SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS
A NUMBER OF CURRENT PLAYERS, ONCE TIPPED FOR STARDOM, HAVE HIT UNEXPECTED ROADBLOCKS IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS. THEY NOW STAND AT THE CROSSROADS WHERE THEY CAN CHOOSE FOR ADVERSITY TO BE EITHER THE MAKING OR BREAKING OF THEM.
Not everyone will agree, and there are examples where it is not true, but adversity is one of the core elements in building great players. Greatness cannot be found at the end of a flawless path. There has to be obstacles to be conquered – some great difficulty to be negotiated before the summit can be reached.
It is after all from great disappointment and setback that character is formed. It is only by being hurt, stung by a reactionary force that wasn’t expected, that the best players have learned what they need to develop and perfect to get to the top of the game.
To become defined as great, players need to graduate from the school of hard knocks. Be it injury, non selection, defeat, illness, an off-field misdemeanour or extreme public criticism, almost every great player has experienced something that has forced them to dig deep within themselves and search their soul for answers about their desire, their work ethic, their readiness to rebuild and come back stronger.
Think of a great player and it is almost certain they will be able to recount an incident or a period that had a defining influence on their success.
Start with the best of them all, Richie McCaw, and even he had a wobble that forced him to re-assess and then redirect himself.
His adversity came in the wake of the All Blacks’ disastrous 2007 World Cup campaign. The All Blacks, having swept the floor with everyone in 2005 and 2006, came to the World Cup as the hottest of hot favourites.
But they bombed out in the quarterfinal, in a performance that lacked decisiveness in the final quarter.
The defeat was shocking enough, but McCaw’s leadership was questioned in the wake of that campaign. Even he began to wonder whether he should give up the captaincy, such was the blow to his confidence. He took a month or so to consider his options and having his perceived failings become publicly debated, he decided he was going to stick at the job and come back a better leader.
“It was almost as if I had to rip everything up and start again,” he said of that period. “I questioned whether I was good enough to do it or the right person to do it.
“You can either man up and get on with it or drift away and remember that experience as one you couldn’t handle. Being the person I am, as soon as I thought like that I thought: ‘There’s no way I’d want to do that’. I remember one day I got over it and got on with it.”
McCaw doubts he would have become the player and captain he was without having endured the pain of failure in 2007.
Daniel Carter, probably second on any list of great players, also felt the full impact of adversity. A career that had been sailing along like some kind of fairytale, spectacularly flew off the rails at the 2011 World Cup when he ripped a muscle in his leg on the eve of the final pool game against Canada. His World Cup was over. Carter had been building to that moment for the last four years.
His goal was to steer New Zealand to victory on their home patch and establish himself as the most influential player in the world in the process. He was on track and then with one languid swing of the leg, his dream was smashed. And from there, the bad luck just kept coming.
He broke his hand, he ripped his Achilles and he broke his leg. All of which meant that between 2012 and 2014 he started just six tests. It also meant that in late 2013, when he began his second sabbatical just a week after limping off at Twickenham on his 100th cap, he began to wonder about carrying on.
“By that point, we were 15 months away from the Rugby World Cup and it was clear that I was at a place where I had neither the health nor the form to be part of it. For the first time in my life, I began to question my love for this sport.
“I questioned whether my body could handle it any more. The critics who had been going on about my age started making more sense to me. All those big plays I’d made during my career seemed like memories now.
“And I began wondering what kind of legacy I’d leave behind if I were to announce my retirement right then. I probably could have slipped away from the game, and I don’t think anyone would have thought less of me for it.”
In his darkest hour, Carter turned to his wife who persuaded him to battle on. He never managed to be quite the same player he had been pre-2011 but nevertheless, he still managed to return to the biggest stage and finish his career in the most extraordinary way.
Carter recovered in time to earn his All Blacks World Cup squad selection and then produced three giant performances in the knock-out rounds to fulfil his goal of steering New Zealand to victory.
He was crowned World Rugby player of the year and had his winners’ medal and the certainty that the worst periods of the last few years had all contributed to some degree to him managing to do what he did.
Keep working through the list and the stories all have a similar theme. Michael Jones had to overcome two major knee reconstructions.
Jonah Lomu somehow managed to play through serious kidney illness for much of his career. Sean Fitzpatrick had to endure a long period in the early part of his captaincy when everyone in New Zealand, bar the coaching group, were calling for him to be axed.
