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When rookie Warrior Patrick Ah Van was 10 years old, he just wanted to be like his brothers.
So he quit playing the round ball code (football) and joined the Te Atatu rugby league club in west Auckland. Now, eight years later, the winger has won a national Bartercard Cup premiership with the Mt Albert Lions, represented his country at age group level (under-16s and Junior Kiwis), played for the New Zealand Residents XIII and is starting to cement himself in the Warriors' starting lineup in the National Rugby League.
Ah Van, the youngest member of the current Warriors first-grade squad, has achieved a lot, but he knows more than anyone the big challenges are still ahead of him.
The first of those will be tomorrow night against Penrith in Auckland, where he will make his seventh NRL appearance since debuting in the round five home loss to Manly in April. Ah Van will mark Luke Rooney, one of the best in the game and a recent Australian and New South Wales representative.
"I've been watching the Panthers on TV, they're a good side and this is a great chance for me to play against a premiership-winning team (2003)," Ah Van said.
"It will be a bigger test for us, and for me marking Luke Rooney. He's a quality player, a test winger, so I'm looking forward to it."
Ah Van goes into the match with confidence, however, after playing 80 minutes in the last four games, including three wins, and scoring his first two NRL tries.
"It was awesome to score that first try in front of a home crowd (a 23-18 loss to Brisbane four weeks ago), and to score my first try at Telstra Stadium last week (a 66-0 thrashing of South Sydney) was one of the highlights of my career, even though there weren't many people there."
But, notwithstanding the poor crowds the Warriors have been attracting in Auckland, Ah Van will have plenty of support for tomorrow night's match, which he describes as his "biggest so far".
"I always have a lot of family support in the crowd. My parents have always supported me, especially when I used to struggle getting to training."
Ah Van set a goal at the start of the season to make the first-grade team and now that he has achieved it, the next step is to keep his spot.
And there shouldn't be any complacency.
"I played my first two games then got injured, and I didn't think I would get my spot back because Misi (Taulapapa) was playing so well."
However, Taulapapa's off-field alcohol problems saw his contract terminated, which gave Ah Van another opportunity – one he intends to continue making the most of.
When rookie Warrior Patrick Ah Van was 10 years old, he just wanted to be like his brothers.
So he quit playing the round ball code (football) and joined the Te Atatu rugby league club in west Auckland. Now, eight years later, the winger has won a national Bartercard Cup premiership with the Mt Albert Lions, represented his country at age group level (under-16s and Junior Kiwis), played for the New Zealand Residents XIII and is starting to cement himself in the Warriors' starting lineup in the National Rugby League.
Ah Van, the youngest member of the current Warriors first-grade squad, has achieved a lot, but he knows more than anyone the big challenges are still ahead of him.
The first of those will be tomorrow night against Penrith in Auckland, where he will make his seventh NRL appearance since debuting in the round five home loss to Manly in April. Ah Van will mark Luke Rooney, one of the best in the game and a recent Australian and New South Wales representative.
"I've been watching the Panthers on TV, they're a good side and this is a great chance for me to play against a premiership-winning team (2003)," Ah Van said.
"It will be a bigger test for us, and for me marking Luke Rooney. He's a quality player, a test winger, so I'm looking forward to it."
Ah Van goes into the match with confidence, however, after playing 80 minutes in the last four games, including three wins, and scoring his first two NRL tries.
"It was awesome to score that first try in front of a home crowd (a 23-18 loss to Brisbane four weeks ago), and to score my first try at Telstra Stadium last week (a 66-0 thrashing of South Sydney) was one of the highlights of my career, even though there weren't many people there."
But, notwithstanding the poor crowds the Warriors have been attracting in Auckland, Ah Van will have plenty of support for tomorrow night's match, which he describes as his "biggest so far".
"I always have a lot of family support in the crowd. My parents have always supported me, especially when I used to struggle getting to training."
Ah Van set a goal at the start of the season to make the first-grade team and now that he has achieved it, the next step is to keep his spot.
And there shouldn't be any complacency.
"I played my first two games then got injured, and I didn't think I would get my spot back because Misi (Taulapapa) was playing so well."
However, Taulapapa's off-field alcohol problems saw his contract terminated, which gave Ah Van another opportunity – one he intends to continue making the most of.
