Todd Carney partnering New South Wales halfback Mitchell Pearce in the halves, Braith Anasta locking the scrum and former Kangaroos international Anthony Minichiello at fullback. Kiwis Frank-Paul Nuuausala and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves provide the muscle in the pack.

"There's a lot of star quality about their team, that's for sure," Cleary said. "It's a really good team on paper with lots of good players, a lot of options and a lot of threat. We'll be up against it, yeah."

Much of the Warriors' star quality remains on the bench. Senior playmaker Brett Seymour, centre Brent Tate and prop Sam Rapira are all still on the comeback trail from injury.

Despite optimistic earlier reports, none of that trio now appears close to a return.

Cleary, though, is happy enough just to name the same side for two matches in row. And with Brown in the ranks, that side certainly shouldn't lack any enthusiasm.

"I'm going to be pretty emotional but I have to get the job done," Brown said. "We're up for the challenge. We know how important this game is to our season."

AWAY-GAME TALLY

Warriors NRL matches in New Zealand outside Auckland

* 1996 L 22-34 v Tigers, Christchurch

* 2001 D 24-24 v Bulldogs, Wellington

* 2002 L 20-28 v Bulldogs, Wellington

* 2003 L 12-18 v Bulldogs, Wellington

* L 10-18 v Raiders, Wellington

* 2004 L 18-24 v Bulldogs, Wellington

* L 4-50 v Tigers, Christchurch

* 2005 L 6-24 v Tigers, Christchurch

* L 18-28 v Eels, Hamilton

* 2006 L 14-22 v Eels, Hamilton

* W 26-10 v Tigers, Christchurch

* Record: Played 11 Won 1 Drew 1 Lost 9

Christchurch, 4pm tomorrow

WARRIORS
Lance Hohaia
Kevin Locke
Joel Moon
Jerome Ropati
Manu Vatuvei
James Maloney
Isaac John
Jeremy Latimore
Aaron Heremaia
Russell Packer
S Mannering (c)
Lewis Brown
Micheal Luck

ROOSTERS
A Minichiello
Phil Graham
Kane Linnett
S Kenny-Dowall
Sam Perrett
Todd Carney
Mitchell Pearce
Jason Ryles
Jake Friend
Nate Myles
F Nuuausala
M Aubusson
Braith Anasta (c)

Warriors: Ian Henderson, Ben Matulino, Jesse Royal, Ukuma Ta'ai, Sione Lousi.

Roosters: Nick Kouparitsas, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Mose Masoe, BJ Leilua.