Colin Meads suffered the ignominy of
...I BEGAN WONDERING WHAT KIND OF LEGACY I’D LEAVE BEHIND IF I WERE TO ANNOUNCE MY RETIREMENT RIGHT THEN. I PROBABLY COULD HAVE SLIPPED AWAY FROM THE GAME...’ DAN CARTER
being sent off against Scotland in 1967 – a decision that tarnished his reputation, and Conrad Smith had to come back from a badly broken leg in 2006 and then non selection for the big games at the 2007 World Cup.
Adversity is New Zealand rugby’s friend. Adversity is the most powerful influence in enhancing a player’s desire and determination.
But it takes an open mind for adversity to work its magic for as much as it can make, it can also break.
T...IT WAS A TOUGH DECISION BUT WE DON’T THINK WE HAVE SEEN THE END OF MALA. HE WILL GO AWAY, HE’S A RESILIENT YOUNG MAN AND HE WILL GO AWAY AND WORK HARD.’ STEVE HANSEN
here are a handful of current players who have reached a metaphorical crossroads in their career and must decide which road they will take.
They have reached that place where they have to ask what really matters to them and whether they have the depth of character to convert adversity into a powerful and galvanising fuel or let it break them.
Top of that list is Malakai Fekitoa. A career that was once burning bright is suddenly a little dim. He must decide whether he can rekindle the embers and get his fire roaring again after being dropped by the All Blacks.
And he’s fallen hard and far. Fekitoa won his All Black place in 2014 when he produced irresistible form with the Highlanders.
He was too good to leave out. He showed devastating power and timing on defence that year. Several times he nailed his opposite centre on the gainline with such venom and ferocity that he turned the momentum of the game.
His running was just as explosive and he’d knock over defenders with his impact or beat then with his footwork. In he came to the All Blacks and he just kept doing what he had been doing.
Test football didn’t faze him. It didn’t rattle him or clam him up. He kept playing as if it was Super Rugby and it looked as if the All Blacks had their successor to Conrad Smith.
But when it came time to find out if that was true last year, Fekitoa fluffed his lines. He was erratic with the Highlanders. Sometimes quiet, sometimes accurate, sometimes wild. No one could get a handle on where he was at, but the All Blacks selectors gave him the first crack at the No 13 jersey in June, believing he had been mostly positive during Super Rugby.
They found out, though, that Fekitoa’s progress had stalled. His game seemed to be bedevilled with doubt.
The spontaneous decisions dried up and the All Blacks selectors described him as wooden – in danger of tying himself in knots as he tried to overthink his options.
They gave him a rest during the back half of the Rugby Championship hoping that would refresh him mentally. It kind of did. He came back for the end of year tour a little clearer in his mind and a little more direct and abrasive.
It was maybe a false dawn though as he hasn’t taken his game to the next level this
year with the Highlanders. There was no major surge from Fekitoa and with Ngani Laumape emerging as a bustling, straightrunning No 12, Sonny Bill Williams coming good from his long injury break, Ryan Crotty being Ryan Crotty and Anton Lienert-Brown continuing to be so composed and full of surprises, there was no room in the All Blacks squad for Fekitoa.
He’d actually fallen a little further as Jack Goodhue was named as injury cover for Crotty. “When you look at the breakdown of the squad we have picked Sonny and Ngani as our two specialist 12s,” said All Blacks coach Steve Hansen.
“Crotts can play both as can Anton so we felt that if we were to lose a midfield player we’d probably be short of a centre – an out and out centre. When we looked at Mala and then we looked at young Jack Goodhue then Jack probably got the nod because of his ability to put people into space. Especially in those two-on-one situations, he’s very accurate for a young player and his skill-set is just that little bit higher than Mala’s.
“Again it was a tough decision but we don’t think we have seen the end of Mala. He will go away, he’s a resilient young man and he will go away and work hard.”
How resilient he is, will be tested because Fekitoa is off contract this year. There will be, inevitably, major offers to head overseas. He’s 25 and while there is time for him to bounce back in New Zealand and become a great All Black, there is also the prospect of him becoming seriously rich should he leave.
Fekitoa must decide which one matters most to him. He must decide whether he wants to leave New Zealand as a player who was dropped and decided not to fight for his place. Or does he give himself another two years to fight his way back into the World Cup picture?
Adversity can be his driving force if he wants it to be – he could end up with a World Cup winner’s medal in 2019 and remember that dark moment in 2017 that shaped him – made him the player he became.
Or he could watch that tournament from afar, wondering if he did the right thing by scurrying off after he’d been dropped.
