Maori win proves just the tonic for Hika Reid

Hika Reid's ultimate get-well present was unwrapped just a few short kilometres from where he was lying in Waikato Hospital on Saturday night.
It was delivered by a brave and fearsome New Zealand Maori rugby side when they toppled the touring Lions for the first time in their proud history, carving out a memorable 19-13 victory.
Former All Black and Bay of Plenty hooker Reid was assistant coach of the Maori side until three weeks ago, when tests revealed he had leukaemia and the bottom dropped out of his world.
But now he's fighting back, and the epic win from his "boys" was just the fillip he needed.
"I was pretty stoked seeing them win, for all Maori and also for Matt Te Pou having his last game as coach," Reid said.
"It was great to be part of it and then to see them pull off a great victory like that. I was yelling there for a while, especially in that last seven minutes - when the Lions scored their try, there were some pretty anxious moments."
Reid, who has been Bay of Plenty's rugby development officer since 2003 and is coach of the Steamers development team, had to watch delayed coverage of the game, turning off his cellphone to prevent anyone telling him the score.
It helped that he's in isolation - "confined to barracks" - as he recovers from the disease where the bone marrow produces abnormal white blood cells which struggle to fight infection.
Back at Waikato Stadium, however, Reid was foremost in the thoughts of the Maori players.
Inspirational captain Jono Gibbes was moved to tears during a post-match interview, and admitted Reid's illness provoked an unspoken bond between the players.
"To be fair, not a lot was said," Gibbes said. "It's there - you know it has an influence and you know it's around a team and that's probably why it's so special - because nothing needs to be said."
Former Bay of Plenty centre Rua Tipoki, who starred in a spirited backline, said that Reid had stayed in touch with the players throughout the build-up week.
"He means so much to the boys and he's poured his life into developing rugby," Tipoki said.
"The management have kept us up to speed and relayed messages from him to us. He told us just to be remembered for what we do today."
The mighty victory marked the end of Te Pou's 10-year stint as coach, and also signalled Carlos Spencer's farewell to New Zealand rugby and Tipoki was impressed how his side coped.
"There was heaps happening around us and it's a credit to the boys that we stayed focussed and didn't let the emotion carry us away."
Reid, meanwhile, is adopting the same approach which won him nine test caps at hooker for the All Blacks and 85 matches for Bay of Plenty from 1978-1987.
He's paced out the corridor around the ward at exactly 250m and rises early each morning to get a daily dose of exercise.
He's charging into his illness head-on and is bullish about beating it. "It's coming along good - I've had the chemo treatment for seven days when I first arrived and it's just a waiting game now. I'm just waiting for those white blood cells to get back up and I'll be on my merry way.
"Once you get past that realisation that you've been diagnosed with it, it's like having a bad flu - you know the treatment you've got to have so you just get on with having it.
"You can't let it get you down - you've just to be positive."