RUGBY: Loosie takes leaf out of AB McCaw's book

SHANE HURNDELL
It's not surprising Matt Head rates star All Black flanker Richie McCaw as his hero.
Head has a similar approach to his rugby - a no-nonsense roll your sleeves up get on with the job one. And just as McCaw has been loyal to Canterbury, Crusaders and All Black rugby, Head, 20, has been and will no doubt continue to be, equally as loyal to the Taradale club he has played for since he was a five-year-old.
The Hawke's Bay under-20s captain - yes he even has leadership qualities to match McCaw's - was "pretty stoked" to collect two of the major awards at his club's end-of-season prize-giving: One for the club player of the year and another for the most club-spirited premier player.
Despite having played just one season of premier rugby the versatile loosie, who prefers the openside flanker's berth, was a popular choice for both. He joined Black Fern Marina Canterbury and New Zealand under-21 rep Dan Waenga as the winners of the club's major awards.
Waenga captured the most promising club player-of-the-year award and shared the top representative honours award with Canterbury.
"It was good to be up there with Dan as we went through school together," said Head.
They were team-mates in the match Head rates as the highlight of his career - the Napier Boys' High School 1st XV's 6-all draw with Rotorua Boys' High School in the 2002 national final at Auckland's Eden Park. Head had three years in the NBHS 1st XV - 2001 to 2003 when he was captain.
His potential was recognised well before then though. Head was one of three brothers in his family to play for the Napier Ross Shield team.
The others were his twin brother Leon who is Wellington-based while attending university and Matt who is preparing for a stint of rugby league in Australia.
Head was a member of the third-placed Napier Ross Shield team in 1997 and second-placed one in 1998, the year he made the Hawke's Bay Ross Shield team.
The keen surfer, when he's not playing Sevens for Taradale in the summer, said he has been fortunate at Taradale to be coached by the likes of Arthur Brown and Stu Cruden.
"Playing alongside guys like Mutu (Kelt Capital Magpies captain Mutu Ngarimu) has been awesome too," he said.
Head had a Magpies trial this year and making the Magpies premier division squad in the future is his main goal.
Should he continue to adopt the same approach as his hero McCaw to his favourite sport and continue to listen to the likes of Brown and Cruden it should only be a year or two before he gets the call from Magpies coach Brendon Ratcliffe.
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