The energy, determination, accuracy and defensive ferocity with which he played for the Highlanders against the Lions hints that he might be ready to dig in for the long-haul.
It was a performance that said he might be down about his non-selection for the All Blacks, but he’s not out.
In 2014, Patrick Tuipulotu appeared destined to become a regular and significant part of the All Blacks match day 23.
It was a surprise and stunning rise for the then 22 year-old to reach that place. He’d played for the New Zealand Under 20 side in 2013 and while that was enough for him to win a contract at the Blues, coach John Kirwan kept playing down expectations.
He continued to insist in the off-season that Tuipulotu would play limited game time for the Blues – that the big lock wasn’t ready yet to be a starter.
That turned out not to be the case. The Blues had a couple of injuries at lock early in the season, in came Tuipulotu and he never looked back.
At 2.02m and 122kg, he was a monster. He knocked big men out of the way when he had the ball and when he didn’t.
By May, it was obvious that while the Blues were struggling, Tuipulotu wasn’t and he was an easy pick for the All Blacks.
They were looking for a direct, tight lock. They wanted a younger, bruising athlete who could carry hard and clean out – someone with the presence and physicality to come off the bench in the final 20 minutes and make an impact.
They had found their man and by the latter half of the year, Tuipulotu was their go-to option off the bench. In several games that year, most notably against Australia in Brisbane and England at Twickenham, he was hugely influential.
He was a certainty to go to the World Cup at that stage. His natural athleticism and ability to play with the ball, combined with his obvious and relentless physicality made him irresistible.
But in early 2015 he was struck down with a pelvic injury that required major surgery. His World Cup dream was suddenly over – he’d miss the entire season.
It was a tough, tough blow for Tuipulotu and for the All Blacks. They ended up not using a specialist lock on the bench at the World Cup – something that most likely wouldn’t have happened had Tuipulotu been fit.
It was a long and painful recovery. He was forced into being inactive and with the World Cup on in the background, he was miserable.
He had to ask himself some tough questions and grind out the hard yards once he could get back to training. He faced adversity and it made him stronger, returning as he did to Super Rugby early in the 2016 season.
His form took a while to come. That was understandable as the injury had been major. By November he was edging close to somewhere near his best again.
The speed and power had returned more obviously. He was carrying more and harder, too and the All Blacks gave him a start against Ireland in the absence of the injured Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick.
Speaking before that match in Chicago, Tuipulotu looked back on the previous 18 months and revealed how they had shaped him.
“[Injury] Had an affect on what I did at home during my recovery,” he said. “I put on a bit of weight [ he climbed to 140kg]. It was definitely hard watching the World Cup. It was inspiring but I was also thinking inside my head that I could have been there.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself to come back and be that player I wanted to be at the start of the season. In hindsight I do think I pushed myself too early; that I came back into the game too early and didn’t give myself a good chance.
“But it happened. I can’t look back and I am happy with where I am at now. I still don’t think I’m where I want to be, but I am always trying to improve and I am basing my goals on where I left before I had surgery.”
Adversity had been Tuipulotu’s driver back to the All Blacks... and then amazingly, it struck him down again.
After a poor performance in the USA, Tuipulotu failed a drugs test. He left the tour a week later when the All Blacks were told of the result, but due to strict privacy regulations, the news couldn’t be made public.
The All Blacks could only say he was going home for personal reasons and when Tuipulotu didn’t rejoin the Blues for pre-season in 2017 for continued ongoing personal reasons, suspicions were raised.
[INJURY] HAD AN AFFECT ON WHAT I DID AT HOME DURING MY RECOVERY. I PUT ON A BIT OF WEIGHT. IT WAS DEFINITELY HARD WATCHING THE WORLD CUP. IT WAS INSPIRING BUT I WAS ALSO THINKING INSIDE MY HEAD THAT I COULD HAVE BEEN THERE.’ PATRICK TUIPULOTU
Eventually, in early February, word leaked out about the positive drugs test. Once media ran with it, a statement was released by the New Zealand Rugby Union confirming Tuipulotu had indeed tested positive for a specified substance. What that meant was that he had most likely taken something inadvertently, but still, for three months Tuipulotu was unsure of his future.
He was facing a potential two-year ban, best case scenario being a three-month suspension. It was a horrible time for him and the uncertainty was stressful – especially once everyone knew his predicament.
A few days after news broke about his failed A-sample, against all the odds, his B-sample came back negative and he was off the hook. That was the case closed and he was cleared to play immediately.
