Weepu reveals sneaky club league turnouts
He always had a big cheeky streak, Piri Weepu.
And as it turns out, that was taken to quite some level during his professional rugby career, with the former halfback revealing in an interview that he would in fact sneak off to play club rugby league as well.
Weepu divulged that on several occasions he would turn out for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby on a Saturday, then turn out in the 13-man code for the Wainuiomata Lions a day later - using his middle name as an alias.
‘‘We always used to figure out who was going to be there, and trying to work out whether the media would be there,’’ Weepu said. ‘‘Sometimes I’d put head gear on, or cover my face in mud right from the get go.’’
But don’t think Weepu wasn’t scared of what might happen if he got caught - with the tough-talking Graham Henry in charge of the All Blacks at the time.
‘‘I remember reading a few articles about when Jerry [Collins] got caught. He played against Wainui, and my dad, being him, knew who he was but kept quiet.’’
Weepu, who played 71 times for the All Blacks, said he just loved going back to grassroots and playing - be it either code.
It was league players Andrew Johns and Allan Langer who were his childhood heroes, he grew up wanting to play for the Kiwis, and he had interest from the Melbourne Storm, Brisbane Broncos and Canterbury Bulldogs, but decided to go to the Hurricanes.
‘‘Although I’ve been playing rugby over the years, I’d always come back to the league club,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s my comfort zone really. After games with the boys I always found myself wanting to be back at the league club.
‘‘Rugby? It was fun. I was just lucky enough to get paid for it. I didn’t enjoy the early morning sessions, I wasn’t getting paid at the time so I was thinking of just going to get a job instead. That was me at the time but now, looking back, maybe I should have gone to more early morning sessions. It was me trying to develop.’’
Weepu, 33, has been playing in England and France since 2014, but will this year turn out for Wairarapa Bush in the Heartland Championship.