I’ve enjoyed every single minute: Darling
RALPHIE is still smiling.
North Otago talisman Ralph Darling would much rather be in the Meads Cup semifinals than preparing for a Lochore Cup playoff, but the effervescent prop enjoys life too much to stay down for long.
And, when he leads the Old Golds out for today’s semifinal in Masterton, he can reflect on an immense personal achievement when he plays his 100th firstclass game for the union.
Darling (32) told the Otago Daily Times he had not given much thought to the century as he wanted to concentrate on helping North Otago finish a poor season on a positive note.
‘‘It’s probably something that I will only come to terms with when I’ve finished playing,’’ he said.
‘‘At the moment, there’s a pretty big job to do, so I’m not really thinking about the milestone. Eventually, I’m sure I will have a little smile about it.’’
Darling said he was motivated to keep playing in the Heartland Championship by the people who surrounded him, and he had enjoyed getting the opportunity to develop as a player.
‘‘North Otago rugby has gone through some tough patches but we’ve had a lot of good patches, too.
‘‘People I’ve met, people who have coached me — it’s been awesome. I’ve enjoyed every single minute.
‘‘I like to think I’m a bit smarter now with how I go about things. I’m not rip, s . . . or bust like I used to be. That’s probably just something that’s come with age, ha ha.’’
Chasing down Luke Brownlee, the remarkably durable flanker who played his 200th game for Buller earlier this season, was perhaps an unrealistic goal, Darling acknowledged.
‘‘Luke’s awesome. I don’t know if you’ll ever see that again for one province.’’
Darling, born in Oamaru of Samoan heritage and educated at Waitaki Boys’ High School, made his debut for the Old Golds in 2007 — they won the Meads Cup that year — but did not immediately become a fixture in the team.
The story goes that thenNorth Otago coach Barry Matthews met his young frontrower in a local watering hole, took one look at the burger in one hand and the pint in the other and delivered a stern message.
‘‘Rat [Matthews] kind of took me under his wing and taught me a lot.
‘‘If he hadn’t done that, who knows what would have happened?’’
Darling was an integral member of the 2010 team that also won the Meads Cup, captained North Otago for the best part of five seasons, and was a recurring selection in the New Zealand Heartland XV.
No wonder pointing to a career highlight is an impossible request.
‘‘I’ve just enjoyed every minute of the journey, you know. Win or lose, it’s still a good feeling to play for North Otago.’’
Darling, who has spent the past two years as cocoach of his beloved Old Boys club, hopes the Old Golds can produce some lateseason magic to win the Lochore Cup, something of a consolation for missing out on the top four in the Heartland Championship for a fifth straight season.
‘‘It hurts to miss out on the Meads Cup,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ve had a good enough team, on paper, but it just hasn’t quite clicked. There is a lot of frustration within the group, for sure.
‘‘We can’t accept anything less than two more wins. It won’t be the Meads Cup but it’s the best we can do from here.’’
Loose forward Mat Duff plays his 50th game for North Otago today.