“It was a big eye-opener and I think I’m better for it,” he said. “It can go just like that. I was in a position where I thought I’d never be back to rugby or rugby here at the Blues. That was tough to take.
“When I got the phone call to say I could come back to training I was happy as, and when someone said [coach] Tana [Umaga] announced it and all the boys were cheering ... I don’t know, it’s just a good feeling.”
Five months on and Tuipulotu hasn’t yet shown that adversity has galvanised him. He didn’t play well for the Blues in Super Rugby and was relegated to the bench midway through the campaign.
He missed out on playing against the Lions when he was late for training – or rather when he failed to notify anyone he was stuck in traffic and going to be late.
Like Fekitoa, Tuipulotu is at that crossroads where the future that looked like being his is slipping away. He has endured two major setbacks and it looks like his confidence has been rocked as a consequence.
He hasn’t yet been able to get his career back on track and provide evidence he’s still going to be a huge player for the All Blacks.
Adversity has harmed him more than it has helped, but there is plenty of time to ensure Tuipulotu can make his injury and drugs test a defining rather than destructive influence on his career.
There are a huge number of rugby followers hoping Charlie Ngatai can make the last 14 months nothing more than a bad but motivating memory.
The Chiefs midfielder suffered a major head knock in late April last year and, such was its impact, there were genuine fears he would never play again.
He was picked in the All Blacks squad for the June test series against Wales but when he turned up in camp, he was still suffering headaches and other concussion symptoms so he was sent home to recover.
The hope was he’d be back for the Rugby Championship but as it approached, he was still being beset by symptoms. He couldn’t return for the Chiefs. He couldn’t train. He couldn’t really do much at all and the expectation shifted – his new target was to make the All Blacks end of year tour after proving his fitness with Taranaki. Didn’t happen.
IT WAS A BIG EYE-OPENER AND I THINK I’M BETTER FOR IT,” HE SAID. “IT CAN GO JUST LIKE THAT. I WAS IN A POSITION WHERE I THOUGHT I’D NEVER BE BACK TO RUGBY OR RUGBY HERE AT THE BLUES. THAT WAS TOUGH TO TAKE.’ PATRICK TUIPULOTU
By October, Ngatai was no better and without having trained, he had lost conditioning.
Super Rugby kicked off without him in February. He was still in the Chiefs squad but they were increasingly worried Ngatai wasn’t going to feature. Not worried for their campaign, worried for the long-term health of their athlete. But almost a year since he suffered his head trauma, Ngatai returned to the game.
The headaches had stopped and from late February he was able to make a graduated return to training. He was able to run and do strength work without any side effects and by April he was declared fit to play a club game.
It was the breakthrough he had been waiting for and one he feared may never come. “At one stage you do,” Ngatai said when he was asked if he thought he may never play again.
“Headaches, a lot of anxiety, worry, dizziness, just little different things that wouldn’t go away. You go into a sort of dark place that you can’t really explain if you haven’t been there.
“You don’t want to end up in a wheelchair or disabled for the rest of your life – you want to watch them [children] grow up and grow up with them…. do the things you love with them.”
He returned to the Chiefs’ starting line-up to play the Reds, went well before he ran out of gas and then had to spend another three weeks resting as concussion symptoms flared again.
It was a worry, but the Chiefs insisted it was more precautionary and Ngatai returned to action in early June to play against the Hurricanes, a day after he had been selected in the New Zealand Maori squad.
The great hope now is that Ngatai will be consistently free of symptoms: that he will enjoy an extended run of games without any health concerns.
If he can string together a run of games, he’ll no doubt come back into the All Blacks’ reckoning, maybe not for the Rugby Championship, but certainly for the end of year tour.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen rates Ngatai highly. “He’s quick, agile, composed and capable of playing at both second-five and centre. He’s a line breaker and distributor and has a huge boot.”
If Ngatai can get back to somewhere near the form he was in early last year, then it will be a classic tale of a young man having the resilience and depth of character to overcome what was a serious and prolonged conflict with adversity.
Given the number of players who have suffered from concussion, Ngatai’s recovery is truly inspirational and may hint that because he’s managed to get himself back in the game against all the odds, that he is indeed destined for greatness.
HEADACHES, A LOT OF ANXIETY, WORRY, DIZZINESS, JUST LITTLE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WOULDN’T GO AWAY. YOU GO INTO A SORT OF DARK PLACE THAT YOU CAN’T REALLY EXPLAIN IF YOU HAVEN’T BEEN THERE.’ CHARLIE NGATAI