Rugby: Nomad Payne looks forward to new home

Jarrod Payne. Photo / Paul Estcourt

As a young man making his way into the paid rugby ranks, Jared Payne was a confused admirer of the Blues.

He loved the way they played, was in awe of the talent in their ranks and, like many others, could not fathom their lack of success.

Now Payne has the chance to do some deeper research.

After spells with the Chiefs and Crusaders he is on the Blues payroll and likely to be used as either fullback or centre in their star-embossed backline.

Payne is a former age-group representative, someone with leadership experience at his Northland province and a bloke gathering a strong reputation about his rugby ability.

"As an outsider, I always thought the Blues had stacks of talent," he said. "So I couldn't work out why they didn't click. I guess that was an impression carried by a lot of people.

"I know I was always nervous about playing the Blues because of the firepower they had throughout the backs while their forwards were all strong ballrunners. I was no different from a lot of people who wondered why they did not click more and take teams to pieces."

Payne may have some of those answers by the end of this inaugural Super 15 season which he hopes will also be a successful campaign.

He is lining up at fullback tonight against the Chiefs in Pukekohe in the sides' last trial match before they begin the first round of the competition next weekend.

"It is great to be playing alongside many of these guys who have made the All Blacks.

"Pat [Lam] told me to give some input where I thought the side needed it. But I must say, I have just been getting used to being in this environment, working out their systems, their language, how they do things and how they play the game," Payne said.

The 25-year-old has been a bit of a rugby gypsy, pulling on Waikato, Northland, Chiefs, Crusaders and Blues jerseys in his rugby journeys.

He credits several campaigns with the Crusaders for giving him a great deal of his impetus. He learned the values of a strong, organised franchise and admired the ethos engendered by coach Todd Blackadder, captain Richie McCaw and his lieutenants.

"There is nothing too secret about what they do down there," Payne said. "They are a good bunch of people who work hard and give you all the help they think you need to succeed and then it is up to you to put in the hard yards."

Payne had been with the Chiefs, briefly, but his immersion in the Crusaders' setup showed him much more about professional rugby.

Training under Ash Jones was very tough, a huge mental, as much as a physical, challenge but they all understood the benefits.

Several campaigns gave Payne more confidence about leading his Northland provincial side. His involvement last year was a little uncertain at one stage because of a tendon injury in his thumb.

But he avoided surgery and after rest over summer then several practice games, Payne believes he is ready for this Super 15 campaign.

"It is early days but my aims and targets are to do whatever I can to help this team win a championship. I got to the playoffs with the Crusaders and that makes you even hungrier to go one better.

"A lot of people I knew looked on the Blues with little regard. They sneered at them, but I was lucky in moving around I never got caught up in all that sort of rubbish. I just liked the players they had.

"When I first came into this region my goal was to be part of the Blues. I was a nomad for a while, but now I've made it, I want to help contribute."