by Paul Cook –

While Australia’s ‘third tier’ competition builds towards it’s own climax with this week’s NRC semi-finals, it’s equivalent – and realistic benchmark – across the ditch, the ITM Cup, has its grand final decider on Saturday night.

The title showdown sees perennial challengers Canterbury hosting Auckland, as the Cantabrians look to wrest back the trophy they held for six straight years before going out in last year’s semi-finals to eventual runners-up, Tasman. But while their team list offers up some well-known players in the shape of Crusaders and All Blacks such as Matt Todd, Ryan Crotty and Patrick Osborne, there is a familiar name from Sydney club rugby waiting in the wings for his chance to shine on his biggest stage yet.

Northern Suburbs’ captain Ben Matwijow has been one of the Shute Shield’s ‘next cabs off the rank’ pretty much every year since he took his 1st grade bow. Inexplicably, while a production line of other, perhaps less heralded, talents have gone on to enjoy their taste of the next level, Matwijow’s progress has been limited to a couple of pre-seasons with the Western Force and a run off the bench against the British & Irish Lions back in 2013.

Little wonder then, that when an opportunity came to put his name forward for a shot with New Zealand’s most successful NPC/ITM Cup side, ‘Maj’ literally jumped at the chance.

“It was a call out of the blue to be honest,” Matwijow told Rugby News when we caught up with him this week. “It all happened over about 24hrs, my manager called me up and told me there might be an opportunity at Canterbury and I told him to chuck my name in the ring.

“He asked me if I had any references and I gave him Cronnie’s [Norths head coach Simon Cron] name and it turns out the Cron surname is quite famous in Canterbury (Cron was a former player, while his Uncle Mike is the forwards coach for the All Blacks). So they gave Cronnie a call and he must have helped my cause because they looked at my footage and asked me to come over.”

There were no guarantees of game time, just an opportunity to join the squad, show the coaches what he could do and see where that took him. But being the determined character that he is, and no doubt with an almighty point to prove, he impressed enough in training to force his way into the match day squad for game two, and has gone on to feature in every one of the team’s matches since, starting three times and coming of the bench in every other as Canterbury dominated the regular season with only one loss to finish as Minor Premiers.

“One of their locks had just had a season ending injury so they needed cover and they just gave me a chance to come over and prove myself,” he explains. “They wanted someone who could call lineouts as well because they’ve got a couple of younger locks, so I guess that was a feather in my cap to have that ability but while I’ve been on the bench covering at loose forward as well as lock, I’ve only played at lock.”

“We’ve only lost one game all year, against reigning champions Taranaki, but we gave them a bit of a towelling last week in the semi as payback. I had the idea that Canterbury were quite good but I didn’t realise quite how good. Before Taranaki won last year, they’d won the six previous Premierships, so not making the final in 2014 meant there was plenty of expectation for the team to win it back this year.

“We wanted to win every game and the mentality was to win them all but we’re not disappointed with where we are and we’ve got an opportunity now to go out this weekend and win that title. We’ve worked really hard to get here and we’re just excited about the challenge.”

Matwijow (right) teams up with Alex Hodgman against Taranaki – Photo: John Davidson

You can hear the elation in Matwijow’s voice when asked just how much he’s enjoyed the whole experience. Clearly, it’s been pretty much everything he would have hoped for, and then some.

“It’s an unbelievable place, it’s hard to describe,” he says. “It’s very professional and very process driven and there’s just an air of belief within the group and everyone involved in the team that we will be successful. Everyone puts in, no-one cuts corners and they do everything to the nth degree, the preparation for games is incredible.

“The facilities, the training methods and the player programs are the equivalent of Super Rugby, it’s certainly right up there with what I experienced at the Force. We fly everywhere to games, there’s almost no expense spared and they’re in the middle of building a whole new facility with a gym and strategy rooms. We say it’s the equivalent of the NRC but unfortunately, we just don’t have the same resources in Australia.”

For a player desperate to make his mark on the professional stage, testing himself against, and getting to play with, some of the best players in New Zealand, has been an invaluable learning tool.

“The majority of our team are Super Rugby contracted or have just picked up a contract this season to go into Super Rugby next year,” he says. “I’ve been playing with guys like Ryan Crotty, Matt Todd, Tom Taylor, Dom Bird, Nepo Laulala, and we had Joe Moody here before he got called up to the All Blacks squad to replace Tony Woodcock, and he’s now playing a World Cup semi-final this weekend.

“It’s been great to play and train with these guys and see what they do in terms of preparation and discipline. Matt Todd is unbelievable, he goes out there and gets the job done and is outstanding every week. He gets through a mountain of work, his skill set is awesome, and it’s the same with Ryan Crotty as well. You can tell why they’re All Blacks, they execute under pressure every time.”

Playing in a country that has led the way in the sport for decades, must offer an insight into what it is they’re doing that makes them so good, so consistently. But as far as Matwijow sees it, they’re not playing a different game, just the same game, only better.

“Like going anywhere, there’s a transition period and it was tough for me when I first got over here, adapting to how they do things,” he admits. “But I wouldn’t say there is a lot that is different between the way we go about things in Australia, they just have an emphasis across the board of all players being able to execute any skills.

“The coaches have got a different perspective on skills and they incorporate different drills that you maybe wouldn’t even think of. For restarts, they stand you on the oval and hit a tennis ball up into the air and you’ve got try and catch it and when it’s windy, it makes it tough. But when it comes to doing it with a football, it’s that much easier.”

