Lomu tells club - Only pick me if I'm worth my place

Jonah Lomu says he expects North Harbour coach Allan Pollock to select him on form alone and that he hopes to play as much club rugby as he can for Massey.

Lomu, looking ahead to the next phase of his comeback, dismissed suggestions that playing club rugby would be 'beneath him', saying he had to start somewhere.

The 63-test veteran, now 30, - who launched his comeback bid with a 40-minute display at Twickenham last weekend - admitted he still had a long way to go to recapture the form which once made him the most feared rugby player on the planet.

The 121kg winger has targeted a place in New Zealand's 2007 World Cup squad in what would be one of the most remarkable comebacks in the history of sport.

"It has been a challenge to get out there. This is where I start. I have set a bar for myself and I have to step up from there," Lomu said.

"You have to start somewhere. I am pleased at where I am at but know there is a long way to go."

The 2005 version Lomu is slightly heavier than the player who ran amok in two World Cups and he is still carrying the scars from months of dialysis.

There are still questions about whether he can recapture the pace that was so much a part of his rampaging displays against the likes of England in the 1995 and 1999 World Cups.

Although last weekend his Southern Hemisphere invitational side went down 33-29, Lomu did not disgrace himself - but did lack that old pace and power, so much a hallmark of his game.

"There were a few decisions I could have done better. But that will come with time and there's still bits I know I need to work on. It's going to come," Lomu said.

Twickenham was merely the "start of a dream" - stage one in his ultimate goal of reclaiming that famous black jersey.

Now Lomu's fate is in the hands of North Harbour, who signed a two-year deal with him to play in the National Provincial Championship, which begins in August.

He said he expected to be selected for North Harbour only if his form warranted it. "You have to start somewhere and, for me, it's club rugby. When you've missed as much rugby as I have, you just want to play. It doesn't really matter where," he said.

"I'm happy to be back. After what I've been through, to be able to run on to a rugby field is like a dream come true."

Former All Black coach John Hart said 18 months ago he would have given Lomu no chance of ever playing again. "This guy has come back from two years without any rugby, has been through a kidney transplant and a bone-spur operation," he said.

"What he has achieved is monumental. He has given a lot of people hope that no mountain is too high to climb."

Hart said he was confident Lomu would improve and the public would see bigger and better things from him in the future.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY