League: Wiki's passion still burning

Despite hanging up his boots in 2008, Ruben Wiki says nerves still bother him close to match day.

"I still get that butterflies on game day. The adrenaline comes through and I get keyed up. But I do not miss playing. The body doesn't, I can tell you that," Wiki said.

"I played that legends of league game to raise money for the Christchurch earthquake and I was sore for the next three days."

• Wiki in Dunedin slideshow

Wiki is these days sideline for the Warriors and the Kiwis, running on the water, checking on injuries and also relaying tactics from the coaching staff.

But despite his many jobs on the pitch he still calls himself the water boy.

He ran into trouble last week when he made contact with a Roosters player on the sideline when two players from the Warriors and the Roosters got into a brief altercation.

"It was natural instinct that took over. I was just trying to make sure it didn't turn into something bad. The NRL said I should have stayed out of it but what if someone had a brain hemorrhage.

"What are you supposed to do then?

If it happened again I would do the same thing in a heartbeat."

The club was fined $2000 by the NRL although Wiki always appeared to be the peacemaker.

The centre-turned-prop said the club had paid the fine.

"I better check my wages this week and see if they've taken it out of my wages."

He felt the Warriors were not far away from winning but just needed to play smarter and start games better.

After losing to Manly on Saturday night in Sydney, the Warriors find themselves in 11th spot on the table, although it is still early days.

"We're missing a few key players like Manu Vatuvei and Jerome Ropati and the new guys are going to take a while to get used to each other. But it is a long season and you've got to keep trucking along.

"In a lot of the games it comes down to possession of the ball and the technical side of the game. Sides like the Storm and the Cowboys just complete those sets of six and put the pressure on."

Wiki also worked as a high-performance manager for the Kiwis and that involved working at the coalface of the game.

He had been at New Zealand Rugby league roots camps right around New Zealand for the past couple of months and said the talent on display was great.

"There is a bit of a following down here in league and we've got to look after all the places in New Zealand. It's great fun, running around and helping out the next generation.

"There is some real good talent down here. There are a few Ruben Wikis out there.

"We never had anything like this when we were growing up.

It was just backyard footy in Otara and we relied on our own talent. This, is a good way to expose talent to the game."

The chilly conditions at the Oval yesterday reminded him of Canberra where he played more than 200 games for the Raiders.

Wiki had the World Cup, won by the Kiwis in 2008, and the Four Nations trophy, won by the Kiwis last year, with him, and both trophies were inspected by fans yesterday. The Kiwis team had enjoyed a resurgence in the past few years and players were keen to play for the national side again, Wiki said.

"I think it was that victory in 2005 in the Tri-Nations over in the UK. That really got everyone excited about the game and then we won the World Cup.

"The thing is down here everyone thinks it is the Rugby World Cup. But that's OK. We want to bring that one home too."

Ruben Wiki at a glance:
Age: 38
Playing career: 1993-2004 Canberra Raiders, 2005-08 New Zealand Warriors
Position: Centre, second row, prop
First grade games: 315 (225 for Raiders, 90 for Warriors)
Tries: 72 (60 for Canberra, 12 for Warriors)
Tests: 55 (New Zealand record)
Test tries: 15
Tests as captain: 18