Easy rider prefers to get his kicks here

By CHRIS RATTUE

Carlos Spencer is as retiring off the field as he is flamboyant on it.

The man who dazzles opponents, thrills spectators and has well-heeled foreign rugby chaps frantically waving chequebooks his way, happily slips away from the crowd after the final hooter.

Spencer may have all the bells and whistles as a player, but insiders describe a quiet and humble character who is a country lad rather than Jumping Jack Flash.

Although team-mates have made unwanted headlines, there's no controversy around Spencer, who has survived the disintegration of a great provincial rugby power, serious injuries and his own form slump, and emerged as a leader of a new Auckland/Blues generation while rekindling his own All Black claims.

Auckland could hardly contain their glee when the 27-year-old this week signed a new contract until the end of 2006. Even if he plays beyond that, it is likely to be for the team he has come to symbolise since moving from Levin as a teenager.

He rejected big overseas offers for many reasons, including the career of his partner of five years, Jodene Williams.

With his future sorted, Spencer is planning a business venture - a juice and health-shake cafe.

"I didn't want to start something and in a year or two leave it behind," says Spencer.

"This was hanging over my head and it is great to know where I'm going. The [overseas] money was tempting ... but I still love playing rugby in New Zealand.

"Jo got a new sales rep job last year. She's always supported me and I had to think about whether she would be happy.

"It's also about lifestyle, and I want to be an All Black again. That really made my mind up. I want to stay loyal to Auckland. They have been good to me.

"My dad was over the moon. He never wanted me to leave. Mum's always happy with whatever I've done. She's like me, just cruises through things.

"Playing conditions, friends, family ... I just love New Zealand and Auckland is a nice city to live in. There's so much to do when you want to get out of town and away from things."

Spencer heads off, often twice a week, for long rides on the Harley-Davidson he bought five years ago and has had customised, complete with a swirling red and white paint job.

"I like being on my own, whether it's at home or whatever ... chill out, just do nothing," he says. "The bike is something I've wanted since I was a little boy growing up in Levin. I saw the bikie gangs around town and these things pass me every day. I walked into a bike shop one day, saw it, and just had to have it. Great fun."

There were plenty laying odds on Spencer's making a longer trip than a five-hour bike ride when his Auckland and New Zealand Rugby Union contracts expired at the end of this season.

Leicester nearly snared him in 2000, when he checked out the club after receiving his biggest offer at a time when his All Black career was sliding.

You could present a compelling case as to why Spencer could have departed this year, although the shoulder injury that cut his All Black recall short in November has yet to be tested.

Spencer has no unfinished rugby business here, and by year's end may have fulfilled his burning ambition to play in and win a World Cup, after a training injury ruled him out of the 1999 campaign without his playing a game.

Foreign shores and shoring up your bank account become cosy mates after World Cups. Few players excite in the Northern Hemisphere to his degree, and players all around Spencer are taking the yen, franc or pound.

And Spencer's All Black future is hardly assured, especially given the mixed messages John Mitchell sends about his best position.

Spencer won't say if he has sacrificed major money, but if he has, his new deal will still give him comforts unknown to players of old.

This Herald interview takes place in the heart of the Auckland and Blues operations, the gymnasium area underneath the new Eden Park grandstand.

It may not be Fort Knox, but you can't just wander in either. A security door sees to that.

This is a far cry from the Auckland that greeted Spencer in 1994, when the drainlayer from Levin became a 40-hour-a-week courier driver through his deal with the country's biggest union.

"Auckland was very hard for me at first. I had to go home a couple of times because I really missed Levin," says Spencer.

Auckland were the recruiting kings then. Nowadays, the phone would ring off the wall at the home of his father Graham, a drainlayer, and mother Wiki, a clothes sewer, in Levin where Spencer and older brother Fabian were raised. Yet no other province approached one of the rarest rugby talents during those times of sneaky professionalism.

Auckland coach Graham Henry pounced after his team played a Ranfurly Shield challenge in Levin. It led to the making of an Auckland legend, and Spencer's desires are undiminished nearly a decade later. That was obvious as he helped inspire Auckland to last year's surprise NPC title win.

A measure of Spencer's determination is his goalkicking training and the hard work rehabilitating his injured shoulder.

When doctors "ummed and aahed", Spencer relied on self-analysis and turned down surgery so he had time to impress the All Black selectors in cup year.

While Mitchell's public comments led to Spencer's playing some games at fullback, he will command the Blues from first five-eighths in a season so important for many careers.

"Rugby is a rollercoaster. Injuries etc ... it's the way it goes," he says. "I'm still enjoying this game. That's vital. It's been a big journey. Looking back, who would have thought someone from Levin ... I wouldn't have had it any other way."