The Post

Meet the ultimate Warrior

Simon Mannering enters rugby league’s famed 300 club tonight in his final NRL season with the Warriors. But who is the man behind the legend? Jackson Thomas finds out.

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If there is one thing Simon Mannering won’t miss about profession­al rugby league, it’s the spotlight. Despite being on the eve of 300 NRL games, the first Warrior to do so and potentiall­y about to play his last game at a ground he has called home for the last 14 seasons, the shy kid from Motueka wishes everyone didn’t make such a fuss about it all.

In the opinion of his fellow players, Mannering is considered the ultimate Warrior. The club’s greatest ever.

He’s described by his peers as someone you love to play with, and by his counterpar­ts as someone you hate to play against; a benchmark of grit and consistenc­y for more than a decade in the toughest rugby league competitio­n in the world.

But to fully understand the man behind New Zealand league’s most decorated career, you have to understand where he has come from and the humble beginnings that helped mould him. THE EARLY YEARS

Simon Mannering was born on August 28, 1986, in Napier before the family moved to Motueka.

Mannering and his two siblings attended St Peter Chanel School and it was there they first fell in love with sport – rugby union was Simon’s first love.

Father Bill Warwick was the parish priest at St Peter Chanel when the Mannerings first arrived in town. He remembers them as ‘‘warm and welcoming’’, and the family home was always overflowin­g with local kids running around in the backyard.

Most Saturday mornings, Warwick would head to the local park on Manoy St to watch Simon and brother Marcus play the 15-man code.

‘‘He [Simon] always had very quick feet as a young fella. He could run and was never shy on the tackle, that I remember,’’ Warwick said.

Over the years, Warwick and the Mannering family became close.

He said from a young age Simon was level-headed – though like all kids he wasn’t entirely against getting up to a bit of mischief.

‘‘I remember in 1997, the school was extending the pool,’’ Warwick said with a grin.

‘‘When it came time to open the pool we had a bit of grand opening ceremony.

‘‘We weren’t in there five minutes before Simon and Marcus pushed me into the pool, fully clothed, and started trying to dunk me under as everyone else laughed and jeered.

‘‘Simon was always a bit more quiet than his brother, but both enjoyed a good laugh.’’

Warwick said Mannering was a product of his environmen­t ‘‘through and through’’, and believed it was at Nelson College where the shy kid found his feet. FIRST XV RUGBY

Before he became a league legend, Mannering was destined for greatness in the 15-man code and learnt his trade at Nelson College under the tutelage – both on and off the field – of Peter Grigg.

Grigg has been teaching at Nelson since 1996 and watched as Mannering came up through the grades before making the school’s first XV.

Though Grigg said he had seen plenty of more talented players come through the system, few could rival Mannering’s attitude. ‘‘Always head down working. More so than most I have ever seen, which is probably why he has gone on to have such success.’’

It was in 2003 when Mannering first tried the 13-man code.

Grigg’s side had finished eighth in its competitio­n, so he put together a league team to ‘‘get some extra work in’’ following a disappoint­ing campaign.

He assumed he’d get his hands back on his players for the next season, refreshed and ready to go. But Mannering never returned.

After just three games it was clear league was his sport and Mannering was named in the New Zealand Schoolboys team before being invited to Wellington to play under-18s.

In a matter of months he was playing top-level league in Wellington for the Orcas before being signed to a part-time deal by the Warriors. THE NRL

Mannering made his first grade debut on June 26, 2005.

In typical Mannering fashion, he didn’t even tell his mother he would be making his debut as he didn’t want to make ‘‘a big fuss about it’’, he said.

It was a Sunday afternoon. The night before had left conditions wet under foot, the eastern stand was even struck by lightning, but the sun broke through just before kickoff.

‘‘Every single week you just knew what you were going to get.’’ Micheal Luck on Simon Mannering

Mannering had an anxious 53-minute wait before entering the game; within 30 seconds he had his first touch.

It was a rushed pass that saw him swamped immediatel­y for a one-metre gain, the first of what would become a total of more than 27,000m – and counting.

It’s a day that 299 games later, Mannering stills holds as his proudest moment.

‘‘You never forget your debut, that would be the highlight for me,’’ he said.

‘‘It was the club’s 10th anniversar­y. I was lucky enough to come in and play alongside some guys who I looked up to. I was not long out of school and got to play with some legends like Stacey [Jones] and that. I could never have wished for this, the way my career has panned out since then. I’m very lucky.’’

The next season, 2006, the Warriors signed Micheal Luck.

So began a great friendship between two uncompromi­sing back-rowers, something both pinpoint as a career-defining moment.

In an ultimate endorsemen­t, Luck said Mannering would be the first player he’d pick were he putting together a side today.

‘‘I was lucky enough to play along side some great players. The likes of Stacey Jones, Ruben Wiki, Steve Price and Johnathan Thurston. But Simon would be the first one I’d pick,’’ he said.

‘‘In my opinion none of those guys played with the same level of consistenc­y as Simon, and that’s taking nothing away from them, they’re all-time greats.

‘‘Simon has never been as dynamic as Stacey and not as physically dominant as Wiki, but

every single week you just knew what you were going to get. The difference between his best and his worst game is so minuscule.’’

Mannering and Luck spent as much time off the field together as they did on it. They would carpool to and from training, and bonded over their love of music and ‘‘talking rubbish’’, Luck said.

It was Mannering’s consistenc­y of character that Luck admired the most.

‘‘The great thing about Simon is he never changes, he’s the same now as he was when he came in as an 18-year-old,’’ he said.

‘‘He’s a product of a great family and it’s made him such a humble, understate­d man who never asks for anything. For him to reach 300 games is an awesome achievemen­t and couldn’t happen to a more deserving player in my eyes.’’ JOINING THE 300 CLUB

He’s not comfortabl­e with all the fanfare, not at all, but even Mannering (begrudging­ly) concedes his pending milestone is one worth recognisin­g.

At a media session on Monday, the veteran back-rower stood and watched as he was lauded by his coach and teammates, none of whom were interested in downplayin­g what tonight will mean for Mannering and the club.

When it was his turn to front the cameras, Mannering typically used the opportunit­y to thank all those who had helped get him to this point rather than bask in his own glory.

‘‘I’m surprised I lasted this long to be honest, just thankful,’’ he said.

‘‘It will be a pinch yourself moment to run out. It will be a very proud moment for me and my family but, those sort of things [300 games] you never set out to achieve. These milestones are good moments to thank the people that helped get you here.’’

As Mannering and his team prepare for tonight and the NRL finals thereafter, football remains the main focus – and that’s how he wants things to stay.

Whether the Warriors charge all the way to the grand final and send him off in style, or the bow out in week one, Mannering has just one request – don’t make a fuss about him.

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 ??  ?? Before joining the Warriors, Simon Mannering worked in ceiling installati­on, pictured here in 2004. ‘‘It was a very grounding experience,’’ he says.
Before joining the Warriors, Simon Mannering worked in ceiling installati­on, pictured here in 2004. ‘‘It was a very grounding experience,’’ he says.
 ?? PHOTOSPORT GETTY IMAGES/ STUFF ?? Simon Mannering gazes out at Mt Smart Stadium, venue for his 300th NRL game tonight. The Warriors stalwart is downplayin­g the milestone, saying ‘‘I’m surprised I lasted this long to be honest’’.
PHOTOSPORT GETTY IMAGES/ STUFF Simon Mannering gazes out at Mt Smart Stadium, venue for his 300th NRL game tonight. The Warriors stalwart is downplayin­g the milestone, saying ‘‘I’m surprised I lasted this long to be honest’’.
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