KEY POINTS:
For some time Neemia Tialata dwelt in the apprentice propping zone behind Carl Hayman and Greg Somerville.
He soaked up the knowledge in his time in the All Black camp and during his 27 internationals. He was ready to lift to a more permanent starting role after collecting
his first caps on the tour to Europe three years ago.
His mind was willing but his body has not been so compliant.
Last year his calves were the problem, this year his knees rebelled during some of the tough training new Wellington coach Jamie Joseph demanded from his squad, his joints swelling badly after some of the gruelling sessions.
Tialata got through the traumas but he needed plenty of ice, anti-inflammatory pills and physiotherapy to survive. The package worked, his form held and he is in today's starting XV when the All Blacks meet the Wallabies in their historic Hong Kong international.
He has stayed healthy while other tightheads, John Afoa and Ben Franks, have been incapacitated by knee and back problems. Tialata knows he has to make a strong statement today otherwise that new wave of props will be banging the selection drum on the rest of the tour.
"I have always had issues with my calves and now my knees but hopefully I have sorted that out," he said.
"The medical staff have been working hard with me. I have never had issues with my knees before so I hope this is temporary.
"It is just the swelling because the fluid is sitting between the joints and causing trouble when I am bending them."
No small issue for a man who compresses the scales more than 120kg and spends much of his work in the crouch, touch, pause and engage duties of frontrowers.
While Tialata understood Joseph's tough training mantra he applied to a developing provincial team, he appreciates the variety of cross-training routines he gets with the national squad. It was no more lenient, he stressed, just different. Now he wants to make a solid statement about his All Black credentials.
"It is a big challenge for myself and I want to give something back to the jersey," he declared.
"There are a few of us playing this weekend who are trying to cement our spots for the tour and I will be just worrying about myself, not the player I am up against. I have to make sure I do my little things right and that is scrummaging, lineouts, rucks and making a few tackles."
Tialata circumvented a question about whether the Wallaby scrum was consistent enough at international level, suggesting the Australians had done most of the talking about their improvement and it was over to them to show if they could match the rhetoric.
The All Blacks had been together for a short but intense time, they had put some serious emphasis into their set piece and had to show their intent from that foundation. Tialata can cover both sides of the scrum and was invaluable in that role as a reserve but wants to nail the No 3 role.
"Yeah tighthead because it is slightly harder than the loosehead side because you've got two heads coming against you and any game I am on the bench I make sure I focus on the tighthead side. Loosehead is a bit more natural," he suggested.
Tialata will square off against Benn Robinson, a shorter, chunky opponent whose introduction alongside hooker Stephen Moore seems to have solidified the Wallaby formation. However the Australians are match-rusty and Tialata and his mates have had the advantage of time on the paddock in recent weeks.
Both sides have spoken about shifting the ball and if that occurs and conditions during the test remain as humid as they have been during the week, then the big men like Tialata may struggle.
Then there are the unknowns like how the beautiful-looking turf will hold up and what impact referee Alan Lewis will have when the beefy boys go about their scrum work.
