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Heart surgery is supposed be a repair job - not turn you into a rugby iron man as it's done for Blues flanker Justin Collins.
Five years after undergoing an operation on a condition that threatened to end his career - the same that has dogged Olympic champion rower Rob Waddell - Northland stalwart Collins is on the verge of a meritorious milestone.
Collins, who turns 35 in April, will raise a century of Super rugby caps against the Stormers in Cape Town on Sunday morning (NZ time).
It is a remarkable achievement considering the demanding position he plays and the wholehearted way he has gone about his work.
"I'm rather surprised that I've managed to get this far," Collins said today.
"In professional rugby, you don't tend to aim that far ahead, to play 100. You're playing year to year and playing out your contract."
Along with his 2004 operation, Collins has endured a phalanx of injuries, most notably a blow to the shoulder that has lingered through the latter part of his career.
"The body has taken its toll, I've got to say. It gets harder to get up every morning. I don't know if that's the amount of rugby I've had or just my age.
" It means even more to put that length of games together over 12 years."
Born in Hobart, Collins was 18 when he first turned out for Northland in the second division.
The year was 1995, rugby was yet to turn professional, and Collins found rugby a breeze because of his natural fitness.
That continued through to 1998, when he racked up the first 11 of his 99 Super caps in a season with the Chiefs.
It has been the Blues from 1999 onwards but in that time the off-field discipline needed to foot with the bigger, younger brigade has changed.
"As the years get on and the joints seize up a little bit more, you've got to be able to stay focused.
"It can be easy to drop in motivation, especially if you've been there a few years."
Blues coach Pat Lam described Collins as a "legend" on and off the field.
"It's not just the fact that he can not only be here at his age and the amount of games he's played, it's the quality that he brings week in week out," Lam said.
"It's just that ruthlessness, he's a real competitor.
"You'd still think he was only 21 the way he throws himself around out on the field and he's still one of the fittest guys in this side so we're really pleased for him."
Collins' most memorable season was the Blues' 2003 title triumph although the last two seasons have been highly enjoyable.
It has prompted one more season although Collins is adamant this is his swansong, despite having made the same noises last year.
He has re-signed for one more year with Northland and plans to then enter the orthodox work force, targeting a transport/waste management role.
- NZPA
