Nevertheless, Max Hicks was delighted to fulfil a dream and play a game of footy in Melbourne at the weekend.
The rookie lock made his third straight appearance for the struggling Highlanders off the bench in the loss to the Brumbies in a sparsely attended "Super Round" game at AAMI Park.
Had his professional sporting career gone down a different path, he might have been in smaller shorts and a sleeveless jumper, leaping around with the aerial athletes in an AFL game in front of a jam-packed "G".
Hicks (22), who hails from the North Shore and has been in Nelson since 2019, discovered Australian rules football while at school, and was good enough to represent New Zealand in 2018.
He spent some time with glamour club St Kilda in Melbourne before focusing on rugby and all but leaving "rules" behind.
"I still like to kick the rugby ball around at the captain’s run but that’s about it these days."
They were similar sports apart from the kicking and the hand-balling action, Hicks said.
His rise in rugby has been rapid — in fact, his professional career is effectively only 221 days old, born when he came off the bench for the Mako in an NPC game against Northland.
A bolter in the Highlanders squad, Hicks has assumed greater importance with the locking squadron decimated by injury (Pari Pari Parkinson, Manaaki Selby-Rickit) and suspension (Josh Dickson), and he has been eager to learn as much as he can.
"It’s pretty awesome — quite overwhelming sometimes but I guess I just fit in with the crowd and stay in the middle of the pack.
"Maybe overwhelming is the wrong word. Just things I haven’t really experienced before — crowds and fans and stuff. That’s probably a bit different."
Hicks said all his experienced team-mates were helping him adjust to life at the elite level of rugby.
The Highlanders are not having much fun in terms of results — their season is close to shot with one win from nine games, though the generous playoff system means there is still plenty at stake — but Hicks is having too much fun to get down in the dumps.
"I don’t think results really matter for someone like me.
"I’m just getting all the experience and soaking up as much knowledge as I can.
"Obviously we want to be winning. We’re not too far away. But I’m just soaking up all the experiences I can every week."
It is another new experience this week.
The Highlanders have arrived in Suva, where they play the Fijian Drua on Saturday, and it seems likely Hicks will get his first Super Rugby Start alongside the slightly more experienced Bryn Evans.
Another young gun will also be eyeing some game time.
Loose forward Christian Lio-Willie, who had a whale of a season with Otago before joining the Highlanders as injury cover initially, returned from his own injury spell at the weekend and looked strong off the bench.
The Highlanders do not lack depth in the loose, especially as Marino Mikaele-Tu’u rejoined the squad in Fiji on Monday night, but Lio-Willie is close to demanding selection.
"We were stoked for Christian," assistant coach Clarke Dermody said.
"He’s been with us all year but broke his thumb in preseason which ruled him out for a long time.
"To be able to come in and do what he did, with a bit more time on the field than he expected . . . we’re excited with what he can do and looking forward to getting him more opportunities when it suits."
