Ainley's yen for home can't be ignored [Nelson Mail]
BIG MAN IN JAPAN: Alex Ainley ready to go in Tasman Makos colours after three seasons playing rugby in Japan.
Alex Ainley has returned to the Tasman Makos after three seasons of playing club rugby for the Mitsubishi Dynaboars in Japan. He spoke to Wayne Martin about getting back into the Tasman fold.
Alex Ainley could have played another two seasons in Japan.
But Tasman's prodigal son now says enough is enough.
It's time to complete some unfinished business with the Tasman Makos.
The rangy 31-year-old lock headed to Japan, and an eventual three-year stint with the Mitsubishi Dynaboars, at the end of the 2009 ITM Cup rugby season with 42 games for Tasman under his belt. Japan beckoned and he answered the call.
Until then, he'd spent his previous three off-seasons with Tasman playing club rugby in Italy, but with uncertainty looming on New Zealand's rugby horizon and Tasman's ITM Cup fate under threat, Ainley had to make a decision.
"The ITM Cup was downsizing and players contracts were being reduced," Ainley explains.
"Nothing against Tasman - I would have loved to stay - but the contract came up in Japan and financially it made sense."
Ainley and wife Michelle had only intended to be away for two years.
"I had a one-year contract to begin with, then they wanted to re-sign me for two more years after that.
"They seemed to like me. They wanted to re-sign me for another two now, but I called it a day."
Now he's back, preparing for the Nelson Bays club season with Wanderers and as part of the Makos' training squad.
He's one of 18 confirmed players already signed for this year's ITM Cup and form and fitness willing, has a chance to achieve 50 games for the province later this year. It would be a fitting tribute for the affable tight forward.
Ainley was one of the province's foundation players back in 2006 when he appeared in all 10 games, every one at flanker.
He took over the captaincy from hooker Ti'i Paulo the following season when he again played in all 10 games, six at flanker and four at lock.
He relinquished the captaincy to Andrew Goodman in 2008 but his durability saw him play 10 of Tasman's 11 games, all but one of them at lock, before appearing solely at lock in 12 of Tasman's 13 games in their 2009 campaign.
His last appearance was against Wellington at Blenheim's Lansdowne Park in October that year.
Physically speaking, Japan's been kind to the 107kg, 1.95m forward who's now trying to load a few extra kilograms onto his frame prior to the ITM Cup kickoff against Southland on August 17. He's comfortable at 110kg and admits his metabolism and natural fitness allowed him a relatively injury-free run.
Inevitable adjustments notwithstanding, Ainley slotted comfortably into the Japanese rugby scene with its up-tempo style of play. Over there, size doesn't necessarily equate to impact.
"It's fast. Everyone's fit but the average player probably weighs about 30kg less as well. You get the big players, the foreigners like [All Black lock] Brad Thorn who didn't make a huge impact.
"He's a big player and he destroys rucks when he gets there but the ball was often gone before he even got there.
"I lost about 4-5 kilos as soon as I got there just [through] the type of play. I didn't need to be heavy; it was just more a case of building your base fitness. As long as you're fit, you go alright.
"I'm lucky I've got quite a good metabolism so that if I don't get in the gym, I lose weight."
Ainley also quickly found himself onside with the team's coaching staff; despite restrictions regarding the use of overseas players, he appeared regularly in the run-on side.
"I guess the coach liked me. We had some very good players but I seemed to play quite a bit. That first year (when) I had a one-year contract I got 80 to 90 per cent of the games then the second year I did as well.
"Then this season just been, we had [All Black] Tom Donnelly in the team, so there was me and him at lock. Probably because of selection and injuries as well, I probably played 50 per cent of the games."
According to Ainley, the team performed better than expected by reaching the second division playoffs and ultimately the promotion-relegation match, which they lost by three points.
"So we were a little bit unlucky but I think the coaches and management were actually quite happy with how far we got. I don't think they actually expected us to get that far."
Ainley says a high level of fitness is the "be-all and end-all" of Japanese rugby.
"I think that's why the coach liked me because my fitness levels are naturally reasonably good or were okay anyway.
"When I first got there the first year, we went straight into our four-day fitness camp where you just do two or three-hour fitness sessions every day for four days. It's as much fun as it sounds.
"That's how they treat it. We'd do two or three fitness sessions a week and we'd only do one gym session, which is the opposite to what we do here."
Ainley says that coming from a New Zealand playing background highlighted obvious disparities in playing standards and, in some cases, a lack of innovation in the Japanese approach.
"They're obviously a little bit behind in terms of their rugby knowledge and rugby skills. It was a case of trying to bring them up to speed and introducing all that new stuff.
"The biggest problem really is, no-one will ever question what an elder says.
"A lot of their coaches have learned their rugby from university rugby and university rugby is everything in Japan.
"All these coaches that have come through now are coaching top league and second division and have learnt all their stuff through university rugby.
"They're just teaching what they learnt 20 years ago and nobody will question it ... they'll just do what they're told. So unfortunately, a lot of the teams are playing rugby from the '80s."
There have been some obvious exceptions, where foreign coaches have introduced more innovative playing styles.
"You can see why teams like Suntory have done really well because they've always had (former Wallabies coach) Eddie Jones there and they've trusted him to do what he wants.
"So he's running them with obviously the Australian style of rugby and they are doing so much better than the other teams."
Other than consolidating his base fitness, Ainley's recognised other areas where three seasons of exposure to another culture have enhanced his rugby education.
"Maybe I'm better at seeing [opposition] weaknesses. Over in Japan they rely on you a lot more.
"Each team's got four or five foreigners, maybe, and you're only allowed to play two at a time. You've only got a limited amount of foreigners and they really look to them for guidance - for team moves, for calling games.
"I think it's helped me a lot, you can see how a game's panning out rather than relying on coaches' calls from the sideline."
It also begs the question regarding Ainley's suitability for this year's Tasman captaincy role - although it's not something he's actively pursuing.
"I'm not going to be pushing that. If it comes about, it comes about.
"There's boys that have been playing in the team for the last few years and have played at Super 15 level and have been in that environment for a few years who I think would be really suited to being captain.
"[But] I'd be more than happy."
