Adam Blair is determined to show in his 50th test he can still perform well in the Kiwis jersey. Photo / Getty Images
Adam Blair had given up on playing for the Kiwis again.
He took a call from coach Michael Maguire four months ago to say he wasn't needed for the test against Tonga, which was no surprise, given the amount of top New Zealand forwards tearing up the NRL. It didn't help that Blair was in the middle of a poor season.
His Kiwis chapter, and a stellar international career, looked over.
"Most probably I didn't think it was going to come [again] this year, or ever to be honest," Blair told the Herald. "As the years have gone on the quality of players that are coming through are pretty good. They get bigger, they get stronger, and they are more mobile."
Blair admits he got lucky. He missed the original squad, before a late phone call from Maguire, after several withdrawals. The 33-year-old jumped on a plane immediately, ditching a family holiday, to come into camp.
"I'm grateful, surprised," said Blair. "I didn't think I had a good enough year to play. There are some good kids that aren't in this squad. But when I got the phone call, I never say no to a Kiwis jersey and I am always staying ready to play."
Blair's durability, professionalism and survival instinct have been rewarded and tomorrow Blair will join a select group of league's longevity legends, becoming the ninth man (and only the second New Zealander) to play 50 tests.
"To be able to do it for our country is a really special achievement, right up there with playing 300 NRL games. But it is hard enough just getting selected for this team, let alone playing 50 test matches. They haven't come easy."
It has been an extraordinary journey, from a tiny settlement in the Hokianga to the biggest sporting stages. He has overcome considerable adversity, principally the loss of his dad when he was 12 years old, which left him as the father figure for seven younger siblings.
"I grew up a little bit quicker than I should have but I had to work those things out, to get what I wanted for me and my family," said Blair. "We had to keep going. We had no choice; someone had to run the farm and do all the farm work, no matter how we were feeling."
He had his first car at the age of 10, a beaten up old Toyota Hilux exchanged for two pigs and a pony, and helped his mother run the household and the farm.
"It was natural for me to take on those responsibilities and that has helped make me the person I am today. Looking back, that was where leadership started for me."
While at Whangarei High, Blair was picked up by the Melbourne Storm, and by 2006 had made his first grade debut. That same year Brian McClennan picked him for the Kiwis and he played four tests in that Four Nations tournament, including the epic final, lost 16-12 in extra time to the Kangaroos.
His 14-year Kiwis career has spanned three league generations; from Ruben Wiki, Stacey Jones and Nigel Vagana, to Brandon Smith, Joseph Manu and Briton Nikora.
There have been some unforgettable triumphs. Blair is the only man to feature in six Kiwis victories over the Kangaroos, from the 2008 World Cup, to the three-peat in 2014-15.
But it hasn't all been easy, especially when he fell out of favour earlier this decade, missing the 2013 World Cup.
"Coming through as a young kid, I probably took the [Kiwis] jersey for granted, from a really good system down in Melbourne," said Blair. "I probably took that for granted when I left the Storm — 'yeah it will come again' — but then missing out on a couple of tours, that really hurt."
He was also captain for the disastrous 2017 World Cup, after Jesse Bromwich's fall from grace, but their campaign was dismantled by the Tongan defection dramas.
His big money move to the Warriors hasn't been universally popular, but Blair keeps going, pushing, persevering, and is adamant he can still perform at test level. "Yeah, without a doubt," he said yesterday. "I'm still running around aren't I? I understand when I am playing well what my game looks like. If I can get back to that, it will help me perform. [And] this jersey lifts you to another level."
League's longevity legends: The 50 test club
Jim Sullivan (Wales, England, Great Britain) 1921-1934 54 tests.
Mick Sullivan (England, Great Britain) 1954-1962 50 tests.
Ruben Wiki (New Zealand) 1994-2006 55 tests.
Adrian Morley (England, Great Britain) 1996-2012 53 tests.
Darren Lockyer (Australia) 1997-2011 59 tests.
Petero Civoniceva (Australia, Fiji) 2001-2014 51 tests.
Cameron Smith (Australia) 2006-2017 56 tests.
James Graham (England, Great Britain) 2006- 50 tests.
Adam Blair (New Zealand) 2006- 49 tests.