Derren never gave up on dream

Derren Witcombe

Derren Witcombe knows he earned his All Black status because he is the boy who never gave up.

Born in Tasmania where he lived until he was 10, blighted by two dodgy knees and a genetic disposition prone to expansion, he wasn't a great bet to one day play for the All Blacks.

But Witcombe is proof that if you stick at something for long enough and want it badly enough, it can happen.

Greg Shipton, the operations manager at Northland Rugby, remembers a 12-year-old Witcombe hanging around Eastern United club. "Derren was rugby mad," he said. "I was coaching the first XV at the time and Derren was always there, always wanting to play. But he was a short little fella, a bit pudgy, too, and I had to keep telling him he was too small. I made him the ball boy."

Someone with lesser resolve would have given up the ghost - not Witcombe. He could see that perseverance was all it would take.

Maybe it was fortunate, then, that shortly after that incident, Witcombe's mum and stepfather sent him away from the dry stock family farm in Taupo Bay to boarding school in Whangarei.

He says his folks thought he needed to make the move. They were worried he was "getting into a bit of trouble".

He reckons he wasn't a bad boy but appreciated the move would help him concentrate on his sport, which was always a greater priority than academic study.

But while he loved both rugby and cricket - he was a wicket-keeper batsman, which didn't help the iffy cartilage in his knees - no one who saw him play had the overwhelming sense they were watching a future test star.

Shipton says: "Derren is one of the most down-to-earth guys I know. He's a great person. As a kid he just hated losing. He had this incredible will to win. He didn't really stand out in terms of his ability although his ball skills were always good.

"But his passion to win was always there and I suppose that can be a sign a player is going to go on to big things."

That earthy quality is still prominent within Witcombe.

No one needs to tell him to savour his time in the All Black squad. No one could be more appreciative of the position.

It was less than four years ago that he was a forestry worker in Northland, playing club football and club cricket, but he only started to take the game seriously when he was selected for the Northland NPC team in 2001.

He made the Blues squad the following year but has never lost sight of his roots.

"I'm glad I started working and then played rugby," said Witcombe. "There are guys around the world who have only ever played rugby and then they are going to have to go out and work and get a hell of a shock. I learned to look after myself.

"I'm appreciative of what I've got. I don't take me being here for granted. Forestry is a pretty hard life, I don't want to go back in a hurry. It motivates me to stay here."

There is also probably an element of disbelief at his inclusion in the squad. In his early days he wasn't a great trainer. He says he was solid when he was younger but admits that's really a euphemism for being a bit porky. He was a bit too fond of chocolate.

Even when he went on the straight and narrow with his diet and adopted an utterly professional attitude from 2003, an All Black jersey wasn't dominating his thoughts. At the start of the year his goal was to get another All Black trial.

But Witcombe is one of life's battlers who can see the value in perseverance. "I kept saying be patient because you never know what is round the corner. But I kind of knew that because my whole life I have had to be patient."

- HERALD ON SUNDAY