Richard Loe: Rampaging Jonah an awesome sight that won't fade

I can only describe Jonah Lomu as a freak. I do not recall having been in a situation where I had to defend against him - I mostly played with him - and I am thankful for that.

He was about as far removed from me as a rugby player as it was possible to be. The only time I have ever felt like Jonah Lomu was when I was driving my truck on the farm and spotted a possum.

Now that it is clear that Jonah is nearing the end of his first-class rugby career, it makes you recall the times when he was just far and away the best attacking player in the world and the most feared.

He was enormously strong. I remember when he first came into the All Blacks, coach Laurie Mains had us doing cross-over drills where we had to take a pass, hit a tackle bag, spin off and deliver a pass.

Ginge Henderson (former All Black flanker Paul Henderson) was holding one of the tackle bags when Jonah came trucking through. At the impact, Ginge went head over heels backwards, a perfect backwards somersault. As he got up, Ginge kept a straight face, held up the tackle bag and said: "You've got to encourage these young fellas, don't you?"

All Black training is often a serious business but we had a big laugh that day. And that was Jonah - nine times out of 10, he had enough pace to outsprint people but he'd veer off and run over the top of them more often than not. I don't think I have seen a rugby player who could so successfully run over people. I remind you again of my truck and the possum.

That day in the 1995 World Cup against England, when he scored four tries, I was on the bench with a grandstand view of how frightening he could be and how some defences couldn't cope with him.

Yet it's good that his career is getting towards the end now. It is clear, after his illness, why he decided to come back and no one can begrudge him that. Most of us remember how he was then in 1995 and other years but there is a new generation, the 12-15 year-olds, who only see him as he is now. That's a little sad.

While Jonah is nowhere near what he used to be, it is also true that he and many Air NZ Cup players have been disadvantaged by some of the refereeing.

I think the refs have a lot to answer for and I think they have contributed to the rugby being as ordinary as it has this season.

We talked about scrums last week but other problems are:

* The offside rule is not being policed, leading the defences to provoke a lot of mistakes.

* Games are becoming too drawn out by relying on the video refs when a decision could be taken on field.

* The advantage rule is sometimes not played well enough, with many refs blowing up too fast and some letting it go forever. However, players do not often try to take genuine advantage and just try half-hearted moves or a dropped goal or kick it into touch to get the scrum or the penalty - again slowing the game right down.

Finally, congratulations to North Harbour on winning the Shield.

No one in Canterbury is annoyed the Ranfurly Shield has gone - but they are annoyed about the way it was lost. Canterbury had enough possession and enough opportunity to win but they just couldn't finish. As far as I am concerned, they didn't deserve to retain it.