“I’ve learned heaps from these guys, and how the emphasis on your skill sets and getting that skill execution right is paramount. But it’s probably the mental approach to the game that is the biggest thing I’ve noticed. Being completely process driven on the field and not letting outside factors influence how they play.

“The coaches seem to be happy with me. Every week they’re helping me with different things in my game and identifying different situations where I can improve but I think I’ve brought something different over here as well, maybe some different ideas as to how we do things back home.”

Matt Todd has been an inspiring presence for Matwijow to watch at close quarters

Matwijow played in the inaugural season of the NRC last year, and was a genuine standout for the NSW Country Eagles. But asking him to compare it with the ITM Cup is simply not comparing apples with apples given the law variations.

“In all honesty, while I loved my time with the Eagles and playing in the NRC, I do enjoy playing the traditional rules over here,” he admits. “Even though it’s not quite as quick as the NRC as a result, it’s still pretty quick without being as frantic. There’s always something going on, there are fewer penalty kicks, the ball is in play a lot longer and the breakdown is very, very hotly contested.”

But while every game of the ITM Cup is piped into Australian homes via Fox Sports, the interest levels from the other side of the pond in our version, simply don’t exist.

“The coach over here, Scott Robinson, keeps track of the NRC scores. He’s a bit of a rugby nut and we have a bit of a chat about it,” says Matj. “But while the guys know of the comp, they don’t really know who plays for who etc., apart from Isaac Thompson at the UC Vikings, as he is the older brother of our inside centre, Rob Thompson.”

Of course, being the token Aussie in a team of diehard Kiwis is a challenge in itself, especially during a World Cup.

“The boys are just hanging for the Aussies to lose so they can give me some stick – I wasn’t going to go to training if we’d lost to Scotland,” he laughs. “I’ve been copping heaps but it’s a good source of banter amongst the boys, they like to try and drop a bit of Aussie bogan lingo on me and I’ve run a couple of quizzes at training on Aussie slang so it’s been a good laugh.

“They’re kind of like how we are about the Wallabies except that, because we have so many sports, when the Wallabies aren’t travelling so well everyone moves onto watching league or AFL whereas, over here, there’s nothing else to watch. When the All Blacks lost to the Wallabies in Sydney, there were people calling up the radio station saying ‘Get rid of Hansen and half the team’ and I’m like ‘Mate, you’ve lost one test!’”

“It’s hard to describe how important rugby is over here and Canterbury is like nowhere I’ve ever been before,” he continues. “We went to one of the boys places for breakfast on Sunday to watch the France game and we stopped in at a supermarket on the way to get eggs and bacon and the ladies at the checkout were like ‘Are you boys up for the All Blacks game?’ They just love it. There was no-one out on the streets because they were all at home watching the game.

“They think it’s going to be an All Blacks v Wallabies final and they’re pretty wary, well, they were after the pool stages, but having flogged the French they’re a lot more confident than they were. But they do see the Wallabies as a real threat.”

While he has settled comfortably into the Cantabrian way of life – “They’re unbelievably welcoming and really accommodating here, it’s just a selfless attitude. If you need anything, it’s never too hard,” reminders of the dark days of the city’s recent past are all too vivid.

The original AMI Stadium, still sits damaged and unused as a result of the 2011 earthquakes

“Unfortunately, the original AMI Stadium where Canterbury and the Crusaders used to play, is still empty and unuseable as a result of the earthquakes in 2011,” says Matwijow. “They’re still rebuilding here and you don’t realise until you go into the middle of the city that there’s nothing there. There are some sites around but there’s still rubble everywhere and the roads are in a bad shape, some are still closed.

“We play at the new AMI Stadium across town, which has an awesome atmosphere and we get good crowds – I think we had about 12,000 for the semi-final. Not everywhere is like that, at North Harbour you’d be lucky to get 500 people but Cantabrians just love it. If you wear your club kit down the street, people talk to you, they’re interested. So I’ve been trying to wear my kit out as often as I can!”

Now just 80 minutes away from the biggest achievement of his career thus far, thoughts turn to the task at hand. Canterbury have done the hard yards to get to this point, now it’s a case of turning up on the night, putting into practice everything they’ve worked on all season and bringing it home. But it won’t be easy against an Auckland side keen to register what would be their first title success since 2007.

“The competition is actually quite close and where you play the games seems to make a huge difference, so home advantage is massive for the final,” admits Matwijow. “Grand final football is all about who can control the game in pressure situations. In no.8 Akira Ioane and centre George Moala, Auckland have two very damaging ball carriers who will be key for them but they have plenty of weapons all over the park so we’ll need to be strong across the board.”

Win or lose, the dream comes to an end for Matwijow next week when he returns to Sydney and an uncertain rugby future. With the Crusaders’ locks stocks already filled for 2016, there is nothing to keep him in Christchurch beyond the final, but having had his most satisfying taste of life at the next level thus far, he’s keen to explore every potential opportunity.

“It’s been a bit of a mixed bag in terms of what I do after this,” he concedes. “I’m booked on a flight back to Oz next Friday and I’m not exactly sure what the future holds. There’s been a few chats with teams here and there and a few whispers of potential things but that always seems to be the way for me and I still don’t have anything concrete, so I live in hope.”

“To be honest, I don’t want to leave, I just wish it could keep going. It’s awesome here, it’s rugby heaven.”