The wags in the Wanganui rugby team tell Johnny Mow the only reason he ran down Wairarapa-Bush opponent Nathan Hunt after a 90m chase last Saturday was because he'd cut his dreadlocks off.
Johnny just grins and says it was because he'd returned to the running track at Cooks Gardens seeking at least some of his previous hot pace - which to some appeared to have waned after he snapped an achilles in 2010.
For the 30-year-old, the hard work has shown some developments. Each Monday and Wednesday, non-team training nights, he's been down at Cooks working hard on his speed.
Now he goes into today's Heartland Championship match with East Coast at Ruatoria at least confident again in his own ability to foot it - or hot-foot it - with most who will come up against him.
"I did the achilles in Palmy in 2010, came back here and did it again," Mow said. "And after the club season this year the fitness dropped because of an injury. But for the past few weeks I've been working hard, getting back on the track and doing some sprint work - I'm starting to get back into it."
And the speed?
"I've regained some of it."
So, without the locks, and the sharpest looking boots in the Steelform Wanganui side, Mow chased his man last Saturday, timed the tackle perfectly - and quite likely played a major part in the side's win with that single effort.
Mow shepherded his man towards the touchline, cutting off any angle for him to cut inside, and did the job. With 4m to spare.
Good enough, though, to look forward with confidence to better things to come.