Great Southern man

By WYNNE GRAY

A fair chunk of rugby talent has moved out of Southland. Tony Brown, Brendan Laney, Pita Alatini, David Hill, Corey Flynn and Norm Hewitt all wore maroon, but left looking for greater opportunities.

Livewire flanker Ben Herring will be next at the Invercargill departure gates when he transfers to Wellington at the end of this season.

But it has not all been one way.

Alongside Mayor Tim Shadbolt, Southland captain Steve Jackson may now be the region's most accepted import.

Graydon Staniforth and Gavin Williams have also joined him in bolstering the Southland side for this year's NPC campaign.

Jackson leads Southland to Eden Park on Sunday, a venue where Southland last tasted victory at the start of World War II, although they did pressure Auckland to a 9-all draw in a Ranfurly Shield challenge in 1976.

The skipper believes his side can have a decent crack at those records.

"We set ourselves some goals this season and so far we are doing okay," he said.

It is a huge circle for Jackson, who played senior club rugby for Ponsonby, for the Auckland Colts and was on the verge of the wider Auckland squad.

But he left New Zealand in 1997 after an offer to play in Ireland.

The voyage was interrupted with his marriage in Fiji to Penny, an accomplished touch player who represented New Zealand in the mixed national side.

The lock was chugging along with the Dolphin club in County Cork believing his rugby future would be two trainings a week, a game on Saturday, interspersed with plenty of Guinness.

But a phone call changed Jackson's plans enormously.

Former Auckland club coach Bob Telfer was taking over the Southland job. Would Jackson consider moving south to help out?

Jackson was okay with the idea. He had not played any NPC, but was uncertain about interrupting the OE.

Wife Penny was all for the return and more than 70 games later Jackson still calls Invercargill home.

Telfer has moved on, but successive coaches Leicester Rutledge and Phil Young have retained Jackson at the core of their tight five. Their decisions brought further reward for Jackson last year when he was picked for NZ Maori.

And he is not yet contemplating the end of his career, although he has passed his 30th birthday.

"Look at Blair Larsen, he is still playing well into his 30s, while some forwards in France are older than that," Jackson said. "There is no limit, only when the body says stop."

After his late provincial start, Jackson is in no hurry to finish.

"When I went, Auckland were flush with locks such as Charles Riechelmann, Leo Lafaiali'i, Robin Brooke and others, and Graham Henry [coach then, technical adviser now] said I should try other avenues.

"It was the right move. Look what has happened. It has worked out well and I have enjoyed living in another part of New Zealand.

"My heart is here. I enjoy life here and the sense of community. It was a bit of rough riding to start with, but I reckon all my relatives will be wearing maroon jerseys at Eden Park this weekend."

Not a big man at 1.95m and 108kg, Jackson credits the lifting laws for prolonging his set-piece work.

"It helps with the judgment, speed on the ground and timing - all those things are part of the lineout techniques."

After three successive wins, including the historic victory last week against Canterbury, Jackson and his men are optimistic about the tailend of the NPC.

"We wanted to stop the win-one, lose-one type of record, and I believe we have a bit more impact off the bench this season."

He pointed to the introduction of young five-eighths James Wilson, a local who had showed real composure, while Richard Apanui was an experienced replacement who could close out matches.

"It's that sort of thing which is helping us, but the competition is far from over. We have to do a lot more yet."

NPC points table