Rugby: Trip helps erase blue mood

Northland's Dean Budd. Photo / Getty Images

A trip to Canada has been the making of Dean Budd. The Northland back-rower has finally started delivering on his potential.

It seems time away from New Zealand was the catalyst. Or should that be time away from Auckland? The 24-year-old had fallen into a rut last year and knew he had to escape.

He's not the first loose forward to feel lost in Auckland; to feel he was better than a regular seat on the bench. Sione Lauaki and Mose Tuiali'i were others who didn't get the recognition they felt they deserved until they moved on.

"I was just going through the motions last year," says Budd. "I was going to training because I had to and I was never really looking forward to next week.

"That was something I had never experienced and I felt I wanted to get away from the rugby environment and rugby politics for a while."

Victoria, Canada was his destination of choice.

He spent the better part of a year there playing a little rugby, travelling and living a real life. Rugby had become a chore - the love for it lost in the professional world of immersive training and preparation.

Budd had been in the system his entire adult life. A regular in the Palmerston North Boys' High first XV, he made New Zealand Schools and New Zealand under-19s teams.

He shifted to Auckland to begin a university degree in business and continue his rugby education.

However, the rugby side stalled. There were a few appearances for Auckland in 2008, then a wider training contract with the Blues.

But in 2009, he barely even featured off the bench and lost a little of his passion and drive.

"I knew I was never going to get a Super rugby contract if I wasn't playing," he says. "I'd had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to take a holiday for a few years.

"It [the holiday] helped me realise how much I loved playing rugby and how I felt about it."

He got back from Canada in May and headed to Whangarei - determined to play for the Taniwha. His father was a Northland stalwart in his day and, having grown up in Whangarei, the shift north made sense.

It has worked out better than he could have hoped.

Northland have struck a rich vein of form. They also recruited well, snaring rejected Aucklanders Simon Munro and Bryce Heem to join Lachie Munro.

Budd says he's not bitter about his time at the big smoke. "In the end, it comes down to one man's opinion," he says. "One coach might rate you and think you are great, while another might not think that way. I let myself down last year.

"I think I'm going all right in some areas of my game. I'm enjoying getting my hands on the ball and running with it and my aerial work has been okay.

"The rule interpretations have suited me. I am not the biggest bloke out there, so I like it being a quick game."

The 1.96m and 107kg, Budd is reaching the age where it is now or never with his full-time ambitions.

He's rangey, quick and carries the ball well. There are players with less ability and smaller skill-portfolios already contracted.

Budd will happily go wherever he has to - the Blues, Chiefs, Highlanders... to get the opportunity he craves. If it comes, he'll have even fonder memories of his time in Canada.

Losing the loosies

* Sione Lauaki

A pupil at Kelston Boys, the hard-running Lauaki couldn't win a regular place with Auckland or the Blues. Both preferred the limited portfolio of Xavier Rush at No 8, primarily because of what he brought as a captain. Lauaki played 12 games for Auckland in 2003, 11 off the bench. The Chiefs picked him up in the draft and Lauaki proved to be dynamite given regular starts. He helped the Chiefs make their first ever semifinal and then damaged the All Blacks later in the year playing for the Pacific Islanders. The following year, he was a must-pick for the All Blacks and transferred to Waikato.

* Mose Tuiali'i

Explosive and skilled, Tuiali'i was another product of Kelston who couldn't win game time at Auckland. He made three appearances for the Blues in 2003. In 2004, the Crusaders got him in the draft and couldn't believe the Blues were letting such a talent leave. Tuiali'i became the starting No 8 and his speed off the mark, control at the base and ability to offload saw him win his first All Black cap that June. He won nine caps and while his international career was not long, Tuiali'i played 65 games for the Crusaders before he left at the end of the 2008 campaign.

* Ron Cribb

The North Harbour No 8 had the physique and athleticism that should have made him an obvious selection for the Blues. But, again, it was the Crusaders who saw the potential their rival didn't and took Cribb in the draft. His form was sensational in 2000 and he became an All Black that year. His pace and skills were at times as good as anything ever seen from a No 8 but he was plagued by injury. His career also suffered in 2001 when he was forced back to the Blues and without the stricter regime and stronger culture he encountered down south in Canterbury, his form drifted.