Happy to be a muttonhead, but dickheads are out [Joe Wheeler]
I may not have been born in Marlborough but I grew up here, my family is still here and I consider myself a Marlburian through and through.
I went to Marlborough Boys' College and in my final year, KK [Kieran Keane] was my coach. He's been a huge influence on my career and rugby. As well as with the Makos, he's been a great sounding-board for my career and he's a mentor and a bit of second-father figure to some of us guys.
He may have called me a "muttonhead" from time to time but that's one of KK's traits - he's not afraid to tell it like it is. He just wants the best for the guys and so sometimes that means you have to take some bullets and if you've played well, he'll tell you that, too. He's turned a lot of us guys into Super Rugby players and given that Shane (Christie) and Liam (Squire) have just helped the All Blacks with their Bledisloe Cup preparation, hopefully some of them might kick on to higher honours.
It shows that hard work and consistent performances will be rewarded and if those guys were to get an end-of-year tour, that'd be great. There are a couple of other guys not too far away either. It'd be awesome if Tasman could produce a couple of homegrown ABs.
My first season with the Makos was back in 2008 so perhaps I'm getting a bit long in the tooth because that seems like a long time ago. I'm privileged and honoured to represent my province and the Makos. I love every minute of it. I love Marlborough, love Nelson and love the Makos' team culture. We don't like having dickheads in our team and they get swept away pretty quickly.
I love coming down Seddon Hill or the Whangamoas and seeing Blenheim and Nelson. I'm comfortable here, it's home, and I know all the best coffee places. Part of it is that Nelson is a small town so it's hard to avoid the guys, unless you live up the Teapot Valley like Tim Perry.
And it's great to be back in the top of the south after the Super Rugby season in Dunedin. There are not too many mornings up here when you have to rug up with a beanie and few layers of thermals.
I only joined the team on Monday so it's been a pretty full-on week already, getting back up to speed with how we play and adding a few new tricks.
We like to use the ball a lot more than most teams do. That's what we're known for so we don't want to get away from that. I enjoy that open style of rugby and I like to think I can throw the ball around like a back. We have kicking comps and things like that with the backs and we forwards hold our own.
Makos lock Joe Wheeler will write his Freewheeling column throughout the 2014 NPC season.Sunday's season-opener against the Hawke's Bay Magpies is going to be a humdinger. It's a replay of last year's final. Lansdowne Park is one of my favourite places to play and hopefully it will create excitement around the region and we'll get a huge crowd. That makes a huge difference to us - we feed off that energy.
- The Marlborough Express
