Havelock North orchard manager Graeme Hodges produced what might be likened to a true captain's knock when he won the Young Hawke's Bay Fruitgrower of the Year title last week.
Satisfied with the practical side of things on the first day during the National Horticultural Fieldays at the Hawke's Bay Showgrounds last Thursday, he awoke the next day not happy at all with the speech he'd prepared over the last two weeks for the final night.
Aware he could be setting himself up for a long and tough day making one last attempt to win the competition, he made one of those snap decisions he's used to as a captain on the field with the Cornwall Cricket Club.
"It came the day of the speech, I didn't like it, so I ripped the bugger up and started again," he said.
As it happens, as a cricket captain, he's made lots of speeches without a lot of preparation, which in a rather subliminal sort of way was possibly what helped him across the line, after successful but non-winning attempts in 2006 and 2008.
"The practical things were okay," he said reflectively. "But I felt it was my speech that had let me down. I went more for a bit of laughter than the serious detail and opinion."
The path leading to the big win starts way back, when he was at primary school in Clive, and his father had an orchard block at Mangateretere.
Finishing school at Havelock North High, he found himself in a dream job with a difference, working on construction of the Cape Kidnappers Golf Course, where he got to drive bulldozers and do lots of other things, not to mention a landscape and views second to none, as far as workplaces go.
But as construction moved to maintenance, he made the decision to enter a horticultural career, which now sees him employed as orchard manager at Rutherglen Orchard, off St Andrew's Rd, Havelock North.
He has two permanent staff, and usually at least one from the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme, currently on pruning, which was this week disrupted by rain.
But it's hardly unexpected, in a game that's controlled by the seasons, heading towards spraying come August, the frost season of September and October, and on towards the all-important harvest.
At 29, entering the competition this year was a last throw of the dice with the competition limited to those under 30 and hotly-contested as the varying sectors of horticulture merge each year to find the best young horticulturist of them all.
He beat eight others, and now competes in the national Young Grower of the Year finals in Christchurch in August. Other rewards for last week's success are a one-day media and presentation course in Auckland, cash and grants, travel and other prizes.
"I found myself applying all my experience throughout the competition," he said. "It was full on. The other guys really knew what they were doing and that meant I had to put my best foot forward at every stage."
They understood a range of theoretical and practical challenges that tested skills required to run a fruit-growing business.
"It's such a great feeling to walk away with the top prize, and I'm looking forward to competing at a national level in August," he said.
Jamie Kershaw, 29, from Mr Apple New Zealand's Close Orchard at Mangateretere was second, and Lewis Houkamau, 29, who works for Crasborn Group in Flaxmere, was third.
For Mr Hodges, it was a bit of last-but-not-least as he wanted to thank "past and present" employers, namely Carl Knapp, Ru Collin, Chris Hope and current employer Richard Hill.