Running Harbour halfback gets breaks

Junior Poluleuligaga in action for North Harbour against Wellington. Picture / Fotopress

Watch North Harbour halfback Junior Poluleuligaga run off the back of a ruck and you can see more than a touch of the player he modelled his game on.

"Justin Marshall's a big halfback and I like the way he gets amongst the forwards and tries to muscle it up," Poluleuligaga said.

The young Samoan has been one of the standout performers for North Harbour in the first two rounds of the NPC. He grew in confidence in the opening-round loss to Auckland then took a big step forward in scoring one of the four tries in last week's 29-16 win over Wellington.

Ignore a short turn off the substitutes' bench against Southland last year - when he got knocked out within a minute - and this is his debut season for Harbour.

Poluleuligaga's rugby was all on the Auckland side of the bridge until last year.

De La Salle College first XV - as fullback - national secondary schools, Otahuhu, Blues development, Auckland Colts.

But at the end of the 2002 season he got a call which set him on a different course.

"It was the Auckland manager telling me they decided not to renew my contract. All my confidence went out the window for a while. I didn't know what I wanted to do."

So he headed for Sydney, where an old school mate had said the Southern Districts club needed a halfback. The experience worked out well, and his running game started to develop.

Backtrack a moment. That national schools team beat Scottish, Samoan and Australian schools. His teammates? All Blacks or Super 12 players Ben Atiga, Cameron McIntyre, Brad Mika, Mose Tuiali'i, Sam Tuitupou, and the captain was Daniel Braid. He was in decent company.

It was All Black fullback Mils Muliaina who had bumped Poluleuligaga from No 15 to No 9 in the Auckland secondary schools team in 1998. Looking at it now, it's fair to say it has worked out well for both players.

Arriving home, North Harbour first five-eighth Tusi Pisi suggested he try his luck at Massey. He has been, by Harbour coach Allan Pollock's estimation, the leading halfback in club rugby this season, so he deserved his chance.

"I never expected to be No 1, but I'm really enjoying it at the moment. The older guys have been giving me advice."

He'll certainly need advice against defending champions Canterbury at Albany tomorrow afternoon, who will make life difficult.

Then again, Poluleuligaga will be up against Jamie Nutbrown, a lively halfback who has been tipped for higher things down the line. They aren't strangers. The pair were halfbacks in that national schools team.

"I was the No 1 and he was No 2," Poluleuligaga added quickly. It should be a good contest.

Long term, he doesn't want to be just another halfback. Now that his career is back on track, he has ambitions.

First, there's the desire to win the NPC title with North Harbour. Second, obtain a Super 14 contract. Third, inevitably, is an All Black jersey.

"Hopefully that will come true. You see guys like Kevin Senio. It's taken him a while but now he's up there in the frame, so I don't see why I can't get there."

Pollock rates him highly, and the fact he's proved himself ahead of others with Super 12 experience, like Craig McGrath and Ben Meyer, states the case for not forgetting club rugby.

"A lot of rugby selections in New Zealand tend to be selection by CV," Pollock said. "If you're the outstanding club rugby performer in your jersey it would be nice to know you're being looked at as potential NPC quality. And we haven't seen the best of Junior yet."

Junior Poluleuligaga

Born: May 2, 1982
Educated: De La Salle College
Height: 1.80m
Weight: 93kg
Position: Halfback
Teams: New Zealand secondary schools 1999; Samoa Colts 2000, Blues Colts 2001, Auckland Colts 2001-02, North Harbour 2004-05.