Heem banishing the Glasgow ghosts [Nelson Mail]
Bryce Heem still can't quite escape memories of Glasgow.
The Tasman Makos wing was part of the New Zealand sevens team that suffered their first ever loss in a Commonwealth Games final in Glasgow almost three weeks ago.
Hot favourites heading into the tournament, New Zealand lost 17-12 to a supercharged South Africa to finish with the silver medal after having won all four previous golds.
Auckland-born Heem, 25, has been a regular fixture in Gordon Tietjens' sevens lineups since his debut in 2012 and for the most part, it's been a memorable ride as part of New Zealand's champion IRB World Series squad.
That included winning last year's World Cup title in Moscow, although when it counted in Glasgow, New Zealand couldn't quite deliver.
"I've been trying to take it with a grain of salt and, I guess, just think about the bright side of the whole experience," Heem said.
"I mean, not many people get to go to the Commonwealth Games and the people that do, not all of them get medals. But the pain still hurts when I think about that final."
Adding to his discomfort, Heem also picked up a dose of flu on his return to New Zealand as the combined effects of jet-lag and the mental and physical pressures of a taxing Commonwealth Games campaign took their toll. He was definitely feeling off colour for Tasman's preseason clash with Manawatu at Trafalgar Park last Thursday, but he desperately wanted to be involved.
"I was a bit run down but I was still really keen to play," he said.
"I hadn't played 15s since last year's ITM Cup final, so I was keen to get back into it."
The constant travel associated with pursuing a sevens career brings its own pressures.
"Yeah, you get used to it, but it gets a bit much sometimes. You've got to take the good with the bad."
Returning from a consistent diet of sevens back into ITM Cup rugby also requires some readjustment.
"I'm really fit, my lungs will be fine, it's just the legs getting used to carrying on for a longer period of time. We'll see how we go on Sunday."
But despite Tietjens' notoriously gruelling training sessions, Heem's been able to maintain his weight. "I've managed to keep my weight up quite a bit, I think I'm 107[kg] at the moment, so I'm quite happy with that."
Although primarily a wing, where he's played previously for both Auckland and Northland, Heem's also worn the No 13 jersey for Tasman.
"It's a familiar position to me. I guess to move into the centres now, I just like the challenge a bit more.""As long as I'm playing I'm quite happy. I like to change it up whenever I can. I'm pretty keen to try and move into the centres, but if we've got good centres playing, then I'm happy to play on the wing.
Heem said that Tasman's stellar ITM Cup campaign last year had raised everyone's expectations.
"The expectations are pretty high. We definitely don't want to let up from where we left it last year. Our standards are still very high and we want to prove that we can hold our own in this division," he said.
"I think we've got the quality of players to do it and especially with a lot of new guys coming into the team as well, they all look pretty handy [so] there's good competition throughout the team.
"If we can get control of our game and just play it like we want to play it, then I think the results will just take care of themselves, really."
As to his future sevens aspirations - and with the Rio Olympics now just two years away - Heem's wary of getting ahead of himself.
"I haven't thought that far ahead yet. I kind of just like to take each season step by step, really, and see what happens after that.
"I've [just] been looking forward to getting back down here [to Tasman] and starting off another good season with all the boys."
