By PETER JESSUP
Warriors try-out Mark Robinson has learned plenty from his three weeks in league that would help him in rugby if he reverts to the 15-man game.
Robinson will get his first taste of league in the world sevens in Sydney on February 1-2 and regards that as an ideal chance to learn more and to impress so he can press for a spot in the Warriors' top squad.
He's fully focused on working towards a start in the National Rugby League, despite the distraction of continuing negotiations to settle a long-term, better-paying deal in English rugby.
"I was hoping to make a decision this week," the 27-year-old said of being drawn between the two codes, "but negotiations have gone on a bit. When a final offer is made I'll sit down with my best advisers."
That means he could still be up and gone from the Warriors' camp overnight.
Robinson grew up in Whangarei in the middle of a family of four boys and played three seasons of league for the Otaika Eagles, up to age 15, before turning to rugby at Whangarei Boys' High. At age 18 he shifted to Auckland's North Shore and, within two years, had forced his way into the North Harbour squad.
So began the ride that led to his elevation to the North Harbour captaincy and eight games for the All Blacks, touring Argentina and Britain.
It has never been easy and he has always had top-level competition for his spot. He competed with Steve Devine at the Blues and eventually it was Devine's career path that stopped his own.
When the Blues and the NZRFU cut Robinson's contract in favour of the transplanted Australian, there was every reason to expect Robinson to pack a sad. Instead, he cut his losses and looked elsewhere.
"It's not my character [to sulk] and as it turns out I'm absolutely enjoying life. I feel like I'm 19 again," he said yesterday.
After three weeks at the Warriors, Robinson feels he is starting to grasp the game and his confidence to do things with the ball is rising as a result. He gets in the ear of seniors Stacey Jones, P.J. Marsh and Monty Betham. He seeks specific input from head coach Daniel Anderson and assistant Tony Kemp about how he can improve his play.
"I feel like a sponge. I'd always looked at league and thought, "Yeah, I could do that", but I've been amazed how much I've learned."
That goes from basics such as how to catch and pass and how to hold the ball to running the lines that will create holes for team mates.
"So much of rugby is about making opportunities from behind the advantage line. Here, it's about getting over the advantage line every time."
To that end, much effort is directed at learning what the other players do.
He cites the intensity and volume of training as the big differences between pre-season rugby and league.
"I've felt out of my depth in certain areas. There are a lot of technicalities about the game that you don't see from the sideline. In rugby, I knew my role inside-out. Here, I'm still working out what the other guys want from me."
League critics picked defence as the area where Robinson would be weak. So far, they're wrong. Coach Anderson rates Robinson's work as courageous and motivated, to the point of over-enthusiasm. They had to tell him to slow down and watch himself, and time his hits better, because he risked injury.
"I'm enjoying the physical side of the defence," says Robinson.
But he admits to some nerves about how he'll perform when the big forwards run at him repeatedly, as they do at all halves and as they're sure to do to a rah-rah convert.
Robinson accepts that his All Black dream has come and gone. "It's what I wanted when I was growing up, so to have achieved that is unbelievable. I never took it [the jersey] for granted and always expected to have to fight for it.
"It was disappointing not to get that chance. I wanted to go to the World Cup and it was hard to take not getting a trial. It was an absolute privilege to play for the All Blacks and it's been hard to accept that that's gone now. But there's a new direction for me and I'm determined to make the most of it."
Robinson is rated one of the fittest running with the Warriors and will improve further through the sevens run in Sydney. Should he perform well there, he is likely to play in the trial game against the Sharks at North Harbour Stadium on February 22.
Or, about the same time, he could be in the depths of an English winter. He's also in the final year of a bachelor of business studies degree, so the decision on his future will doubtless be driven by the precepts of business management.
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