Sevens boy now the 15s man

By CHRIS RATTUE

There was a long queue at Liam Messam's door when the Rotorua teenager was deciding on his new rugby home.

Some insiders rate Messam, a national age-grade star, to be of the same ilk as Zinzan Brooke. Time will tell on that one.

Like the great All Black, Messam has made his initial mark in sevens although the real game has keenly awaited his arrival.

Waikato, Auckland, Canterbury, Wellington, Otago and North Harbour made approaches, and Messam's choice was Harbour - where a number of his Rotorua Boys High School mates had migrated to.

But Messam's advisers, his national sevens coach Gordon Tietjens and old high school principal Chris Grinter - who persuaded Jonah Lomu to try rugby at Wesley College - had other ideas as Messam wrestled with the decision two years ago, at a time when Bay of Plenty were first division cannon fodder.

They steered him towards Waikato, who helped their cause by visiting Messam's family - or families as it turns out.

Messam had a taste of senior representative football last year, against Italy and in an NPC warm-up game against his old Bay of Plenty union. This year, with All Blacks missing, Messam - who prefers No. 8 and has also trained briefly as an openside - has been given a clear chance as the Waikato blindside flanker.

Early on, Waikato coach John Mitchell said Messam needed to get sevens instincts out of his system. But his 15s potential and class has been there for all to see, especially in the drubbing of Auckland in Hamilton last week and the setting up of one of Waikato's tries against Southland in the first round.

Messam, who first made the national sevens in 2002, has had an advantage this season. NPC coaches were unhappy at sevens players losing weight and strength under Tietjens' notorious training regime. Messam, who normally weighs 108kg, dropped to 99kg early last year, but Tietjens adjusted his approach this season.

"He has worked on the players keeping their weight and strength," says Messam.

"And sevens is changing anyway. Some of the teams are real small and the thinking was that we could physically dominate them instead of running around like little greyhounds.

"I think one of the reasons why we won the world series this year was that we were a lot stronger."

And Messam also returned to Waikato with a new strength of mind, after Tietjens elevated the youngster to the sevens captaincy.

"It was a great honour to lead the country," he says.

"I was real nervous but I had good company - experienced players like Chris Masoe - so it was not too daunting.

"Usually I'm known for being the shy kind of guy who doesn't like talking.

"But that leadership role with the sevens has brought more out of me."

While the rugby world might now be at his feet, Messam could well have ended up being a soccer player.

Messam, who believes he has Pacific Island bloodlines, was adopted by an English soccer-loving dad and Dutch mother.

Lewis and Wanda Messam, who had three children of their own, adopted Liam and four other children with Maori and Pacific Island backgrounds.

The family - with four boys and four girls - were soccer through and through, and Messam's brothers Ramon and Sam are key players in the Cambridge team.

"I started playing soccer but I was always the fat kid who had to play goalie, so I didn't like that and decided to play rugby," he says.

As a teenager, Messam made what to many might sound like a radical move, although he explains it in a casual manner.

He went to live with the rugby loving family of his great mate Sam Ripia, whose younger brother Willie is in Mitchell's Waikato squad.

"When I was 14, I went to my mate's house for one night, and I never went home after that," says Messam.

"I stayed one night, stayed for the weekend, and the weekend turned in to a week, and it turned into months and years.

"My mum missed me a bit but my parents were fine with it. The Ripias are my whanau now - I say Willie is my brother and I look after him like a brother.

"There were a lot of boys in the family and their dad played for the Auckland and Bay of Plenty Maori teams.

"It has played a big part in my rugby development.

"We were in the same teams, growing together, pushing each other at training."

Messam, who hopes to return to Bay of Plenty at the end of his career, "like Adrian Cashmore", has had a topsy turvy start to this NPC.

He was in a favoured Waikato team which failed to lift the shield from Bay of Plenty.

Then after years of suffering hammerings at the hands of Auckland teams in the junior ranks, he played in a Waikato side which handed out one of the most famous hidings in provincial history.

Messam and Ripia now live with Waikato stalwart Keith Lowen - and Messam is keen to play the cheeky youngster.

"Keith is quite messy - I spend all day cleaning up after him and his dog," he says.

But a shy demeanour, and a touch of cheek, give way to a mature edge on the field.

Waikato manager Glenn Ross, a former Waikato and Otago coach, says: "I watched Liam in a club game the other day and it was like watching a man among boys. The only thing was, in terms of age Liam was the boy."

Messam says: "A lot has happened so far ... captaining the sevens and beating Auckland like that which is the highlight of my 15s career so far.

"Hopefully, there is plenty more to come."