KEY POINTS:
Saying 2008 has been a pretty good year for Piri Weepu is a bit like saying there's been a little bother in the world's financial markets of late.
Having begun the year as an ex-All Black whose last association with the team was an unauthorised night out in Auckland and an enforced - and by many accounts less-than-successful - spell of reconditioning, Weepu should end 2008 having resurrected a career that had taken a serious nose dive.
The odds on a player so clearly out of favour with the national selectors recapturing his All Black jersey would have been long enough. That he would not only do so, but would also come off the bench to score a crucial try in a Tri-Nations decider against the Wallabies, was the stuff of fancy.
A much more likely scenario would have seen Weepu biffing his toys and quitting New Zealand rugby for either love - league is the sport where his heart lies - or money.
Weepu though, chose to stay, work on his game and "look after my family first".
"You can't just sit there and dwell on it," he says of his horror 2007. "You've got to put it past you and get on with life."
Things may have changed dramatically in a short space of time for the Wellington captain, who recently signed a contract extension with the NZRU, but the same can also be said of his team.
Clear favourites for the national championship title just a few weeks ago, a series of unconvincing displays by a team that has lost four of the past five finals has begun to sow the seeds of doubt in the capital. The atmosphere in the city leading into tonight's semifinal against Southland was one of concern, Weepu said.
"I'm guessing [the fans] are a bit worried, with the way we have been playing the last couple of weeks. We are not playing the type of rugby people expect us to play."
A lack of structure was the main thing troubling Wellington, who relied on their attacking flair and little else to see off Taranaki 50-30 in last weekend's quarter-final.
A more controlled approach should be employed against Southland as Wellington look to book a home final.
"I guess now that it is the business end of the season you've got to be a bit more conservative and we've taken that on board this week. We've got to play our rugby the way we have been playing rugby but with a bit more structure.
"We are not far off it. We've just got to knuckle down on a few things."
Weepu will once again lead his side from first five-eighths, a role he says he enjoys.
"I'm not fussed at all. It is going to help me develop my game in terms of vision and testing defensive lines and help me develop a few more skills. I've got no problems leading my team around the field from [No. 10]."
Wellington have played like a team that isn't overly comfortable with their title favourites tag but Weepu insists that hasn't been a factor.
"I've never really thought about it. We've just been taking it week by week. But if we do make the final I don't think we'll be the favourites. I'd assume we'd be the underdogs if Canterbury are in there."
He assumes correctly, with the once clear favourites having been overtaken by the steadily improving Cantabrians in the TAB betting.
A more clinical performance tonight would certainly go a long way to steadying Wellingtonians' nerves but Weepu isn't overly worried about aesthetics.
"The idea for is just to win the game. That is the main thing. Then hope that we do it good and not ugly."
