Ormsby taming his reputation as a wildman

By CHRIS RATTUE

Fiery. Undisciplined. A wild child.

It's the Kristian Ormsby image, although the man himself is loathe to agree.

While he is called 'Whispers' by team-mates because of his quietly-spoken nature, Ormsby's actions did however speak a lot louder than his words at times.

"I always played a hard sort of a game," says the 23-year-old lock/loose forward.

"I got lumped with two red cards and I thought both were marginal. I had to live with that ... but it isn't really a part of my game."

Some might argue this point but whatever the rights and wrongs, for Ormsby it was a case of thug sticks, especially after a high-profile sending off for stomping while playing for New Zealand Maori against Argentina two years ago, which brought a one-month suspension.

But he has revamped his public image with a tremendous and relatively incident-free season as an impact player for the Hurricanes.

There was one yellow card although the Sharks' quick-stepping Brent Russell slipped down into his tackle which was deemed high in Durban.

When news first came out that Ormsby was leaving second division Counties Manukau and the Chiefs to head to Wellington, there was a gasp around the traps.

Ormsby to Wellington and the Hurricanes. It was like pouring oil on a fire. Why would the notoriously undisciplined capital sides replace the wild-mannered Dion Waller with a player supposedly cut from the same wrath?

Colin Cooper, of course, had other ideas. In his own quiet way Cooper waved a big stick, or maybe that should read a big hook which he used to remove errant players from games. It worked a treat.

Cooper's presence was an attraction for Ormsby, although he ummms and aahs while searching for exactly why he rejected Chiefs first division sides Waikato or Bay of Plenty.

He had won a rave notice from Chiefs coach John Mitchell after making a mad dash to Canberra for the final game of 2001 with a stirring debut as a substitute in a massive defeat against the soon-to-be champion Brumbies.

But, extraordinarily, Ormsby ended the year on the Steelers bench as they dropped to the NPC second division, and was a spare part in the Chiefs last year.

His career was stalling with Counties Manukau where he was surrounded by part timers, and he was a marked man in the lower division - most obviously in last year's final against Hawkes Bay at Napier where his vigour was evident but not always well directed in a beaten pack.

Ormsby, who went to Manurewa High before switching to King's College, is Counties born and bred, one of two sons of school teachers from Weymouth - the club he played for in the Counties second division before switching to Ardmore. Joining the Steelers exodus was a tough, but inevitable for a player with such bright prospects.

"We definitely considered Waikato and Bay of Plenty," says Ormsby, the we referring to his girlfriend Koren Pickard, daughter of former national cricket selector Rick Pickard, and a top netballer with the Capital Shakers.

"I wanted to stick with Counties and help get them back to the first division. I tried, but it didn't happen.

"Wayne McEntee and I were the only full time players. We'd be going to the gym while the others had to go to work. I'd always had offers coming in and Wellington just seemed the right thing to do. A fresh start. I needed that."

Cooper had coached Ormsby in the 2001 New Zealand Colts, Ormsby's second year in the side. He started Ormsby in the opening defeats against the Crusaders in Christchurch and the Bulls in Napier when senior lock Paul Tito was not fully fit.

Ormsby tried to win back his starting spot after Tito's return but realised, and was told, that he had an impact job and he adjusted his thinking accordingly. For now, anyway. As Ormsby says, players still want to start, even in the era of substitutions.

But starting lock he will be in tonight's semifinal, with Luke Andrews sidelined by injury. One major job will be correcting a Hurricanes lineout that has gone badly awry against the Brumbies and Blues, and offering a realistic alternative to main target Tito.

The Hurricanes scrum will also be tested by test-class opponents, and the extreme talents of the Hurricanes' backline and loose forwards will struggle if set pieces fail.

Ormsby concedes his bulky frame is not the ideal lineout weapon.

"When we won those seven games on the trot we were 100 per cent on our lineouts for a while but once we got to harder teams it didn't work. We can't keep being so readable."

Ormsby, whose younger brother, prop Cameron, has just cracked the Otago side, is the one gamebreaker in the Hurricanes tight five as he showed with a pass in a tackle to create Ma'a Nonu's try against the Blues.

But it will be his engine room work that counts tonight. Whatever the outcome, the man once regarded as a firebrand for battling outfits like Weymouth and Counties Manukau appears settled in his new home with Super 12 and NPC teams on the rise.

Inside Track

* Name: Kristian Ormsby

* Age: 23

* Height: 1.94m

* Weight: 118kg

* Super 12: 21 games, 2 tries

* Provinces: Counties Manukau, Wellington, 27 games, 1 try.

* Rep honours: NZ Sevens and Colts 2000-01; Maori 2001-02.

* Nickname: Whispers

* Visit nzherald.co.nz throughout the weekend for Super 12 updates.