Kaui still relishes Steamers jersey

It will be entirely appropriate if Damon Kaui's Bay of Plenty farewell was on Saturday night but the wily fullback is adamant he's not ready to retire just yet.
Kaui notched his 113th game in Steamers colours when he ventured on to Jade Stadium in the 66th minute of the 44-12 NPC semifinal loss to Canterbury.
He was the picture of reliability, defusing an awkward grubber in the greasy rain, organising defence and running a perfect decoy line for the Steamers' last try.
It was only his fourth game of the season after battling injury and with former All Black Adrian Cashmore ahead of him in the pecking order but Kaui, about to turn 33 on Saturday, insists he's not ready to chuck in the towel.
"It's not up to me - it's up to the big fella over there," he said, nodding in Steamers coach Vern Cotter's direction.
"I'll never turn the jersey down. I'll be straight back into training in the next few weeks anyway. I don't want to slide. I don't want to get fat and just sit back and drink booze."
Kaui was only called on to the bench when Cashmore pulled out the morning of the match with a back injury.
A week earlier, the Rangiuru stalwart had been handed the final conversion by his Bay of Plenty development teammates - expecting him to pull the representative pin - against their North Harbour counterparts.
In his 14th season in Bay of Plenty colours, Kaui's career was punctuated by a five-year absence when he sat on 99 games for disciplinary reasons.
Last season Cotter threw him a lifeline, calling him back from the wilderness, and he responded magnificently, a rock in the pocket of the backline.
It was appropriate he should be part of Saturday night's match representing, together with the taking of the Ranfurly Shield, the pinnacle of Bay of Plenty rugby achievement in the last 27 years.
"It's probably been the best two years of my life, as far as rugby has gone," Kaui said.
"You just can't beat being involved with the team that won the Shield and going to the semifinals.
"There a great bunch of guys and I haven't played rugby with many better. They're just courageous dudes. They play for the team and not themselves. That's been said all year but there's nothing closer to the truth. It's an awesome team to be with."
Kaui's game record equals that of last year's skipper Clayton McMillan. His career, which has straddled the change in a try's value in 1992, has contributed 198 points through 40 tries and three conversions.
Ironically, his birthday falls on the same day as another Steamers player likely to depart the representative scene, first-five Glen Jackson, although Jackson is four years younger than Kaui.