League: Wiki to go all out this weekend

Ruben Wiki received a text message from former Kiwis rugby league teammate Stephen Kearney this week.

It wasn't about the test skipper's impending feat of equalling Kearney's record of 264 National Rugby League matches, the most by a New Zealander.

"It was about taking it easy on his boys," Wiki said.

"But I told him I couldn't do that."

Wiki will draw level with Kearney on Saturday night when he runs out for the New Zealand Warriors against the club where Kearney is assistant coach, competition leaders Melbourne.

"Stephen's a good friend of mine and it will be good to catch up with him," he said.

"But this record thing, it didn't even come into the picture really."

Wiki didn't raise the matter in his reply, because the front rower wasn't aware of what he was about to achieve until Warriors' media manager Richard Becht told him.

As someone who took one match at a time, the 33-year-old Wiki found his tally of first-grade appearances had crept up on him, and there were a couple of ironies that were "weird, man".

The first that he would match Kearney's total while playing against the club Kearney was helping to coach.

The second was that his mother, Tessa, who now lived in Melbourne, would be among the crowd at Olympic Park.

"That's going to be even weirder," he said.

"Mum's cooking a bit of an island feed for me after the match, so I'm looking forward to catching up with her as well."

Barring injury -- or another dreaded brush with the judiciary -- Wiki will break the record in front of the Warriors' own fans the following weekend, when the Sydney Roosters come visiting.

Without the suspensions he has received in a 14-season career that began as a centre with the Canberra Raiders, he would be nudging the 300 mark.

"It's really funny," he said.

"With my fabulous record at the judiciary, I don't know how I've still got to this number."

His last ban was only a fortnight ago, when he had to sit out the win over Cronulla because of a high tackle against Penrith in the previous round.

When he returned to action against North Queensland last Saturday night, he and fellow prop Steve Price did what they have been doing with regularity and laid the platform for a 26-0 victory.

Wiki arrived at the Warriors at the beginning of last season, after 12 years and one premiership with the Raiders.

In April, he signed a one-year extension to his contract to the end of 2008, when he will be 35.

He quipped that his judiciary enforced stints on the sidelines might have prolonged his career by saving him from a few injuries.

Apart from that, Wiki, who also holds the world record for test caps with 50, wasn't entirely sure why his enthusiasm levels remained so high, but enjoying what he did was a help.

"I'm just happy off the field, at home," he said.

"I like to learn every day from the coaches and from the players around me and I think that makes me really enthusiastic to come to training.

"I'm still enjoying it. This is what I love doing. Hopefully I can keep on doing it until I can't do it any more."

- NZPA