Boy from the bush shuns the limelight

By CHRIS RATTUE

When the Chiefs were re-locating Keith Robinson close to their Hamilton base, he had a simple request - a farm cottage would do just fine.

The Super 12 rugby franchise duly obliged and found him a place in the tiny township of Matangi, 10km east of Hamilton.

"I don't know how I'd handle living in Hamilton," said Robinson yesterday, as the Chiefs headed to Sydney for their opening Super 12 clash against the Waratahs on Saturday.

"I'm not too keen on places where the neighbours can look over your fence."

Robinson is the boy from the bush who has raced from being a second division NPC player with Thames Valley to a Super 12 lock in two years.

This was largely due to a spell with last year's NPC semifinalists, Taranaki, although he spent a fair deal of time on their reserves bench.

The 1.98m, 115kg forward has come from nowhere. His CV even includes a short stint with a club in North Yorkshire, part of an exchange deal with his team in Te Aroha.

"I went over there pretty keen but I soon fell into their traps. You'd only get five or six to training. I think we were in the ninth division," he said.

But Robinson is under close consideration to make the Chiefs starting line-up this weekend ahead of "Big Rig" Mark Cooksley.

Even if he does not get the nod, the word is that he will be a player to watch this season.

The 24-year-old was brought up on a Te Aroha dairy farm, alongside three sisters and a brother, and trained to be a farm manager before working briefly in a skin factory.

But the bush is in his blood. He loves pig-hunting, which along with fishing is this man's particular go - although Robinson has reluctantly given the call of the wild away for now.

"It's a bit hard to run your own dogs with all the rugby," he said.

Robinson made an earlier sacrifice a couple of years ago when he quit work to concentrate on his rugby career.

'I surprised myself when I got in the Thames Valley firsts the first year but I didn't put a lot of effort in. The next year I thought I'd give it heaps and see how far I could go.

"I wanted to play in the first division but Waikato didn't give me the call. I owe a lot to Taranaki. They didn't make me any promises and I had to go down there to play club football to prove myself.

"But they gave me a chance, and they are great blokes, really tough. I don't think I would have got this far if they hadn't made the NPC semifinals.

"I really never thought I'd get a Super 12 contract this year. I was only a substitute for Taranaki. This has happened so quickly."

Robinson stunned Taranaki officials with his aerobic capacity - which locals put down to his pig-hunting ways.

None of the Taranaki players hunt but Robinson headed into the bush with a couple of local legends.

After one more season with Taranaki, Robinson will join Waikato.

His rustic image extends to his footwear, which often consists of an old pair of rubber jandals.

"He even wears them to functions and puts his shoes on at the last minute," says assistant coach Kevin Greene.

"That's what he feels comfortable in - those and his boots in the bush."