KEY POINTS:
Hobbling round the Auckland training base in October, Doug Howlett had the air of yesterday's man. The brace on his knee was an impediment not just to his mobility - it looked a career-killer, too.
When the medics scanned the medial ligaments after Auckland's quarter-final win over Bay of Plenty they confirmed Howlett was out of contention for the All Black tour to Europe in November.
Plenty of rugby followers were sure Howlett's omission would have been confirmed a few weeks later even if the knee had avoided dramatic collisions.
The four-test sojourn through England, France and Wales was being treated as a pseudo World Cup. The All Black selectors wanted to change from experimentation to deliverance and there was room only for three wingers.
Howlett couldn't match the elusiveness or audacity of Sitiveni Sivivatu. Joe Rokocoko was bigger and faster and Rico Gear had a wider range of skills.
The 28-year-old was in line to be a victim of New Zealand's player depth. Here was Howlett with 55 test caps and 32 tries, a player who had never let the jersey down and not so long before had been one of the best in the world, suddenly at the end of a long queue of aspiring All Black wings.
By the time the All Blacks returned, the World Cup door appeared to have been slammed in Howlett's face. Sivivatu, Gear and Rokocoko took it in turns to mesmerise opposition defences.
The All Blacks had played explosive, hit-and-run football and it suited the three who shared the trait of being able to conjure something out of not very much.
Howlett was more of a poacher - a classic finisher who knew when and where to pop up. He could supplement that with solid defensive skills and an unmatched work-rate.
Back in November, though, especially when there was no guarantee his knee injury wouldn't rob him of some pace, there just didn't seem any way back into the fold.
Give him an overlap and he was as good as the rest but the All Black game plan demanded more, and Howlett, well he didn't have any more to give.
Five months on and Howlett has blown that theory out of the water by digging deep into his mental well and discovering he has a whole lot more to give.
He has scored tries, saved tries, made tries and against the Lions he produced the tackle of the year when he thundered into the unfortunate Earl Rose.
He looks as if he has found some extra bite and right now Howlett is so not yesterday's man. He is the man of the moment and heads the queue of wings pushing for World Cup inclusion.
His injured knee was not the catastrophe but the catalyst. "Some people say things happen for a reason," said Howlett. "It [knee injury] allowed me to re-set some goals and once the brace was off, it allowed me to do some good training. I managed to re-frame the injury and say there is nothing I can do about it. I managed to get the knee right and start in the gym and get some good speed.
"I did enjoy watching the All Blacks. I was wishing them all the best. There was nothing I could do. I spent some good time with family and friends."
The time in rehab was, in a sense, his reconditioning window, more for psychological recharging than physical development.
That time away from the sport enabled him to get down on one knee and propose, and now a little Howlett is on the way too.
"As a rugby player a big part of my life is balance. Rugby is a big part of it. Family is another big part of that and I feel it is quite balanced at the moment and I am quite happy with that."
He's quite happy, and maybe a little relieved, that he has broken Joe Roff's all-time Super rugby try-scoring record, made his 100th Super rugby appearance and, most importantly, after three dire years the Blues are back in business.
But that is no reason to start thinking about France later in the year. The secret to Howlett's success has been to stay in the now and not think too much about the then.
He can laugh at the accusation he speaks in cliches because he accepts that he does. And it is out of necessity. The end goal is to play at the World Cup. To get there he needs to deliver with the Blues so he really doesn't focus beyond next week and hasn't really thought about life beyond 2007.
He is off contract at the end of the year and the big European names - Munster and Perpignan among them - have come calling.
"There is so much competition around but all you can manage and control is the next game and it is no truer for me. There is always the big picture. You do think about it but it is the amount of time you do think about it. It is less so these days because you realise how cut-throat being at the top is.
"The World Cup is the big picture this year and it would be fantastic to be there but in order to be there you have got to take little steps. 2007 is my only focus.
"To have a clean slate and not have to think about anything else is just one less thing to worry about. I have spent a little bit of time thinking about this stuff - this is my job and this is my life. I am enjoying my rugby. There's nothing extra but I suppose the fact that the team is winning helps everyone," he said.
