Frizell: I couldn’t believe it
When Shannon Frizell received the call that every New Zealand rugby player dreams of, he handed the phone back to his Highlanders manager and told him to quit messing with him.
It’s not that Frizell was being impolite. He just could not believe what he was hearing. He was certain it was some sort of elaborate practical joke which his manager has been known to pull.
But it was no setup. In the wake of the Highlanders’ Saturday night Super Rugby loss to the Waratahs in Sydney, All Blacks leadership manger Gilbert Enoka was on the line, and the news was as good as it gets for a rugby player plying his trade in New Zealand.
Frizell, if not from nowhere, certainly from deep in the field – he has started only three of his nine appearances in his rookie Super Rugby season – has stormed into the All Blacks squad of 33 for next month’s series against France. He’s a hunch selection, and a little bit of an investment in the future, but there is no doubt that All Blacks coach Steve Hansen sees special things in the young man’s timeline.
Frizell was first labelled a potential All Blacks bolter in Stuff’s rugby columns on April 29, and murmurings had grown in frequency since that he was in the national conversation. Clearly he didn’t get the memo.
‘‘After our game in Sydney I came into the changing room, and the manager for the Highlanders gave me the phone,’’ explained Frizell after wrapping up the three-day mini-training camp with the All Blacks in Auckland.
‘‘I was talking, and someone said I’d been picked to represent New Zealand. I didn’t believe it. I gave the phone back to him and said it wasn’t for me.’’
Seriously? He left Enoka hanging?
‘‘I thought he was joking. Our manager is a joker. But I was so happy,’’ added Frizell of the moment it dawned on him that he was about to become an All Black.
He called his mother in Australia immediately. ‘‘I was so scared she might tell everyone,’’ he said of the news that wasn’t ‘‘official’’ until the next morning.
It is quite some story. The younger brother of St George Illawarra NRL star Tyson (they have swapped texts and ‘‘he was pretty happy for me’’) grew up apart from his immediate family in Tonga because immigration laws prevented him joining them in Australia.
Eventually, courtesy of his natural ability and athleticism, he was lured to New Zealand to link up with the Tasman union and he has not looked back since.
He’s quietly spoken, a little shy and naturally somewhat overwhelmed by what he’s just walked into.
Asked what made it so special to go through the last three days with the All Blacks, his eyes widened, and message narrowed.
‘‘What made it so special is to wear this New Zealand [emblem] on my chest. It’s pretty cool. What it means to me is I’m representing my family, myself and my country.’’
Hansen, who sees elements of Jerome Kaino, Jerry Collins and Jamie Joseph in this Tongan titan, likes his ‘‘energy and intention’’ and says they’ll take their time adding the necessary skills and subtleties to his game.
Right now he’s an All Black with time on his side.
‘‘In Tasman, I learnt heaps about rugby,’’ he says. ‘‘That’s when I grew my game because I came here with nothing.’’
Then he was whisked off to catch a flight back to Dunedin. Life just got a lot busier for Steve Hansen’s latest investment in the future.