NRL: McGahan jnr turning heads

Matt McGahan. Photo / Steven McNicholl

It's not yet a case of like father, like son but Matt McGahan has made great strides after switching to league this season.

He was a schoolboy rugby star in this country but the 18-year-old changed codes late last year, opting to take up a three-year contract with the Melbourne Storm.

While he still hopes to return to rugby one day and re-kindle an All Black dream, McGahan is currently thriving in the 13-man game at one of the marquee clubs in Australia, and has a chance to follow in the footsteps of father and Kiwi legend Hugh.

A wrist injury has forced him out of today's top of the table Toyota Cup clash with the Warriors, but the five-eighth had started every game before that, as well as taking on goalkicking duties.

Storm recruitment manager Darren Bell labelled him "the most exciting kid I have seen" when his signing was announced late last year. Indications are he has so far delivered on the promise.

"He has made an exceptional start to his career here," says Storm football operations manager Frank Ponissi. "He also has a great attitude, with real leadership potential too. If he continues in this manner, I can see him playing NRL in the future."

The biggest adjustment has been the defensive load required of a No6 in league compared with a No10 in union but Ponissi says McGahan's physical strength has allowed him to cope. His goalkicking had been "superb" and work with an AFL coach has improved his general kicking.

McGahan represented various Auckland age group rugby teams and was named man of the match when the New Zealand secondary schools team beat their Australian counterparts in October last year. After leaving school last year, McGahan felt his representative options were limited in Auckland, in competition withplayers like Michigan Lam and Gareth Anscombe. There were approaches from the Waikato and Canterbury rugby unions, but he decided Melbourne was the best place to carve out a professional future.

"There is probably not enough room for players in rugby in New Zealand," says McGahan. "There is a huge talent pool to choose from and not everybody is going to make the side they want to. I just wanted to better myself and speed up the chance of having a professional career. I thought being in this environment would be better than club rugby back home."

So it has proved. Putting aside their salary cap indiscretions, the Storm run one of the most professional operations in the sport. Expectations of perfection are set by coach Craig Bellamy and filter down through the organisation.

"From day one it is drilled into you - the attitude and discipline that is instilled in every Storm player," explains McGahan. "You realise it is no easy task to become a NRL player. The ones that don't fit in select themselves out by the way they act around the club."

McGahan, who dreams of being a dual international, knows he has a long way to go to match the deeds of his father Hugh, a former Kiwi captain who played 32 tests and won the Golden Boot as the world's best player in 1988. He seems unconcerned by comparisons.

"I'm in the generation where a lot of people may not have heard of him," he laughs.