Rugby: Mealamu relishes senior role

Keven Mealamu loves being in the thick of things. Photo / Getty Images

It seems incongruous.

This calm man with an ever-present smile and welcoming word, a gentle, caring bloke who compiles and illustrates children's books in his spare time, yet loves putting his head into scrums, rucks, mauls and smashing people for a job.

Even Keven Mealamu acknowledges the unusual juxtaposition.

"It is my game face. I love it and I suppose it gives me my chance to release a bit of tension and show the other side of me," he said.

Away from his job, Mealamu is Mr Nice Guy.

Trying to dig any dirt on the nuggety hooker is a lost cause; all his teammates have seen is that easy demeanour and ubiquitous multi-watt smile. Deviations are rare but there are a few.

Not so long ago, thieves made the mistake of breaking into Mealamu's house and stealing his beloved PlayStation.

Mealamu and his wife had been out for dinner and as they drove back into their street they thought they saw an unfamiliar car drive out of their property.

When they checked their house it was clear they had been robbed and Mealamu rounded up his brother for a search of surrounding areas.

After a while they found the car and the occupants discovered Mealamu's game face.

Suggest to the 30-year-old that he has whacked a few people in his time, he just laughs and says they deserved it.

He claims he retaliates, he is not an instigator.

He reckons Brendon Cannon punched him first in 2004 at the CakeTin when they both went to the cooler.

Mealamu was born in Tokoroa where his parents, dad Luka and mother Tise, offered huge support to their sports-mad children, and still do.

They will be at Eden Park tonight to share in their son's proud moment.

Luka worked at the local pulp and paper mill but would run young Keven to games and training, snatch some sleep when he could and then go back into night shift work or other unusual hours.

When he was asked one day at the local primary school what he was going to do with his life, Mealamu's response was that he would be a professional rugby player.

His parents supported that quest all the way.

"I can't imagine doing anything else to be honest," said Mealamu, who brings up his century of Super rugby matches tonight against the Waratahs.

Mealamu started as a flanker but graduated to the front row more than a decade ago where his range of skills has been welcomed by the All Blacks in 65 internationals.

"You get to do everything, you carry the ball, you are involved in all the setplays. I wouldn't want to give any of that up, I love it," he said this week.

It hasn't always been that easy.

He remembers getting rolled in a Ranfurly Shield challenge in the early part of the decade against Canterbury and then having to go down to the same venue later for an NPC semifinal.

Both times he felt the blowtorch from the rival front row and seasoned hookers Mark Hammett and Matt Sexton.

"There was nothing worse than going to those scrums and just thinking, 'oh no'. I took a lot out of those experiences but it did not feel like that at the time," he recalled.

Then Mealamu was shunted off down to the Chiefs in 2002 although there was a golden end to that year when he was first chosen for the All Blacks.

He has now been picked for his second crack as Blues captain by new coach Pat Lam. In a young squad, Mealamu's caring and sharing nature will be invaluable for some of the new faces.

"The best thing is seeing the boys succeed," Mealamu said. "I feel really pleased when I see guys get to the higher level or guys on the way up like Chris Lowrey.

"When I came into the team there were guys like Michael Jones and Eroni Clarke who helped shape me and hopefully I can do the same sort of things for these new guys coming in. You are a role model and I try and lead by what I do on and off the field. I'm hoping that if they see me do something that when they get in the same situation they will react in a similar way.

"I can't tell them not to because they are grown men, but I can show them the way to do things properly."

Mealamu's first game of Super rugby was away as a sub against the Brumbies, his first start the next week in 2000 against the Chiefs at Albany, when Davin Heaps was injured.

"I forgot my boots, I was probably that nervous and I was lucky Finau Maka had a spare pair of boots. He had bigger feet but I managed to get through," he chuckled.

That was the start, interrupted by a season at the Chiefs, but now firmly back in Auckland.

"You have got to do your time. I went down to the Chiefs and got to learn the game more. It is an apprenticeship that is the time when you pick up all the tricks from someone who has done a lot of it before. The game has changed heaps in the last decade."
Mealamu does not see an end in sight, he has escaped serious injury and has signed on past the next World Cup in New Zealand. But that is way in the distance.

The task is all about tonight and Mealamu does not want to see a pattern or result like his 99th match last week against the Chiefs.

"The excitement is to get back out there and set things right. Last week we let too many tries in and we want to make amends. It is about defence, just making tackles and getting shoulders on, individual responsibility."

The Waratahs played territory and tried to grind opponents down and the Blues had to make sure they reduced their error count and tightened their defence. This was a must-win game going into the bye week.

"We have got to keep nailing the basics and that should not change every week but that is what we have to look at."