Reddish hoping to finish Lions career on a high

Above: Mark Reddish accepts a pass from his brother Dan in a match for Oriental-Rongotai in 2010. Photo by Dave Linott Photography. 

If the Wellington Lions win the NPC Championship final, Mark Reddish won’t have long to celebrate.

The next day the stalwart Oriental-Rongotai lock flies the coop to London to join up with his new Harlequins teammates in the English Premiership and Anglo-Welsh and European competitions.

“The Friday is the final and I fly out on Saturday. I’ve signed for three years, so Iooking forward to hopefully finishing this Lions season off with a bang and then going over there and starting something new,” Reddish said.

“I’m expecting to be playing the first game after I get there and then have another run around against the New Zealand Maori team soon after.”

That first game could be against Thomas Waldrom’s Exeter Chiefs, while the match against the Maori at Twickenham on 16 November is part of Harlequins’ 150th anniversary celebrations.

But first, he’s concentrating on Wellington’s home semi-final this coming Saturday against North Harbour, with the winner going on to play either Otago or Bay of Plenty in the final and for a chance to replace Hawke’s Bay in the top tier next season.

“We’ve got a goal to get back up into the Premiership so knocking over North Harbour is what we need to do this weekend and hopefully we’ll get the job done, he said.”

“We beat them in the round-robin and we just need to play well together as a team and cut out individual errors from recent weeks.”

He agreed that maintaining their consistency and tempo throughout the match will be key in what has been a highly competitive competition. The Lions played poorly in consecutive recent losses to Manawatu and Taranaki while they let Waikato off the hook in their last match.

The Lions will be looking for senior players like Reddish to lead the way in these knockout matches. Reddish missed some of the early rounds as he was coming back from a shoulder injury sustained in Super Rugby for the Highlanders.

Reddish was saddened by the passing earlier this week of Ories club stalwart Bobby Gates.

“Bobby was the heart and soul of Ories. He would show up every week and either give the boys stick or encourage them. Everyone loved him and he’ll be sorely missed around the club. A real character and I’m sure there’ll be a big turnout to his funeral.”

When the going gets tough, Reddish gets going. Since making his senior debut for Ories first year out of school in 2003, Reddish has come out on top in many close battles in club, NPC and Super Rugby.

His rugged, wholly committed style of play is perfectly suited to the English game and he agreed that playing through the depths of an English winter won’t faze him.

Some of his most memorable performances were on the worst of days, such as Ories’ 13-9 win over Tawa at a wintry Lyndhurst Park in 2008. Reddish played a blinder that day and scored the game’s only try in a win that could be looked back on as a turning point in his side’s fortunes. Ories were coming out of a five-season slump and this win was the first time since 2003 that they had won three Premier matches in succession.

What about other career highlights thus far? “Just ticking off milestones for the Lions, the Highlanders and playing 100 games of club rugby for Ories. Winning Super Rugby last year was pretty big, but just getting named in Lions and Hurricanes squads have all been special moments for me.”

He also looks back on his school rugby days fondly. He joined the Rongotai College First XV when he was Year 10 and Ma’a Nonu was the star of the backline. He spent three seasons in that team and was captain in his final year.

“It’s been a long ride and it’s been enjoyable.”

Not that it’s over. He’s looking forward to the next chapter in England and linking up with some of his former teammates and other New Zealanders he’s played against.

“There are a lot of people over there, including Mat Luamanu also at Harlequins, and a lot of the clubs over there have kiwis so it won’t be too far from home.”

A qualified builder by trade, Reddish said he’ll be leaving his tools in Miramar.

He might yet come back and play for Ories. “You never know, I could come back and add to my Ories caps and it would be special to do so.”