Rugby: Retallick finds himself against some familar faces

Culum Retallick, training for tomorrow's match, quickly realised there were too many locks ahead of him at Canterbury. Photo / Christine Cornege

It was not so long ago Culum Retallick would walk through the door of his flat to be greeted by Isaac Ross.

The reception won't be as warm tonight at Waikato Stadium if Retallick gets a chance off the bench for the Chiefs against the franchise he would have imagined playing for as a youngster.

Ross and Retallick, with some-time Crusaders' bench player Jonathan Poff, were housemates together at the Canterbury academy. While Ross' athleticism and ball skills marked him out as a star of the future, Retallick looked at the bevy of locks ahead of him on the pecking order and looked north, to Mount Maunganui to be exact.

With his pedigree it must have been a tough move. His uncle, John Ashworth, played for the All Blacks and Canterbury, as did cousin Craig Green. Running around with him at the famous Linwood club were the Franks brothers, Ben and Owen. But Retallick chose to remove his red and black-tinted glasses.

"It was more just the opportunity to get on the field," Retallick, 25, said. "There were heaps of locks down in Canterbury and I was desperate to get out and have a run. The Bay [of Plenty] gave me an opportunity and I'm grateful for it. I wouldn't be where I am now if I hadn't made the move.

"It's always hard leaving your friends and family but I chose to move to get an opportunity. I like to call this home now."

Retallick has made his great leap forward this season, due in part to injuries to Kevin O'Neill and Craig Clarke, and in part to a willingness to do any task required of him. Tonight that task will be to come off the bench and add some energy, as coach Ian Foster has preferred the combination of the returning Clarke and Romana Graham for this match.

"Culum's played a lot of rugby for his first campaign," Foster said. "With Craig Clarke and Kevvie O'Neill's injuries in South Africa, Culum has come in for his first campaign and apart from the first 40 minutes against the Sharks, has basically played every game.

"I thought we were lacking a little bit of energy in our team last week so it's really a move to bring Clarke in, he's jumping out of his skin to play, and a chance to give Culum a different perspective by bringing some energy off the bench."

Retallick is aware of the need to get even fitter. He is not a natural ball-playing lock in the mould of Ross, but he'd like to be.

"The fitter you get the better you get around the track and the more cherries you get," he said. "Predominantly I see myself as a tighter lock, but I am trying to improve that side of my game. He's [Ross] got some awesome skills, everyone would love to have skills like that, but the big thing is being able to do both of them and knowing the right time to play the running game and the tough stuff."

There will be no shortage of tough stuff required tonight. When watching the tape of last week's match, coach Ian Foster made it clear he thought the biggest adjustment that needed attention to following the Reds' loss was between the ears.

"At the review he was a little bit disappointed about how we fronted at the weekend but the good thing about rugby is you get another week to turn it all around," Retallick said. "It was probably just our attitude. We probably read our own press a wee bit. We've got to work hard every day in this competition, week in, week out."

In some ways, the fast start worked against the Chiefs. Three tries in the first 20 minutes led to complacency. More tries would follow, surely?

"You could say that. When you get those starts you need to finish them off. We got a bit ahead of ourselves. We lost the game due to it."

Few could accuse Retallick of getting ahead of himself, so he could be forgiven for the head-spins, such has been his rapid rise from projected bit-part to starting lock.

"I didn't really think too much about it at the start of the summer, I was just happy to be here to be honest. I just wanted to put the hard work in to put as much pressure on those guys [Clarke and O'Neill] as possible. I was looking forward to the odd run off the bench.

"I'll take the opportunities as they come though and am happy that it went so well in the first few games ... probably not last week though."

While Retallick's form has been good, there's a man in the background trying to make him better - Keith Robinson.

"I've learnt heaps from him. . You know he's not talking crap. He was one of the best locks in the world and he's sharing that information.