Winging it to a milestone

Anthony Tahana's first touch in first-class rugby came minutes into Bay of Plenty's match with South Canterbury in 1996, and with a jink and sprint he'd also scored his first try.
It was the first of two tries he scored that day in Timaru nine years ago, and the pacy Western Heights schoolboy seemed destined for a huge future.
His college and Steamers teammate Caleb Ralph kicked on, moving to Auckland and eventually becoming an All Black, but Tahana was harshly dropped 12 games into his Bay of Plenty career and he moved to North Harbour to complete his building apprenticeship and to find work.
What's remarkable about the 27-year-old winger is the wayhe's built his Bay of Plenty career since he moved back to his home province in 2002.
He's now one of the first names picked each week and tomorrow he'll be celebrating his 50th game for the union, in the NPC first division against Wellington at Westpac Stadium.
Tahana isn't Fijian, doesn't possess the jaw-dropping schoolboy speed he once had, and isn't 1.95m tall and 120kg. By rights, at 92kg and 1.78m, he shouldn't be lurking anywhere near the wing for a first division province.
Maybe he should be tucked in behind a ruck barking orders at his forward pack or, at a pinch, crashing it up at second-five.
But with typical humour and the cheek that has characterised his play in recent years, Tahana laughed off suggestions he's an unfashionable winger.
"Jeez, who was the last winger my size and height? I can't remember. Maybe Grant Batty? Nah ... I'm a bit taller than him," Tahana chuckled.
"I wouldn't mind giving another position a shot but it's working on the wing at the moment. I think I match up to these bigger, faster wings though _ and that's my main concern. If I wasn't, I'd be out of there."
Tahana hasn't missed a game in the last three years, and apart from a pre-season clash with Counties-Manukau last year where he started from the bench, has lined up each time in the No11 jersey.
He's now scored 25 tries for his province as well, including seven as the top try-scorer in the Steamers' dream season lastyear.
While not the fastest bloke in the team _ that honour belongs to Fijian Filimone Bolavucu and second-five Grant McQuoid _ there's still enough gas in the tank to be effective.
"I was a lot quicker at school _ probably a bit faster than Caleb Ralph but he was a racehorse _ he could keep going all day.
"I'm quite thankful that as I get older, and the rugby develops a bit more, the race gets shorter.
"These days it's all 40m sprints and that's as far as it gets."
He plays centre in club rugby, and wouldn't mind giving that position a try at a higher level as well. But he hasn't ruled out anything further at either level _ he's also played first-five for his club, and against Auckland even filled in at halfback while Charles Hubbard was in the sin-bin.
"That's why I went to halfback on Sunday," Tahana said, the cheeky edge filtering back into his voice.
"I just wanted to showcase my versatility to (All Blacks coach) Graham Henry. There's a few things I'll work on _ my box-kick for example _ but I can definitely get the forwards going."
All joking aside, tomorrow's milestone means a lot to him. This is a big year for Tahana _ he marries partner Ana Mohi in December _ and he's been through a lot with the province, including scoring the winning try in last year's Ranfurly Shield challenge and starring against the Lions in June.
He'd like nothing better than to help his side get back on track against Wellington.
"I'm just hoping for a win to get back into this competition.
"I'm pretty proud of that milestone but a win will be more important for our season.
"If we don't get up for this one, we're looking down the barrel. We don't want to finish out of that top four."