Player Diary - Mils Muliaina
Friday 26 June 2009
Dear Diary
I got up this morning and had Weet Bix for breakfast and some eggs. Then I had a couple of cups of tea. I always like to have my cups of tea before training.
Then I got my stuff together because I try out all my gear the day before the game. I usually wear brand-new boots for each Test match so I break them in on the Captain’s Run too. I wore my adidas Techfit thermal today because I’ll wear that for the match against Italy. That’s the biggest thing for me really at the Captain’s Run; I like to have everything all tested and ready to go on the day.
So we got down to the AMI Stadium and Nick (Gill) warmed us up. The first five is the one that really runs the practice, it was a chance for Luke to start running the team. As captain I only occasionally had to ask for something I specifically wanted the team to run through. It was a dress rehearsal for what we are going to do tomorrow. There’s not supposed to be much running - well that’s what we said in the meeting beforehand anyway – and we always plan to go between 70 and 80 percent but as usual it ended up at 100 percent.
We also did our haka practice at the stadium. I seem to be at the front now. You start at the back and as the years go on you work your way forward. There are a lot of new faces this year and that has helped me push myself to the front. At the end we had some photos taken with fans who had won competitions with Air New Zealand prize winners. It’s always cool meeting the winners and other fans who get the opportunity to attend our Captain’s Runs.
At the end I like to get my rhythm right by taking a few high balls and kicking a few balls too. Jimmy (Cowan) and I have a competition at the moment. We usually put up a few floaties and spiral bombs. The score is one all at the moment. I also have a drop goal competition going with Ma’a and Ice (Toeava). It’s a season long comp so hopefully the three of us will all make it through to the end of year tour and keep the comp running. The winner will get a present worth $1000 from the others. Ma’a has started a bit slow but Ice and I have got one win each. Then we had our usual pool recovery and then it was on with the adidas compression leggings which also helps with recovery.
Then we get to have some rest and I spent that time with my family today. I try to stay up as late as I can, I’ll have my peanut butter and jam sandwich and hit the sack about midnight tonight. This helps me adjust for game time on match day. I like to have a lie in on game day too, maybe until about 10 o’clock and then I’ll have my final sleep just after lunch.
It’s been a bit of a surreal couple of weeks. It took a while to sink in that I was to be captain of the All Blacks for the Iveco Series. But it’s been great, especially after the disappointment of the Rebel Sport Super 14 final. Although we lost the first Test against France, I was still really proud of the boys. After all, we are a young side and we came back with a victory under testing conditions in the second Test. That was really pleasing. The group of guys we have at the moment are absolutely outstanding to work with and really keen to learn. The boys that are experienced have really stood up and made my job as captain a lot easier and a lot more enjoyable than it could have been.
Cheers,
Mils
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