Hawke's Bay-bound former All Black halfback Alby Mathewson sees a lot of similarities between the Magpies and the Auckland side he played in this season.
"We had a lot of young backs but kept things simple. There's a lot of young players in the Magpies backline and I'm keen to help them progress," Mathewson said shortly after finalising his 2013 Magpies contract on Wednesday.
"From what I hear there are some promising first five-eighths coming through the ranks in Hawke's Bay but they don't talk a lot. One of my jobs will be encouraging them to talk because you can't have quiet No10s," Mathewson said.
The 2008-10 All Black who will play Super Rugby for the Perth-based Western Force next year said it was hard to tell the Auckland coaching staff earlier this week that he wouldn't be returning to the side which lost to Canterbury in last weekend's ITM Cup premiership final.
"Auckland had one of the most enjoyable team environments I have been in. They were a good young group of guys but the coaches understand my reasons for leaving," Mathewson said.