Angus Gillies - Simon Mannering--Warrior

A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of New Zealand.

ISBN
e: 978-1-988516-48-6

m: 978-1-988516-49-3

A Mower Book

Published in 2018 by Upstart Press Ltd

Level 4, 15 Huron St, Takapuna 0622

Auckland, New Zealand

Text Simon Mannering 2018

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

Design and format Upstart Press Ltd 2018

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

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Printed by Printlink, New Zealand

This publication is printed on FSC certified paper from responsible sources.

Never once did I think I would write a book and, for that matter, nor did I have any aspirations to do so. But, after a bit of persistence and a lot of arm-twisting, here it is. Thanks to my teammates, football staff and coaches for the memories and also my friends and family for all your unconditional support. To Anna and the kids, thanks for always being there through the good times and bad. Love you always.

Contents

Foreword

The first time I met Simon was when I was assistant coach for Tony Kemp in 2004. It was at a pre-season session at Waitakere and there was a big set of stairs that we had the boys running up and down. It was pretty intense, but Simon was handling it. He had just signed his first Warriors contract and while he was still playing for Wellington in the Bartercard Cup, hed come up for a week or two to get a taste of what it was like training at the club. Sometimes you meet guys and see them train and they make an immediate impression. I watched him and I thought, This guys got something special about him. He stood out. Number one, he was white-skinned. In all seriousness, that was unusual at the Warriors, especially as a young Kiwi forward. He seemed confident, but there was nothing brash about him and he spoke well. I think as Simons got older hes become more self-conscious. Back then he was reserved, but you could tell he certainly wasnt overawed. And that was the first time Id ever seen him train and that day it was a hard session, but he did really well, and I thought to myself, Were going to see a lot more of this kid.

Ill mention a few incidents that stand out for me and Im sure they wont act as spoilers because Simon will tell the stories in much more detail in this book.

Ill never forget his debut game against the Broncos at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland. It was in the second half of the 2005 season. He came on and this 18-year-old, one of the first things he did on the field in his NRL career was he absolutely beat Justin Hodges hands down at a time when Justin was the Kangaroos centre and the best in the world. It was a true centres one-on-one contest, and he did Justin like a dinner. He offloaded to Manu Vatuvei, and Manu scored a crucial try. I was gobsmacked. I sat there, thinking, Okay, this kid has got something.

When I took over as Warriors coach in 2006, Steve Price and Ruben Wiki were the rocks we built the team around, but Simon, even in those early days, wasnt far behind. He was incredible, right from the start. He and Micheal Luck were the first to get in and do the dirty jobs, and they didnt complain. Theyd get into good covering positions, cover up for other peoples missed tackles, take a hard run when everyone else was exhausted, train when they were injured. They just wouldnt say they were injured.

He was unbelievably consistent. His defence was phenomenal, even when he was young. He dominated every tackle he made. And he wouldnt just make them, he controlled the ruck and he was just so solid and so diligent.

There was one game in 2007 that Ive got to talk about. Again, Im sure Simon will go into much more detail. We were playing Manly. It was late in the season. We had to win to cement our place in the top eight. Manly were first or second at that point. And Simon was sick. Hed been crook all week. He had these ulcers in his mouth. They were horrendous. And hed lost about six or seven kilos at the time. And he said, Nah, Ill play. Im gonna play. He wouldnt take no for an answer. And we wouldnt take no for an answer either because we didnt care how he looked or how he felt, as long as he could play because we needed him out there. So, he played and the first tackle he made, he broke his hand. Well, I didnt know about the broken hand until the next day. He played the whole game with the injury. And he ended up scoring the try that sealed the match and he won the man of the match award. That went down in folklore pretty much. You use that story to instruct young guys in what its all about. He was only about 20 years of age at that time, still so young.

Then in 2009, he got a knee injury. We were having a bad season and that was one of the first times I remember him being injured, or I should say unable to play because of injury because he was carrying injuries all the time. He missed a couple of games. He was supposed to be out for four to six weeks and he had a Kiwis Four Nations campaign coming up after the NRL season, so he would have wanted his knee to be right for that. But the last game of the season was going to be the great halfback Stacey Joness last game ever. It was at Mt Smart against Melbourne. Think about it: its the last game of the year, were coming something like 14th, hed had two weeks out of a six-week rehab and he says, No, I want to play, and went out there and played. Theres something wrong with this guy! He just wanted to be there for Staceys last game. When youre trying to build a culture in a team, acts like that and that was typical of what Simon did they just make all the difference. An act like that wasnt just a huge example for the guys there at the time but also for the guys coming into the club in the future. Of course, Simon didnt even think twice about it.

Those two games when he was crook against Manly and Staceys last game showed me he was far from normal. They definitely helped me decide to make him captain in 2010. He was happy to sacrifice his own self for the team. With Stacey, I realised he understood the relevance of occasions. He respected the players who had gone before him. You cant buy that sort of stuff. I knew how much respect he had from the players. I knew he would be a great role model, not just for the players but for the club itself. Looking back now, its one of the best decisions we came up with. He would never let you down. Thats the best I could say about him.

So where does he sit in Warriors history among all the great players who have passed through the club? Well, for a start, hes played 300 NRL games for the Warriors, and hes the first person to do that.

Its hard to compare different eras. Stacey was so good and I was fortunate enough to play with him at his peak, that Grand Final year of 2002. Manu Vatuvei was just brilliant for so long. Steve Price and Ruben Wiki were both absolute rocks when they played. But when you look at Simon you take into account longevity and the fact that he started when he did, when the club was basically just completely rebuilt, and he came through all that and he led the team to the Grand Final in 2011 and numerous finals series in that period. And when the club was having its worst seasons results-wise, he was still winning Player of the Year awards and finishing high up in the most tackles for the NRL. If hes not the best ever Warrior, hes certainly in the conversation. Personally, I would put him at the top, just for all those reasons: consistency, longevity, great captaincy.