Winging it 'on the beat' for Magpies Job Swap

Hawke's Bay Magpies player Ryan Tongia got a taste of journalism with veteran photographer Duncan Brown

Flying Hawke's Bay Magpies wing threequarter Ryan Tongia had never really thought of working for a newspaper, until he was selected for the job.

But, on the beat yesterday, he showed a level of first-day flair as he slipped into the role of journalist at Hawke's Bay Today as part of The Great Magpies Job Swap, an initiative dreamed-up by Magpies personal development manager, and former Magpies player, Aayden Clarke.

He went on assignment with veteran photographer Duncan Brown, and he got to ask questions of a reporter, like: "How long have you been doing this?" Well, er, "40 years". But this is not about me.

Then he went selling car sales advertising with one of the best in the game, Hawke's Bay Today's own key account manager motor Gary Locke, who in another era was also a professional footballer - playing over 300 matches for Chelsea before moving to New Zealand and joining Napier City Rovers. But this is not about him.

Between assignments, the 25-year-old Tongia hadn't had the chance to come to grips with the advertising side of the operation, although he had deduced it is important.

But if he were to have considered a career in media, then his love of sport - he's played professional rugby league as well - would lead him towards the editorial sports desk.

"Maybe I could write stories with (Hawke's Bay Today rugby writer) Shane Hurndell," he said, immediately applying some of his rugby nous to the newsroom, and staying onside.

So, what else? Well, when he first moved to Hawke's Bay from Brisbane, he stayed six weeks on the in-laws' dairy farm, and was impressed with what goes on on the farm, but perhaps not so much that he has eyes on becoming a dairy farmer.

"I'm quite into property development," he revealed.

"It's an option for life after rugby."

He's also a bit of an "adrenaline junkie" and, not necessarily because professional rugby players do lots of flying, he has decided he wants to learn to fly, as in get his private pilot's licence.

In the meantime, he says he feels "privileged" doing what he's doing, and expects that one day he will wake in the morning - and at this stage that's intended to be a sunny Hawke's Bay morning - and the body will tell him it's not interested in playing rugby anymore.

But he has a few goals to pass along the way, topped by the team desire to successfully defend the Ranfurly Shield throughout the rest of the season.

The next big game is at McLean Park on Sunday, when the Magpies defend the shield against Northland, starting at 4.35pm.

If he were doing the preview, he would be writing about how great it is to be playing for the Ranfurly Shield, for the family and friends, and the hard work that's gone into it.

If he were reviewing in Monday morning's Hawke's Bay Today he'd be talking about the things that went wrong - "and congratulating the team for retaining the Shield, and the work to be done for the next up, Otago".