Wynne Gray: Old warrior a picture of dignified modesty

Mealamu is set to challenge his frame once more when he returns to the Blues tonight for a record 163 games in the competition. Photo / Brett Phibbs

No one who has ever run into Keven Mealamu would accuse him of being contrary, not in the difficult, perverse sense of the word.

This is a man who has conducted himself with a grace and decency which is not always the domain of those whose occupation is "professional rugby player".

He works in the gnarly darkness of scrums, rucks and mauls and is then asked to unravel codes and apply geometrical wizardry to his lineout throws before burning round the field as a support runner.

Mealamu began those Super rugby roles 16 years ago when he played the Brumbies in Canberra. He had a brief spell down the highway with the Chiefs as his game consolidated before he returned to the Blues.

The pistons have not always co-operated in the past few seasons, however he is set to challenge his frame once more when he returns to the Blues tonight for a record 163 games in the competition.

Not bad for a bloke who turns 36 in a few weeks, has played 123 tests for the All Blacks and more first-class matches than anyone in the history of New Zealand rugby. Not bad for someone who began as a flanker for the NZ under 16 side.

Dignified modesty and Mealamu snuggle into sentences together and the father-of-two is most likely to describe his career as "not bad".

The promise the editors of the NZ Rugby Almanack noted in 2000 has ripened well. At times his engaging smile turns into a snarl when a rival oversteps the margins of fair play while he has ridden those limits with his part in the upending of Lions captain Brian O'Driscoll in 2005, a square up with Wallaby rival Brendan Cannon and a heady cleanout against England.

He has endured a playing graph with a range of arches from his sudden elevation to the All Blacks in 2002 mixed in with his duels against Anton Oliver, Andrew Hore, Corey Flynn and now Dane Coles. There were the injuries, the lineout dramas and times when his form wavered. Through all this there have been the lingering dysfunctions of the Blues where he has been a foot-soldier, leader and warhorse in sides coached by Gordon Hunter, Frank Oliver, Peter Sloane, David Nucifora, Pat Lam and John Kirwan.

Mealamu was in the team which beat the Crusaders in 2003 for the title and has slogged away for another 12 seasons looking for a repeat. The signs are not compelling this season but then few saw Mealamu breaking into test rugby as he did so adroitly all those years ago. Nice one Kev.